This is the best summary I could come up with:

“[The board] has launched an independent review, which is aligned with the BBPA’s commitment to transparency, accountability and good governance,” said lawyer Mariam Moktar in an emailed letter on behalf of her client.

In a March 21 email to BBPA membership addressing concerns about these payments, then board chair Ross Cadastre wrote that the charity faced financial difficulties from 2017 to 2019, and Spencer provided “vital pro-bono marketing services.”

As Cadastre referenced in his email to members, the BBPA’s annual revenue from donations rose dramatically in the wake of the 2020 murder of George Floyd by a police officer and the global Black Lives Matter protests sparked by his death.

The email also says that Spencer recused herself from decisions concerning her own compensation, that of Brand EQ, and she told the board she had placed BrandEQ in a blind trust managed by others when she assumed the role of CEO of the BBPA.

Williams, an entrepreneur and business owner, hopes the concerns raised about BBPA payments can be resolved so the charity’s legacy is protected and it can continue to do important work in the community.

The following year, the BBPA claimed $175,881 in related party transactions on a copy of the 2023 financial statements it submitted to the CRA and also to its membership for approval at the charity’s annual general meeting in early March.

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