(source redacted for security reasons) Considering how Silver Lining likes to share how concerned they are with the governance of SRM https://twitter.com/SilverLiningNGO/status/1764788454037028916, this group might be interested to know that a new private meeting of the Silver Lining science groups happened today after a hiatus. In what was otherwise a pretty nondescript meeting with many absences of teams that are trying to distance themselves from Silver Linings, one of the remaining science PIs supported by Silver Lining (Alan Robock) mustered the courage to ask for any kind of information or comments from Silver Lining leadership about the shocking allegations such as the source and the use of funding and was immediately stonewalled by leadership, in particular the new Research Director Jean-Francois Lamarque, fresh out of a McKinsey job.
Apparently, the transparent in the "Rigorous, transparent, and globally inclusive research" that Silver Lining seems to believe in does not apply to divulging either their funding sources nor the reasons behind the very high salaries of their executive members. This is, obviously, of particular concern for a field that is under scrutiny from multiple sources, and perhaps the community should consider how much influence such an organization should have or appear to have. On Thu, 14 Mar 2024, 14:38 Solar Geoengineering, <solarge...@gmail.com> wrote: > The group administrator encouraged me to provide some additional > information. > > Silver Linings' board members are (as of 2022): > > > KELLY WANSER - PRESIDENT/EXECUTIVE DIRECTOR > She is both the president of the board and the executive director of the > organization. Such arrangements of overlapping responsibilities and power > are uncommon. > https://www.silverlining.ngo/kelly-wanser > https://www.linkedin.com/in/kellywanser > > > ALEX WONG - RESEARCH DIRECTOR > He is both a member of the board and the second-ranking staff member. > Having half of the board from senior staff is rare. Whether it matters, > Wong's previous job was at US's DARPA (Defense Advanced Research Projects > Agency). > https://www.silverlining.ngo/alex-wong > https://www.linkedin.com/in/alex-wong-613b03172 > > > CLAY DUMAS > He is a 'general partner' at Lowercarbon Capital, a funder of Silver > Linings. > https://lowercarboncapital.com/team/clay-dumas/ > https://www.linkedin.com/in/clay-dumas > > > CARLA HOLTZE > She appears to be the Managing Director, Commerce for Sovrn, an "online > advertising technology firm". > https://www.sovrn.com/blog/press-release-carla-holtze-cell/ > https://www.linkedin.com/in/carla-holtze-cell-2639326/ > > On Monday, March 11, 2024 at 11:39:26 PM UTC+1 Solar Geoengineering wrote: > >> Executive salaries at nonprofit organisations are set by the board of >> directors. According to the document you sent (page 7), the board of >> Silver Linings is: >> >> (1) KELLY WANSER >> PRESIDENT/EXECUTIVE DIRECTOR >> >> (2) CARLA HOLTZE >> BOARD MEMBER >> >> (3) CLAY DUMAS >> BOARD MEMBER >> >> (4) ALEX WONG >> RESEARCH DIRECTOR >> >> Silver Linings does not provide this information on its website. >> >> On Monday, March 11, 2024 at 4:59:50 PM UTC+1 Andrew Lockley wrote: >> >>> (source redacted for security reasons) >>> >>> *Subject: *SCRI Meeting March 22 2024 >>> >>> *Where does the SCRI money go?* >>> >>> >>> >>> Here is a breakdown of their most recent filing, for 2022, >>> highlighting how *no more than 20% of their revenues are regranted to >>> research teams, while 16% goes to paying Kelly's salary and lifestyle.* >>> >>> >>> >>> The data is freely available here: >>> https://projects.propublica.org/nonprofits/organizations/371908884 >>> >>> And a PDF is attached. >>> >>> >>> >>> Fundraising: *2,763,150* >>> Grants given out: *about 560,000* >>> Salaries and benefits paid to employees: *1,011,165, including 350,000 >>> to Kelly herself* >>> Communications: *351,975, including 176,950 for a website designer and >>> 114,688 for an accounting firm* >>> Policy research (in-house): *226,019* >>> Advertising and promotion: *199,767* >>> Travel: 252,157 >>> Purchases: 155,186 >>> Housing allowance (*Kelly's apartment in DC*): *103,260* >>> Funding to their 501(c)(4) lobbying organization: 641,018 >>> >>> >>> >>> You can figure out on your own how many good researchers could have been >>> supported with similar numbers. >>> >>> >>> >> -- > You received this message because you are subscribed to the Google Groups > "geoengineering" group. > To unsubscribe from this group and stop receiving emails from it, send an > email to geoengineering+unsubscr...@googlegroups.com. > To view this discussion on the web visit > https://groups.google.com/d/msgid/geoengineering/0ce16885-c21c-4c83-9a47-b23c32ad1728n%40googlegroups.com > <https://groups.google.com/d/msgid/geoengineering/0ce16885-c21c-4c83-9a47-b23c32ad1728n%40googlegroups.com?utm_medium=email&utm_source=footer> > . > -- You received this message because you are subscribed to the Google Groups "geoengineering" group. To unsubscribe from this group and stop receiving emails from it, send an email to geoengineering+unsubscr...@googlegroups.com. To view this discussion on the web visit https://groups.google.com/d/msgid/geoengineering/CAJ3C-066%2Bmci-0vMYonaaKZ_LhO%2B6GLJKHA_80Pf59JQ56TYcA%40mail.gmail.com.
