THE VOICE OF CHICAGO'S GAY, LESBIAN, BI, TRANS AND QUEER COMMUNITY SINCE 1985

During the course of the interview, WCT also asked for several facts and figures around HBHC's fundraising, grant funding, services provided, client and patient numbers, and salaries. The publication is currently fact-checking the material, and the next part of its ongoing coverage will focus on that information. WCT has also been assured of an interview with the current board chair, Duke Alden.

Israelsen's previous job was as vice president of regulatory operations and compliance for Career Education Corporation (CEC). The 36-year-old Israelsen's qualifications for her current job have been questioned in many quarters, particularly because Edwards also came to his position with no prior qualification in health care or experience in the non-profit world. Her current bio on the HBHC website cites her membership of the Leadership Council of the organization, which is not a service group but a branded donor recognition circle, designating those who give more than $1,200 per year. In all other matters, Israelsen does not bring health care experience to the job. Her current position at Howard Brown will be an interim one, with an annual salary of $180,000.

She spoke to us about these and other issues at the Sheridan Road location of Howard Brown. Alonzo Brown, senior director of communications at Howard Brown, was also present.

Yasmin Nair: Has there been a severance package for Jamal Edwards?

Karma Israelsen: That's not something I'm able to discuss right now. That's certainly something I'll talk about when the time is right. I just don't have the information.

YN: Have any organizations reached out to you to offer support at this time?

KI: Absolutely. One of the most amazing things is just the amazing outpouring [of support]. We reached out to our community partners and our community organizations and people have been just amazing. I had really good conversations with the Illinois Department of Health [and] Heartland Alliance, and we reached out to Chicago House, TPAN, Center on Halsted—so it's been a lot of work, and we've just had a lot of amazing offers of support.

YN: As you know, your predecessor at Howard Brown was criticized for the fact that he came in with no experience in the health care field and was yet given a very high salary: $265,000. There are now questions about what, to many people, seems like the exact same thing going on right now, with your situation of stepping into the same position with no prior experience. Could you expand on your qualifications for the job? What is your experience in health care?

KI: It will probably be helpful to explain how I see my role as interim, because I don't have health care experience but I'm also not seeing patients. We have some really amazing, talented, qualified people working to see patients. So I think it makes sense to talk about how I see my role here as an interim …

YN: What are your qualifications?

KI: I came out of a heavily regulated industry, so I'm used to dealing with a heavily regulated environment with multiple stakeholders and regulators. In my interim role here I [want to] ensure that the patients are still getting the services they need and the providers are still meeting the mission of the organization. We have an amazing team here that's really, really talented and my role is to make sure they get the support and resources they need to continue to do their job. I don't have health care experience but I want to make sure that the people who do serve our patients every day have the tools and resources to continue to do their job. There are some strategic projects that have been kicked off prior to my starting here [and] I need to make sure we get through and execute all of them. First and foremost is our Triad move, which is happening in February 2013. We're kicking off strategic planning with the board, which will happen in October, which historically, you know, we haven't done a lot of strategic planning in recent years because of the crisis and what was going on and we're kicking that off we also have some exciting projects ...

YN: Let me stop you there [and] go back a little bit. How was the decision to have you step in as interim president and CEO made?

KI: It's not uncommon to have, when you have a leadership transition, someone from the board step in, in an interim role, since I had experience obviously at the board level for the two and a half years I've worked with this organization. There were a lot of discussions at the board level, about how to fill this role in the interim, particularly since the board feels strongly that we need to do a national search and put some time and diligence into who this new leader is going to be. Ironically, I'd actually left my previous job at the end of May and was taking six months off to do some traveling and decompress.

YN: Did you leave or were you let go?

KI: I left. I voluntarily resigned. It had been 10 years with the organization and it was just time for me to move on; it had been a rough two years with the organization and it was time for me to move on. So I actually had time to volunteer and contribute to the organization. I'm passionately committed to the mission of this organization. The board did discuss some other options about who to fill in [during] the interim and because I had the experience with the organization and at least a high-level understanding of what was going on, I agreed to step in and fill in.

YN: What exactly is your interim period going to be?

KI: My plan right now—I'm on a month-to-month contract right now. I want to be very clear that I have no intention of taking this role permanently. It's just not what my dream job is. It's an amazing organization: I'm so grateful that I have the opportunity to help out in the interim but this organization really needs to have the right leader for where we're at and where we need to go given the health care changes we're experiencing. So my contract is on a month-to-month basis. The board has started discussions with a couple of national firms to help with the executive recruiting process and I know there's a desire from the board to have community input into the search. There's some discussion going on about what that will look like and who will be included in that; I know there's a strong desire that the board take some time. Because even when Jamal had come in, it was so sudden how that had happened, with the investigation that was happening and it came about so quickly that there wasn't a lot of thought, I think, given at the time. I mean, the board doesn't want to repeat that, doesn't want to repeat that [sic].

YN: And what is your salary, if it's month-to-month?

KI: Month-to-month, I agreed to come on to the organization for $180,000 [annually]. I don't know where the salary range is going to end up for the new CEO. I think the board is doing some deep analysis and market research on what that range is going to look like. I don't know what that will be; we'll certainly keep you informed.

YN: I know that you've reversed one decision by the previous CEO—getting Windy City Times back into the building. Are there any other decisions made by Jamal Edwards that you are looking at changing, of course, of bigger import?

KI: I think that's important. I think our patients read Windy City Times, I think it's a great informational resource for the community, I think there's a lot of interest in Windy City Times. I think our patients need to have access to information, so I think it makes sense to have Windy City Times back at all of our locations. The other thing I'm looking into is: I know there was some discussion last year about changes in benefits for some of our Brown Elephant employees and some changes in their status moving from part-time to full-time status. That's something we're pulling together right now, to look into to get a resolution on.

YN: Okay, can you discuss that more fully? I understand that you went from about 40-50 full-time employees to about nine to 10 [at the Brown Elephant resale shops].

KI: There was a dramatic change.

YN: Right, very dramatic change. You were board chair at the time, and you oversaw a lot of decisions that were unpopular or seen as overly harsh. And this decision especially struck people because the Brown Elephant [brings in about $3 million-$4 million a year]. So [a store] that brings in that much money to an organization that is struggling, then gets its employee health care cut... What was your response when you heard that?

KI: We had a lot of discussion at the board level and so obviously there were a lot of decisions that were made in the two years of this organization. If I look at my role as board chair, there were a lot of things that I'm really proud of, that we accomplished and there are things that I would have done differently, absolutely. As a board chair at the time, I really relied on Jamal to make the best decisions for the organization at the time. As you know, there was a tremendous financial strain on this organization during that time and there were really tough decisions that had to be made. I think the great news now is that we can go back and look at those since we are in a better financial position. … We need to get some additional data on what it's going to look like as far as getting the health insurance back but that is something we'll need to get resolved here. [Editor's note: At the time, Edwards would not reveal exactly how much in savings the organization made by cutting the health care of Brown Elephant employees. WCT will be following up on this].

YN: There's a possibility or a strong possibility that Brown Elephant employees will be able to get their health care back?

KI: We're looking at that. And again, we've made some changes. I don't know if you knew that Bill Joure had joined the organization as [senior director of retail operations] and he's got some really, really innovative thought processes [about] Brown Elephant and I think has made some really great changes. I met with the Brown Elephant managers two weeks ago and I think there have been some really positive, innovative things that have been done there, and we certainly want to make sure that we're continuing to support our employees and making sure that we're equitable. I'll have some more information and we'll have to get some additional data but I'll have some more information in the next couple of weeks.

YN: There have been several issues around staff morale, and one of the key issues has been that staff members were not allowed to communicate with the board. You were board chair and you are now interim CEO and president. So you're in the opposite position. First of all, what did you think of that decision, which seems a little unusual? I'm assuming you knew of it.

KI: I did know that and, unfortunately, the intention around that was having structure so that there was a communication that was to the board. As you know, the board serves a very crucial governance with the organization and in making sure that the financial controls were in place, making sure that the compliance controls are in place ... and I certainly would love Alonzo [Brown] to jump in here on this.

It was never my intention that the staff would not be allowed to talk to the board; my intention was making sure that we had some sort of structure for that to happen in a consistent way. The one thing that has been, I think, really just so fulfilling for me in the three weeks I've been here has been getting to meet everyone on staff...

YN: And have you changed the policy?

KI: Yes, yes, we have. And the other thing that's really exciting and has taken place before I got here: The organization is doing an internal cultural assessment and getting feedback from employees. We'll actually have the results of that done by the end of September and there's some really strategic things we're going to do, being able to incorporate, to get some kind of employee committee to get some visibility to have some face time with the board. We're actually going to do that as part of our larger culture assessment that's going on because that's … I completely agree: The staff here, there's a lot of work we need to do here to make sure that employees are being utilized in the right ways, to make sure we're taking advantage of the talent we do have here.

Alonzo Brown: As it pertains to staff morale: We're also addressing the transparency with the staff and making sure we're communicating with them more up front, before they hear anything out on the streets. We'll be doing our due diligence and making sure we make the necessary changes.

YN: Under your tenure during these last two years, around 60 people have exited; there has been a lot of movement and departures.

AB: Keep in mind, she wasn't running the organization on a day-to-day basis.

YN: At the same time, a board chair also in some sense has some kind of authority.

KI: Our direct oversight was over Jamal, correct. And we relied on him in his position to manage the day-to-day operations.

YN: Right, so in that sense a number of people have left—like Joe Hollendoner and Robert Garofalo—to do the same things in different programs that are now doing the same things that Howard Brown was once doing. You've gone on record to say you didn't think that was a lot. Do you still feel that way? What if you saw that kind of number in the next two years, for instance?

KI: So there's a couple of things: I certainly don't want to comment on employees that left the organization that I never had met or had awareness of. I think it would be unfair of me to do that and speculate. We did have some people like Joe that left [who] had an amazing new opportunity to pursue. Again, because I wasn't directly involved in some of these decisions, I don't want to speculate on their behalf.

One of the things that's going to be crucial for this organization long-term is going to be retaining top talent. So Lara Brooks, for example, is someone we've been able to re-engage and she's actually going to stay here at Howard Brown. She's an amazing leader, really talented, with great, innovative ideas and just serves a crucial role in the organization. So, moving forward, it's going to be crucial. … There are some really great leaders here that it's crucial we're retaining as we move forward.

YN: You mentioned Lara Brooks. She was public about moving to Chicago House and has now decided to stay at Howard Brown. What did you offer her that was so attractive?

KI: We've had very good conversations about strategically where Broadway Youth [Center] should go with partnerships with other organizations like Center on Halsted, TPAN, Night Ministry—I think there are so many organizations doing really amazing work around youth and youth at risk for homelessness. It's crucial to me that we're retaining talent. She's going to take some time off and come back. She's taking a couple of weeks off to get a break. She works so hard over there. I hope that the strategic vision that we've talked about for BYC is the reason why she stayed.

YN: Did you reach out to her or did she reach out to you?

KI: I did reach out to her, actually, when I heard she was leaving. She's very well-respected in this organization—very respected in the community—and there's this overwhelming sense that it would be a loss to have her leave this organization.

YN: Is she getting a higher salary or a different position?

KI: Her position remains the same. I'm not going to talk about salary information for people that are not on our 990. Her position and title will stay the same.

YN: We hear that Alicia Ozier [vice president of operations] has left?

KI: Yes.

YN: Did she resign or was she let go?

KI: She is no longer with the organization. It's challenging when an organization goes through a period of crisis. The organization that I left [Career Education Corporation] had just gone through a dramatic period of crisis. The last two years of this organization have been tough. It's been a hard two years. I certainly hope that with some leadership stability and getting the right strategic leader in this for the long term, making sure that we continue to focus on our mission, address the changes in the health care environment that are happening: It's going to be crucial that we have the right talent in the right roles.

YN: What's your idea of the ideal CEO?

KI: That's probably a better question for the board. I think the board has direct oversight on that. My personal opinion: I think that with the changes in health care and the Affordable Care Act and some of the other changes that are coming, I think the new CEO needs to be a strategic thought-leader in, whether it's with strategic expertise in health care or with specific expertise in business change, I think [the CEO] needs to be a strategic thought-leader. I think there are two schools of thought on whether the CEO needs to have a health care background or whether they have a general business background in conjunction with Magda Houlberg, our chief medical officer. [Then the question becomes]: Do you have a strong COO that comes in that has health care operational experience? I think that's a balance that the board needs to find.

As you know, we're a medical organization; they have to have some expertise in medical practice. There are so many changes in the regulatory and external environment right now that finding someone that can maneuver through that set the organization up to continue to provide the excellent care that we give every day would be really crucial.

YN: In that light, did you think that Jamal Edwards was qualified to lead the organization?

KI: I think that Jamal did an amazing job here, considering the crisis the organization went through. I don't want to speculate on ... .

I think that whenever you have an organization in crisis … again, as I said, there are absolutely things I would have done differently. … I think the salary piece will be something that the board needs to put some thought into as they look at our sister organizations on a national basis to make sure the salary is commensurate with other organizations.

YN: What are you hearing as interim CEO that surprises you or changes your vision of how you saw Howard Brown functioning when you were the board chair?

KI: I don't know that there's anything dramatic that changes for me.

The one thing that has been gratifying for me is getting to meet every level of the organization, all the different leaders and teams we have here in the organization. That was one of my first priorities and will continue to be a priority while here, to make sure I'm getting to every site on a weekly basis, to make sure I'm able to spend time with the employees. So, for example, I go to Broadway Youth Center and Triad and research every Thursday. We're still working on a schedule for Brown Elephant, although I did meet with them two weeks ago. I think what's been not surprising but gratifying is to meet really, really committed people here who are passionately committed to the patients and the organization that we serve. So, for me, it's been really gratifying to understand the breadth and depth and scope of experience.

YN: But given how public the discussions about Howard Brown have been, is there nothing there that makes you say, for instance, "Oh, I had no idea that X employees were going through this issue"? There's nothing there that surprises you?

KI: I think that there's sort of a sense—I think that my leadership style is quite different from Jamal's. I don't know that it's good or bad; I just think it's very different. So I think that employees here are still trying to figure me out. Obviously, Howard Brown has been a lightning rod in Chicago and it's been that way for decades before I lived in Chicago, as I found in talking to Tracy [Baim, the publisher of WCT].

YN: Were you not aware of that?

KI: I wasn't aware of some of the history of Howard Brown.

YN: But as board chair? I'm curious about the level of insulation you seem to have experienced. Howard Brown has been a contentious issue in the community for almost its entire 36-odd years, and you were not aware of the many, many issues?

KI: I'm not from Chicago, and when I moved to Chicago, I actually traveled and commuted.

YN: When did you move to Chicago?

KI: Only seven years ago. And for the first five years I lived here, I traveled almost every week so I was only in Chicago five days a month. And so, I wasn't aware and certainly recently, in taking control, I'm becoming aware of the history of the organization and the conflict around the organization—which is interesting that you'd have an organization that's almost 40 years old and is this lightning rod in the community. And culturally, I think, that's something that can change—through being more transparent and open and getting more community involvement, that can change. But I had no idea about the issues.

YN: What is your relationship with the board?

KI: I think our board has done an amazing job and continues to do an amazing job. I think Duke Alden is going to be great as board chair. We just brought on three new board members.

YN: The last time the board was formed, there was a committee to do so but that committee consisted of a number of people who had funding or financial ties to Howard Brown. Alicia Ozier was on the board formation committee and then became a staff member here till recently. What measures will you take to ensure there are no conflicts of interest next time?

KI: That's something Duke would be better able to answer. One of the issues will be to ensure more diversity of the board, to make it more representative of the patients we serve and obviously more representative of the dramatic changes in the health care environment. Again, this organization, for the last two years—with an entire board in transition, a lot of senior board members, when Jamal came in—I think that the committee process worked really well.

I think now that the board has been working together for a year and following bylaws—we have a board committee with our nominating process—I think that as the organization gets a new leader in here, as we transition into changes in health care, I think that the board will continue to have better practice in place as far as board structure and board governance are concerned.

YN: So you agree that there were some issues that could be changed, that did need changing?

KI: Again, I don't want to speak historically since I wasn't here and involved with the organization: I think that the way the board was selected during that time of crisis was something that was sort of unorthodox and very different but I think it was the right thing to do. I think that we heard the community; there was an outcry that the entire board needed to be replaced as well. Also, I think the previous board chair made the right decision in making the board transition through that time frame. I think that the way we reconstituted the board worked really well for the time that the organization was in. I think that moving forward—now that we have a board that's worked together for over a year now—I think that will continue to move forward in a way that's probably more typical of what a board should be doing from a governance perspective.

YN: And how was Duke Alden chosen as board chair?

KI: He was the vice-chair of the board and when it was decided that I had the ability and the board agreed that it would be helpful for me to step in, the board voted to make him the board chair.

YN: How much did you receive in the lifeline appeal? Is it over?

AB: [We received] $777,000 but because people just kept giving, it netted out to just above over a million dollars.

YN: Was any of that allocated towards salaries?

AB: It was about the sustainability of the organization so, of course, it was part of salaries, part about programs, but it was all about where those funds ...

KI: ... keeping the organization going ...

YN: The question has been how much of that has gone to salaries and [especially the] unknown salaries of the leadership team.

AB: During that time, it was all about making sure the doors of this organization ...

KI: ... stayed open.

YN: We get that. But again, people are concerned about fairness and who gets paid what [and what the money raised goes towards].

KI: We can get you 990s. [A 990 is a tax form that provides the public with financials of an organization. Subsequently, Windy City Times only received the top five salaries. Howard Brown has not supplied salary figures for anyone else who is not on the 990.]

YN: In terms of research, the MACS [Multicenter AIDS Cohort Study, and HBHC's most prestigious grant that, after some concerns, has now been relocated to Northwestern University] is gone now. So how do you plan on rebuilding your research department?

KI: We're very sad that we weren't able to come to a negotiation with Northwestern University and the MACS subcontract was not renewed. As you know, that was the longest-running study at Howard Brown. It wasn't our only study, but the longest-running study, so it is fortunate. We do have 18 other studies we're doing with various others throughout the community here. We continue to look for other research opportunities.

YN: Were you aware of patient files not being transferred? [WCT received several complaints about this, as previously reported; the matter has since apparently been resolved but there had been concern about HBHC's lack of compliance.]

KI: There was never any issue with that. From a HIPPA [Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act that was passed by Congress in 1996; it regulates how confidential medical information is transferred and handled] compliance perspective, there's very strict protocol, and from the research study protocol, there's very strict protocol and we've done that. We've complied.

YN: All the patient files have been sent over?

KI: The contact information has been sent to Northwestern. The patients need to work directly with Northwestern.

YN: There seems to be some issue with Howard Brown not releasing that information.

AB: Well, just so you know, we never held any of the patient files hostage. There's a process in release of information and we are governed by NIH [National Institutes of Health] and HIPPA laws and the way that we transfer that information to protect that patient identity. As with the MACS study, that identity is very important so we have to make sure that we follow HIPPA compliance.

YN: We keep hearing that Broadway Youth Center is moving. Is that true?

KI: That is true. From a strategic perspective, we need to figure out the best fit for that and where that resides, which is why I'm really thrilled that Lara is staying: She has really innovative ideas on what that looks like. I think the thing that will be crucial for Howard Brown, particularly for BYC, is to make sure that we're leveraging all the talent in the community and the community resources to really make it a coalition model [because] homeless youth and youth that experience homelessness is such a crucial issue.

YN: But where will it be located? Will it move away from Lakeview? There has been a lot of controversy around its location here.

KI: That hasn't been finalized.

YN: Do you know when?

KI: We are still working through the details with out current landlord. That's something I'll need to keep you posted on. The space is not conducive to the work, so the final decision is still being worked on.

YN: Will there be significant programmatic changes? It has a unique model.

KI: It does, it does.

YN: What are your visions for that?

KI: I think that's really going to have to come from the team at BYC. I'm certainly not the expert in what they do over there; their model is really amazing and their work is really amazing. I want to make sure we're taking the time to get their strategic feedback from them and what that looks like, particularly since I'm interim: It would not be fair to come in and make a dramatic change. That needs to be done by the team there.

YN: How long will you be interim?

KI: I think the timeline the board is looking at is four to six months.

YN: Will you be in the running at all?

KI: No, absolutely not.

YN: So will you move away from Howard Brown completely?

KI: I am passionate about this organization and the mission they serve. I think the role that I'll play here, we'll need to decide at a future date. I had left my previous organization and taken some time off. It was just personally important to me to take some time off. This interim role hasn't changed that for me.

YN: Is there anything you want to say about what has been a tumultuous period and where Howard Brown has been going? What your vision might be?

KI: I really want to make sure that the team here has the resources to really provide the excellent care that they provide. I think health care in this country is going to be interesting with the Affordable Care Act. [The Federal] Ryan White Care Act has been expanded to include women and children now. I think that health care in this country is going to look dramatically different in the next two years and, I think that it will be important for us to find the right leader who can really take advantage of some of those changes in the long-term.