05/13/2026
Edit:
For folks that have questions about this post, please let me clarify. This page was created by me, Angie Reyes, over 2 decades ago as the founder of DHDC. It is connected to my personal page, so I cannot be deleted. DHDC now has a different page.
I posted this as I approach the one year anniversary of my retirement. During that time, I have remained quiet, trying to give people the benefit of the doubt. But no more. Over the past 6 months the board and new ED have been dismantling all the work that we did over the last 28 years. But they aren't satisfied with destroying the work, they have decided to destroy my and my family's reputations. They don't want to admit that they made some bad choices and have lost funding. Instead, they prefer to blame me, making unfounded accusations to funders, partners and media.
When you hire someone who has no connection whatsoever to the community you are supposed to serve, then you answer only to the board, not to that community. You also lose credibility with the community and funders. My family and I, on the other hand, live in this community. Were born and raised here for 7 generations - from my great-grandparents to my great grandchildren. we do this work because we love our community and we aren't going anywhere.
In the meantime, the staff has been reduced from 50 to less than 30, with 3 people quitting just last week. Anyone who challenges the new leadership is immediately fired. Long standing programs have been cut and the place that used to be full of people and creative energy is now a ghost town on most days, while the board and ED embark on a smear campaign to remove me and my family from tables we helped to build and stop my son from building his new organization.
I will no longer be quiet while they do this. Nor should anyone who disagrees with them. It's time to stand up for what belongs to this community, not corporate interests or outsiders. The article below very accurately lays out what they've been doing. Time for them to stop!!
-Angie
When wealthy individuals or corporate interests use their financial power to take over grassroots or community organizations—a phenomenon sometimes referred to as a hostile takeover or "nonprofit coup d'état"—they fundamentally alter the power dynamics. Because non-profits and community organizations don't have traditional "owners," control ultimately rests with the board of directors. The dynamics and mechanisms typically seen in these scenarios include:
Board Manipulation & Control: Wealthy donors may use their financial leverage to stack the board of directors with allies, effectively enabling them to steer the organization's resources, policies, and mission.
Mission Drift: Once the leadership is replaced, the organization's original mandate can be fundamentally altered to serve the agenda or wealth-protection interests of the new elite.
Smear Campaigns & Discrediting: To justify the ousting of founders, incoming interest groups may target the founders' reputations by raising doubts about their financial management, governance skills, or competence.
Weaponization of PR and Media: Wealthy individuals often have the resources to deploy public relations firms or utilize owned communication platforms to shape public narratives, which can marginalize the voices and credibility of grassroots organizers.
