Brian A. Gallagher, who has led United Way Worldwide, the world’s largest privately funded nonprofit since 2009, abruptly announced his resignation Tuesday amid claims that the charity mishandled internal allegations of sexual harassment and discrimination.
Gallagher’s resignation, announced in a farewell note, takes effect March 1. The group’s board of directors plans to announce an interim CEO before he leaves.
In November, after complaints filed by three former female employees with the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission and published reports in HuffPost, United Way Worldwide hired a law firm to investigate the claims and the way the nonprofit’s leadership handled them. Last week, the firm, Proskauer Rose, concluded that management’s handling of the complaints was appropriate and that the dismissals were “based on legitimate, non-discriminatory, and non-retaliatory reasons.”
Gallagher said in his farewell note that the report’s release made him decide to move up his planned exit.
“We were actively working toward a transition for me sometime later in 2021 at the conclusion of a CEO search process,” Gallagher wrote to his colleagues. “But, I and the board think it’s best for United Way if I step down as CEO sooner. It was important to me that I stay through this period so my colleagues and I could be cleared of any wrongdoing. That’s done; and now it feels like the right time.”