After Decades of Service and $40 Million in Donations, Gamble Family Resigns from Pathfinder Board and Halts Financial Donations

BOSTON, Sept. 27, 2021 /PRNewswire/ -- Two members of the prominent Gamble family announced today they are resigning from the board of Pathfinder International, a major international nonprofit organization started by their father. They also announced their family would end their decades of financial support to Pathfinder.

Sister and brother Julia "Judy" Kahrl and Walter Gamble notified Pathfinder board members and its CEO by email this morning of their immediate resignations. They cited a lack of transparency, low morale and high turnover at the Watertown, Mass.-based international organization, which utilizes over $100 million a year in grant funding from donors, including from the U.S. Agency for International Development, for the organization's reproductive health and family planning programs in developing countries.

Pathfinder was founded in 1957 by the siblings' father, Clarence Gamble, an heir to the Procter & Gamble Company fortune. The Gamble family itself has donated $40 million to Pathfinder over the years.

The family has sought?but been denied?information on CEO Lois Quam's management performance evaluation for months. Having that evaluation is key to addressing the nearly 100 percent turnover in US staff since Quam became CEO four years ago, they said.

The family said it is concerned that Pathfinder is now on its third chief financial officer in five years, as well as a string of communications officers. They say they also have questioned expenditures, including a $216,000 severance package for a former human resources director after just four years on the job.

"It is the responsibility of a board member to understand how an organization and its chief executive leader are performing," Kahrl said. "Every time we asked for performance evaluations of Pathfinder CEO Lois Quam, the board chair was unwilling to share that information. That is not the transparency a nonprofit should demonstrate, especially when Pathfinder has hundreds of employees around the world who are expecting us to exercise oversight."

Last week, Ben Kahrl--son of Judy Kahrl--was removed from the board by secret ballot. He had repeatedly asked the board leadership to provide performance evaluations of the CEO, and said his removal was retaliation for asking questions about the CEO's performance.

On Monday (Sept. 27) the Gamble siblings sent a letter to dozens of Pathfinder's high-value supporters and announced that they could no longer support the organization financially. The family intends to channel future donations toward other reproductive rights organizations.

"We remain committed to the important mission of reproductive rights and justice," Walter Gamble said. "Our family will continue to be strong supporters of that mission through other organizations that demonstrate integrity and an unwavering commitment to transparency."

Media Contact: John Boit - (202) 468-9413,
[email protected]

SOURCE Gamble Family