Former CIoF boss “most likely” knew about allegations of sexual harassment or assault and did nothing, report says

The former chief executive of the Chartered Institute of Fundraising was “highly likely” to have known about an allegation of sexual harassment or coercion at one of its annual meetings and took no action, a report says.

A long-running, independent investigation into the CIoF's handling of allegations of sexual harassment and sexual assault, conducted by consultancy Jedi Consultancy, found that the membership organisation had “failed in its responses to previous allegations of sexual harassment/sexual assault”.

In its findings, the report does not name the organization's former head, but says its references to “the former Chief Executive Officer” refer to the CEO who “left the CIOF in June 2021.” Peter Lewis was Chief Executive of the IoF/CIoF from October 2011 to June 2021.

Lewis said today he does not accept the results of the “biased and flawed 'Jedi' counseling exam.”

According to the investigation, announced in August 2021 and published today, new evidence concludes that Lewis learned of an allegation of sexual harassment or coercion at the CIoF annual meeting in 2014.

The investigation, which involved the review of approximately 1,500 pages of evidence and the interviewing of more than 40 people, including former and current CIoF employees, was commissioned after the CIoF repeated criticism of the handling of complaints about sexual misconduct.

In March 2021, allegations emerged on social media that the CIoF had become aware of reports of sexual assault by one of its members at one of its own events and failed to act.

In the same month, then-CEO Peter Lewis announced his resignation after nearly ten years in the role, but denied that his departure was related to the allegations.

After an outcry from members and colleaguesIn June 2021, the CIoF launched investigations into both its own handling of the matter and the allegations of sexual misconduct themselves.

A few days after his resignation, the CIoF announced that the investigation by the recruitment consultancy Tell Jane “found no misconduct” by Lewis. The organization later clarified that the investigation could not find “sufficient evidence” that a complaint about a specific incident in 2014 was made directly to Lewis, but concluded that the complaint was likely made to someone at the CIoF.

The remaining investigation, which was completed in August 2021, confirmed four allegations of sexual harassment against a CIoF fellowwho was not named, and found “clear organizational and governance deficiencies” in “culture and processes.”

The Jedi Consultancy report, released today, says the company did not seek to make findings on specific incidents, except for disputed allegations that Lewis was made aware of third-party conduct at the CIoF annual conference in 2014 that could amount to sexual harassment or coercion, and did not respond.

Lewis, who left the CIoF in 2021, has always denied that he was informed of the incident, but the Jedi Consultancy report says a new witness has come forward with evidence related to the incident and an email has emerged that the CIoF had not shared with Tell Jane as part of its investigation.

According to the report, this person witnessed and overheard the survivor telling Lewis about the allegations against the third person, known as P1.

The email goes on to say that Lewis called P1 “inappropriate” at the 2014 convention.

Lewis denied being informed of the incident at the time and told the investigation team he was “not referring to sexually inappropriate conduct, but rather to other unrelated conduct that he considered inappropriate,” the report said.

It states: “We were not convinced by this explanation because the broader context of this email thread was about issues of sexual harassment. Therefore, it was not clear to us why he would raise completely unrelated behavioral issues at this time.

“After carefully reviewing all documentary evidence, the credibility of witness statements and weighing all relevant factors, we conclude that the events described by the anonymous attendee at the 2014 conference, namely that she told the former CEO about allegations of sexual harassment/assault at the relevant time, most likely occurred.”

The report continues: “After carefully reviewing all documentary evidence, the credibility of witness statements and considering all relevant factors, we conclude that it is more than likely that CIoF knew at the relevant times that sexual harassment/assault was a problem at CIoF (and in the wider sector).

“Accordingly, we conclude that the CIoF has failed in its responses to previous allegations of sexual harassment/assault.”

It also states: “The former CEO and/or CIoF knew or should have known about other incidents related to sexual harassment/assault within the CIoF from late 2017 onwards.”

It states that although the CIoF took certain measures from 2018 onwards, the member organisation “failed to respond in an appropriately timely manner to the allegations of which it was aware at the relevant times, in particular in the period up to 2018”.

The report goes on to say that CIoF's policies and processes have “improved significantly” since the Tell Jane investigation and that the membership organisation is making good progress in implementing an action plan drawn up at the time.

“We have provided further advice to the CIoF to further improve these policies and processes,” the report said.

Peter Lewis told Third Sector: “I do not accept the findings of the biased and flawed ‘Jedi’ consultancy review.

“I have always made it clear that I have never received a complaint or communication to which I have not responded promptly.

“Under my leadership, the CIoF has taken action, investigated complaints, changed the complaints procedure, deployed Tell Jane, commissioned the Learning Review and developed the Action Plan that the CIoF has driven forward over the last three years.

“We did not do everything right and I would like to once again sincerely apologize to everyone who was harmed.”

The CIoF said today that it fully accepts the findings and recommendations of the review.

Nadine Campbell, Chair of CIoF, said: “We deeply sympathise with victims of sexual harassment or assault. We deeply regret that we have not responded properly to previous incidents of such behaviour and that this has caused distress and trauma to these individuals.”

“We fully recognise and accept that the CIoF has made mistakes which have resulted in our failure to protect and support the people in our community and have unnecessarily prolonged the suffering they have had to endure.”

She said the organisation had “failed in many ways”, including failing to show appropriate compassion and provide sufficient support to people “who made the very difficult decision to tell us what they had been through”.

Raggi Kotak, director of Jedi Consultancy, said: “We would like to thank those who have had the courage to bring these painful issues to light. We recognise that this has come at a huge personal cost.

“The CIoF plays an important role in creating robust safety and conduct standards for the fundraising sector. We encourage them to continue to take bold and active steps forward to ensure that oppression issues are completely eradicated.”