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For-profit

Bowers Consulting Firm

Website:

https://www.bowersconsulting.com/
Location:

United States
President:

Shalomyah Bowers
Type:

Left-of-Center political consulting firm

Bowers Consulting Firm is a for-profit left-progressive consulting firm connected to the Black Lives Matter (BLM) movement. Since its founding, Bowers has consulted for more than 20 organizations, managed more than 10 electoral campaigns, and led more than eight issue-advocacy campaigns. 1

The firm was founded and is led by Shalomyah Bowers, an associate of Patrisse Cullors, a founder of the BLM movement. Cullors resigned from most of her formal leadership positions in numerous BLM groups after allegations of financial mismanagement. Bowers remains a board member of these groups, but the Bowers Consulting Firm and Bowers have come under suspicion for their possible connections to alleged financial mismanagement at Black Lives Matter Global Network Foundation.

Clients and Campaigns

Bowers Consulting Firm lists the following clients on its website: the Orleans Parish School Board in Louisiana, Californians for Responsible Marijuana Reform, Campaign for School Equity, Movement for Black Lives, the Digital Pioneers Academy, the Black Alliance for Education Options, the Baeo Social Innovation Challenge, Reform L.A. County Jails, Vote Yes on R, We are Drug Policy Action, and the Newark Charter School Fund. 2

Bowers worked with the Black Lives Matter Global Network Foundation, on which Bowers Consulting Group founder Shalomyah Bowers is a board member, to produce shows on People’s Television. 3

Bowers Consulting Firm organized the New Jersey Complete Count campaign to encourage New Jersey residents to complete the 2020 census. 4

Bowers Consulting Firm runs the #UpSkill campaign to train workers to function in the tech sector and transfer to new jobs. The first stage of the campaign aims to help 7,100 workers. 5

Shalomyah Bowers

Shalomyah Bowers, who also goes by Christman Bowers, is the founder and president of Bowers Consulting Firm. 6 7

Bowers is a board member and the chief financial officer of Dignity and Power Now, a left-of-center advocacy group founded by Cullors. 8 9 He is also a board member and the treasurer of the Black Lives Matter PAC. 10 11

Bowers is a board member of Reform L.A. Jails, a group which was founded and led by Cullors and also paid Cullors $20,000 per month for consulting services. 12 The group has paid Bowers Consulting Group more than $270,000. 13 14

Bowers is a board member of the Black Lives Matter Global Network Foundation, one of the leading BLM groups. 15 16 In January 2022, the Washington Examiner published an article alleging that the leadership of Black Lives Matter Global Network Foundation (BLMGNF) had mismanaged tens of millions of dollars in donations, including putting incorrect information on its tax forms and having no clear leadership. Bowers is one of two known board members to remain after Cullors resigned and two designated appointees left before they could begin working due to disagreements with the organization. 17

Black Lives Matter Grassroots Lawsuit

In September 2022, Black Lives Matter Grassroots filed a lawsuit against Bowers and Bowers Consulting Firm, as well as the BLMGNF. The complaint alleged that Bowers had stolen more than $10 million in donations from BLMGNF, using it as his “personal piggy bank,” and accused him of “blazing a path of irreparable harm to BLM in less than eighteen months,” including investigations into the group by the Internal Revenue Service (IRS) and multiple state attorneys general.18

The lawsuit claimed that Bowers had “diverted…donations to his own coffers and intentionally took calculated steps to prevent those same resources from being used by BLM…” It also accused him of breaching his fiduciary duties and engaging in self-dealing.19 Melina Abdullah, a co-director of Black Lives Matter Grassroots, stated that the BLMGNF had “been taken away from the people who built it” and that it was “now led by a highly paid consultant who paid himself upwards of $2 million in a single year.”20

After the lawsuit was filed, an attorney for the BLMGNF released a statement calling the allegations “completely false” and predicting that the suit was “destined to lose.” The statement claimed that the foundation had “only made payments to Bowers Consulting Firm since 2020 pursuant to its fully executed and legal contract with Bowers Consulting Firm,” which it said had been approved prior to when Bowers had joined the group’s board of directors. It also stated that all BLMGNF board members, including Bowers, “are working day in and day out toward the long-term stability of BLMGNF.”21

References

  1. “About Bowers.” Bowers Consulting. Accessed February 1, 2022. https://www.bowersconsulting.com/about.
  2. “Work & Wins.” Bowers Consulting. Accessed February 1, 2022. https://www.bowersconsulting.com/.
  3. “Black Lives Matter.” People’s TV. Accessed February 1, 2022. https://peoples.tv/case-study/black-lives-matter/
  4. “New Jersey Complete Count.” Bowers Consulting. Accessed February 1, 2022. https://www.bowersconsulting.com/new-jersey-complete-count.
  5. “Let’s #UpSkill America.” Bowers Consulting. Accessed February 1, 2022. https://www.bowersconsulting.com/upskill-america.
  6. Kerr, Andrew. “BLM’s millions unaccounted for after leaders quietly jumped ship.” Washington Examiner. January 27, 2022. Accessed February 1, 2022. https://www.washingtonexaminer.com/news/blms-millions-go-unaccounted-for-after-leaders-quietly-jump-ship.
  7. Campbell, Sean. “The BLM Mystery Where did the Money Go?” Intelligencer. January 31, 2022. Accessed February 1, 2022. https://nymag.com/intelligencer/2022/01/black-lives-matter-finances.html.
  8. “Our Board.” Dignity and Power Now. Accessed February 1, 2022. http://dignityandpowernow.org/about-us/.
  9. Campbell, Sean. “The BLM Mystery Where did the Money Go?” Intelligencer. January 31, 2022. Accessed February 1, 2022. https://nymag.com/intelligencer/2022/01/black-lives-matter-finances.html.
  10. Kerr, Andrew. “BLM’s millions unaccounted for after leaders quietly jumped ship.” Washington Examiner. January 27, 2022. Accessed February 1, 2022. https://www.washingtonexaminer.com/news/blms-millions-go-unaccounted-for-after-leaders-quietly-jump-ship.
  11. Campbell, Sean. “The BLM Mystery Where did the Money Go?” Intelligencer. January 31, 2022. Accessed February 1, 2022. https://nymag.com/intelligencer/2022/01/black-lives-matter-finances.html.
  12. Kerr, Andrew. “BLM’s millions unaccounted for after leaders quietly jumped ship.” Washington Examiner. January 27, 2022. Accessed February 1, 2022. https://www.washingtonexaminer.com/news/blms-millions-go-unaccounted-for-after-leaders-quietly-jump-ship.
  13. Haworth, Ian. “Records Show BLM Co-Founder’s ‘Jail Reform’ Campaign Gave $60k To Her Own Consulting Firm, Thousands More For Friends And Luxury Malibu Resort.” Daily Wire. April 27, 2021. Accessed February 1, 2022. https://www.dailywire.com/news/records-show-blm-co-founder-patrisse-cullors-jail-reform-campaign-gave-60k-to-her-consultancy-thousands-more-for-friends-and-luxury-malibu-resort.
  14. Campbell, Sean. “The BLM Mystery Where did the Money Go?” Intelligencer. January 31, 2022. Accessed February 1, 2022. https://nymag.com/intelligencer/2022/01/black-lives-matter-finances.html.
  15. Kerr, Andrew. “BLM’s millions unaccounted for after leaders quietly jumped ship.” Washington Examiner. January 27, 2022. Accessed February 1, 2022. https://www.washingtonexaminer.com/news/blms-millions-go-unaccounted-for-after-leaders-quietly-jump-ship.
  16. Campbell, Sean. “The BLM Mystery Where did the Money Go?” Intelligencer. January 31, 2022. Accessed February 1, 2022. https://nymag.com/intelligencer/2022/01/black-lives-matter-finances.html.
  17. Kerr, Andrew. “BLM’s millions unaccounted for after leaders quietly jumped ship.” Washington Examiner. January 27, 2022. Accessed February 1, 2022. https://www.washingtonexaminer.com/news/blms-millions-go-unaccounted-for-after-leaders-quietly-jump-ship
  18. Noah Goldberg. “Black Lives Matter Leader Accused of Stealing $10 Million From Organization.” Los Angeles Times. September 2, 2022. Available at: https://www.latimes.com/california/story/2022-09-02/black-lives-matter-leader-accused-of-stealing-10-million-from-organization
  19. Jon Brown. “Black Lives Matter Leader Accused of Stealing $10M From Organization: ‘Unjust Enrichment.’” Fox News. September 4, 2022. Available at: https://www.foxnews.com/us/black-lives-matter-leader-accused-stealing-ten-million-organization-unjust-enrichment
  20. Brad Dress. “Black Lives Matter Exec Accused of Stealing $10M in Lawsuit.” The Hill. September 5, 2022. Available at: https://thehill.com/regulation/court-battles/3629589-black-lives-matter-exec-accused-of-stealing-10m-in-lawsuit/
  21. Byron McLain. “Response From BLMGNF’s Lawyer to Melina Abdullah and BLM Grassroots Lawsuit.” Black Lives Matter Global Network Foundation. September 5, 2022. Available at: https://blacklivesmatter.com/response-from-blmgnfs-lawyer-to-melina-abdullah-and-blm-grassroots-lawsuit/
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