International Relief and Development Inc.
| Founded | 1998 |
|---|---|
| Focus | international development |
| Location | |
|
Area served
|
International |
| Product | US Government grantee |
|
Key people
|
Arthur B. Keys, Jr (Founder), Roger Ervin (President) |
|
Employees
|
5000 |
| Website | www.ird.org |
International Relief and Development, Inc. (IRD) or Blumont is a nonprofit, nongovernmental organization responsible for implementing relief, stabilization, and development programs worldwide. In 2015, IRD was the subject of a Washington Post investigation that highlighted the organization's performance and management of taxpayer money. Among other irregularities, the organization had charged the US Government $1.1 million for staff parties and retreats at exclusive resorts. In January 2016, IRD announced that it was changing its name to Blumont and relocating to Madison, Wisconsin.
According to IRD, their mission is to reduce the suffering of the world’s most vulnerable groups and provide the tools and resources needed to increase their self-sufficiency. Specializing in meeting the needs of communities emerging from conflict or natural disaster, IRD collaborates with a wide range of partners and donors, local organizations, and many others to deliver sustainable services. IRD has offices and activities in nearly 40 countries in Europe and Asia, the Middle East, Africa, the Americas, and Asia and the Pacific. IRD works in seven key service areas: community stabilization, infrastructure, health, agriculture, democracy and governance, relief, and logistics. More than 80% of IRD's $500 million annual budget comes from USAID. The vast majority of its funding — 82 percent of $2.4 billion — has been spent on projects in Iraq and Afghanistan.
Dr. Arthur B. Keys, Jr. founded IRD in 1998. Dr. Keys has more than 30 years of experience with domestic and international humanitarian assistance, economic development, and food/agriculture programs and oversaw nearly $525 million annually for global development assistance. According to 2007 tax records, Keys was paid $552,722, more than the salary of his counterparts at similar organizations. Keys' wife, daughter and brother-in-law took home an additional $265,278 in salary and benefits. In 2015, it was reported that federal investigators were examining the expenses of Keys, and his wife, Jasna Basaric-Keys, IRD’s director of operations, who together received $5.9 million in total compensation between 2008 and 2012.
Dr. Keys retired from IRD in 2014 and was previously the Executive Director of Interfaith Impact for Justice and Peace, the Secretary for Public Ministries of the United Church Board for Homeland Ministries, and the President of the consulting firm Keys and Associates. When brought under scrutiny for their lavish salaries, Keys and his wife returned or forfeited $1.7 million in retirement pay and bonuses. Keys relinquished his claim to $590,625 in retirement money that had been set aside for him in 2012 and forfeited $320,710 due to be deposited in his retirement account. Basaric-Keys returned $176,318 of a $289,273 bonus she received in 2013 and returned $496,211 in a retirement account and $120,313 out of $121,065 in “other compensation” she collected from the nonprofit.
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Wikipedia