Confidential audit reveals deep divide between Tarrant County College Foundation, district

A confidential audit warned an abrupt change in leadership at the Tarrant County College Foundation likely would strain an already small staff and hinder fundraising. Nonetheless, TCC Chancellor Eugene Giovannini wanted new leadership. He thought a new foundation leader could propel the foundation to reach an ambitious $20 million fundraising goal. Foundation board members received the 16-page document in February 2020. By October that year, the foundation’s longtime executive director, Joe McIntosh, was no longer leading the nonprofit he had shepherded for 14 years. Kristen Bennett took over his duties, becoming TCC’s executive vice president of advancement.

Just over a year later, Bennett also no longer works for TCC, and the foundation is nowhere near its fundraising target. The executive director turnover is one example of the rift between the foundation and district that dates back to at least 2020. The Fort Worth Report recently obtained the audit through an open records request. The document details the tense relationship between the entities and how it could ultimately harm donor relationships, impacting the hundreds of students who receive foundation scholarships every year. “Donor relationships, information, processes, and progress is difficult to share between the two offices due to a disconnect, lack of trust, and a territorial divide, a barrier to sustaining a philanthropic culture,” the audit said. The TCC Foundation board of directors tapped Project Partners to assemble an audit of the nonprofit. Project Partners is a consulting and program management firm based in Fort Worth.