Hope Florida: Stephanie White Pushes for Transparency -

Board member Stephanie White of Pensacola took center stage at the Hope Florida Foundation board meeting yesterday, questioning discrepancies in the organization’s financial reporting. White challenged the foundation’s Form 990 reporting, noting that substantial distributions appeared missing.

“They were only listed four (distributions) for $40,000. I know for a fact that more money was given,” White stated firmly. “My church was given $20,000 in 2024. None of that is listed.”

White pressed for answers about where these foundation payments:

“Where did that money come from if it was not listed, if it did not come from the Hope Florida Foundation, where were the checks written from?”

Demanding Stronger Oversight

White advocated for more transparent grant approval processes, insisting on greater board involvement in funding decisions. “Maybe we can discuss that and make it a board decision as to who gets grants and how we select those,” she recommended, highlighting the limitations of Sunshine Law that prevent board members from discussing grants outside official meetings.

She requested a workshop to establish proper policies: “My recommendation would be to have a workshop where we can really work through these issues, maybe come to Tallahassee together in person and talk about some of these policies.”

Addressing the “Elephant in the Room”

White didn’t shy away from addressing what she called “the elephant in the room” – a $10 million settlement that had generated significant public scrutiny.

“I guess everyone, the elephant in the room is a $10 million settlement,” White stated directly. “I would like counsel’s advice to was it public money that was used? And we can be assured that everything that happened is correct and that we did everything legal.”

“Well, what your stance going forward should be, I’ll leave that to the chair as to how the board’s going to run,” said Foundation attorney Jeff Aaron. “With regard to those transactions. I know that there are some accusations that I was involved in more than I was involved in. I had nothing to do with the Centene (settlement), and I had nothing to do with the downstream flow.”

He recommended that the board bring in another attorney to advise them to “avoid any appearance of impropriety.”

Aaron added, “I don’t have anything to hide. No one’s actually, surprisingly, with all the buzz, no one’s actually asked me for my information or documents or anything. There’s been chatter and committee meetings, but nothing’s yet been directed to me. Everything that I have is a public record. I’ll produce it to anyone; it doesn’t require a subpoena.”

Board chairman Joshua Hay stated he would work with the CPA firm to see “what monitoring procedures we can put in place going forward. He added, “And also from a retrospective standpoint, if there’s any illicit use of funds, the potential for a callback, I’ll consult with the CPA firm in that regard.”

Organizational Deficiencies

The meeting revealed numerous compliance issues, including typographical errors in organizational documents and inconsistencies in fiscal year reporting. Board members authorized Chairman Josh Hay to coordinate corrections with legal and accounting professionals.

The foundation also lacks staff, with Chairman Hay currently shouldering many responsibilities. White questioned whether the organization even had sufficient funds to hire an executive director: “Do we have the funds to hire an executive director? I guess that is my question. How much money do we have in the bank account?”

Path Forward

The board committed to monthly meetings until all deficiencies were corrected, with White and fellow board members requesting clear policies for grant distributions, financial management, and organizational oversight. The board approved bylaws with specific amendments and agreed to develop grant award procedures.

Chairman Hay acknowledged “control gaps” in operations and pledged personal commitment to strengthening the foundation, even announcing a $25,000 donation from his company to support the mission. The meeting represented a significant step toward greater accountability and transparency for the Hope Florida Foundation.

2 thoughts on “Hope Florida: Stephanie White Pushes for Transparency”

There is more to the story – the board hasn’t been meeting regularly.

She was on the board of Hope Florida’s Foundation and waited until NOW to ask why they were not logging the financial transactions and filing their tax returns? What exactly did she do there prior to this was all exposed? It seems to me like she’s simply being an opportunist.

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Hope Florida: Stephanie White Pushes for Transparency

Demanding Stronger Oversight

Addressing the “Elephant in the Room”

Organizational Deficiencies

Path Forward

2 thoughts on “Hope Florida: Stephanie White Pushes for Transparency”

Rules for Comments

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