Chapter 24 - THE FOUNDATION ALMOST DIED
The scandal threatened to destroy the Reed Legacy Foundation.
Several donors demanded their money back.
News outlets questioned whether Salazar Enterprises had been mismanaged for years.
The board wanted to suspend the foundation.
Valeria refused.
But she also refused to use company money to hide the damage.
“We publish everything,” she said.
Daniel stared at her.
“Everything?”
“Every dollar.”
The foundation released its financial records.
It admitted the weaknesses.
It identified the stolen funds.
It explained how the new safeguards would work.
People expected the foundation to collapse.
Instead, something unexpected happened.
Small-business owners began speaking publicly about what the Reed Fund had done for them.
Grace Bennett appeared on television.
Then another entrepreneur.
Then another.
Within a week, dozens of women came forward.
One woman said:
“I wouldn't have a company without them.”
Another said:
“I wouldn't have employees without them.”
And another said:
“I was given a chance when nobody else believed in me.”
Valeria watched the interviews from her office.
The foundation had survived because its value had never depended on pretending it was perfect.
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It depended on the people it had helped.
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