College Board of Trustees ‘Disappointed’ by ‘Unauthorized Use’ of MacKenzie Scott’s $20M Donation

YOU NEED TO KNOW

• In 2021, Santa Barbara City College received a $20 million gift from philanthropist MacKenzie Scott, the largest donation in the school’s history.

• Just weeks ago, the school’s Board of Trustees issued a statement saying it was “disappointed to learn” that a portion of this gift “was used without express permission.”

• In a statement to PEOPLE, Bobbi Abram, CEO of the Santa Barbara City College Foundation, acknowledged the “accounting failure” but emphasized that the money was used “in line with the donor’s intent.”

A community college in California received a $20 million gift from philanthropists MacKenzie Scott However, according to officials, some of the money was used without the necessary permissions.

Santa Barbara City College Board of Trustees President Jonathan Abboud said in a statement late last month that the board “concerned” about “unauthorized use”“From Scott’s 2021 donation, the largest in the school’s 112-year history..

In a separate statement obtained by PEOPLE, the Santa Barbara City College Foundation said it “effectively funds the majority” of the donation. Promise ProgramProviding tutoring aid, books and other supplies to local high school students.

SBCC Foundation CEO Bobbi Abram said: SFGATE It was stated that approximately $10.5 million of the billionaire philanthropist’s donation was used for the program from 2021 to 2024.

Abram said the funds were used without approval from the foundation’s board of directors, Santa Barbara City College officials or the school’s board of trustees.

There is now $13 million left over from Scott’s original gift.

Abboud said the trustees were “disappointed” to learn what happened, but were “nevertheless grateful to the SBCC Foundation’s current leadership and staff for identifying past unauthorized activity and launching a comprehensive review of the SBCC Foundation’s past accounting practices and quickly improving internal controls.”

The school stated that because the SBCC Foundation is a separate legal entity, the board of trustees initiated its own investigation.

Going forward, Abboud said the SBCC Board of Directors “will continue to work collaboratively with the SBCC Foundation to appropriately address this matter and ensure full transparency and accountability in the use of gift funds.”

When reached for comment by PEOPLE, Abram said the foundation wanted to emphasize that the funds were “not misused.”

“More than 1,800 local students are supported by Promise each year. It is a nationally recognized program that makes higher education accessible to local families,” Abram said. “Using a portion of Scott’s gift funds for Promise was not ‘abuse.’ It was entirely consistent with the foundation’s mission and the donor’s intent.”

“What is that? it was “This is an accounting process error and lack of transparency and authority that we discovered in 2025 and have now corrected,” Abram continued. continued Abram.

SBCC’s student newspaper channels and SFGATE reported that Abram took over as CEO of the SBCC Foundation in May 2024 and conducted an audit early last year after finding discrepancies in accounting records.

“Since this misrepresentation occurred at the fund level, [a previous] “It was the previous management’s responsibility to audit and report it to the auditors,” Abram told SFGATE.

Abram said the SBCC Foundation is trying to monitor its accounting more closely to prevent such situations. Santa Barbara Independent.

Scott has made numerous significant donations to educational institutions and other organizations across the country.

It donated more than $560 million in 2020, according to a report by Rutgers University. 23 historically Black colleges and universities nationwide.

Analyzing the immediate impact of Scott’s donations, Rutgers researchers found that “on average, the average enrollment rate of new students at HBCUs that received funding was more than 300 students higher than the average enrollment rate of those that did not receive funding.”

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Accordingly SFGATEShortly after donating $50 million to California State University in the East Bay, he also gave $38 million to the University of California at Merced. It donated more than $7.1 billion to nonprofit groups in 2025 alone.

Dedicated Scott donates most of his wealth During his lifetime, his net worth is currently estimated to be around $40 billion. Bloomberg Billionaires Index.

In the years since his divorce Divorce from Jeff Bezos It became official in 2019 and as a result, approximately $36 billion settlementScott “transformed” philanthropy with his sizable and unrestricted donations, according to a three-year study published by . Center for Effective Philanthropy last year.

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