Benefits Data Trust, recipient of the $20M MacKenzie Scott grant, replaced CEO Trooper Sanders
It was not immediately clear why the Philadelphia nonprofit decided to part ways with Trooper Sanders for Wendy Starner, its CFO.
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Benefits Data Trust, the recipient of a no-strings-attached $20 million grant from philanthropist MacKenzie Scott in 2022, replaced its CEO with the organization‘s chief financial officer on an interim basis, the nonprofit said Tuesday.
The Philadelphia nonprofit, which helps people access government benefits, did not say why its board replaced CEO Trooper Sanders with its chief financial officer, Wendy Starner, who joined Benefits Data Trust early last year. Sanders had been CEO since September 2019.
”During these challenging times, I appreciate the confidence that the board of directors has placed in me to serve them and BDT in this capacity as interim CEO and CFO,” Starner said.
A board document obtained by The Inquirer showed that as of October, Benefits Data Trust, abbreviated as BDT, was on track to report a $9.8 million loss for 2023. Final 2023 financial results were not available. BDT’s 2022 audited financial statement showed that it had $46 million in revenue, up from $28 million the year before. The grant from Scott caused the big gain.
In a March 2022 interview about the $20 million gift, Sanders said it would allow the Center City group to think about how to “make the challenge of benefits access a thing of the past over the next decade.” BDT later called that effort its “10-year moonshot,” with the goal of making it possible for everyone who qualifies to “apply for benefits in 20 minutes or less.”
Warren Kantor, a former credit card executive, founded BDT in 2005. He wanted to see whether marketing techniques used to sell people credit cards could help find seniors and others who needed help signing up for benefits. Kantor was motivated by the challenge of helping his widowed mother sign up for a prescription drug benefit.
State government agencies, health insurers, and others pay the Philadelphia nonprofit to help people access government benefits for food, housing, and health care. BDT operates in about 15 states. Two years ago, it employed 340, many of them working in call centers.
When BDT works with health insurers, it’s often with Medicaid managed-care companies. But last week, Independence Blue Cross announced that it was working with BDT to help privately insured customers with prediabetes access benefits, such as food, childcare, housing, and utilities.