EducationWorks lays off 133 employees after CEO’s death, citing ‘serious financial shortfall’

EducationWorks, a publicly funded nonprofit that runs after-school programs at Philadelphia public schools and houses workforce development organization PowerCorpsPHL, has laid off 133 employees and stopped its school programs.

The layoffs followed a difficult few weeks at the organization, headquartered at 10th and Spring Garden Streets: Workers missed a month’s worth of wages and are still waiting to get paid. And on Tuesday, employees learned that CEO Miles H. Wilson had died suddenly.

“We are shocked and deeply saddened to learn of the death earlier today of our leader, Miles H. Wilson,” read a statement sent to staff Tuesday afternoon by COO Tiffaney Waters. “For nearly a decade, Miles was the face and the heart of our organization, a driving force whose service in support of at-risk children and young adults positively impacted thousands of lives across the city of Philadelphia.”

Layoff notices, which went out Thursday but were dated Monday, cited a “serious financial shortfall due to outstanding accounts receivable and operating costs.”

“We were forced into this position because we are awaiting significant payment for services already rendered to local and State providers,” interim board chair Marc Orlow said in a statement to The Inquirer.

Regarding the missed paychecks, EducationWorks said it was “actively involved in discussions with the City of Philadelphia regarding the payment of invoices related to this issue, and we look forward to a resolution so that we can address the problem.”

City spokesperson Sarah Peterson said officials are “aware of the administrative and financial challenges recently experienced by our long-term provider EducationWorks.”

“For the past several months, we have worked with EducationWorks to ensure that it received timely payments,” Peterson said. “We have done this while balancing our responsibility to disburse public funds appropriately and in accordance with grant guidelines.”

EducationWorks operated after-school programs at about a dozen schools. This week, it sent letters to those schools, notifying them of the end of its programs and suggesting nearby alternatives.

“Due to lack of the EW staff, it would be greatly appreciated if the families that were attending the program be notified of the finality and closure,” Waters wrote Wednesday in an email to a school administrator that was shared with The Inquirer.

A school district spokesperson declined to comment.

Public Health Management Corp., which provides services for the city’s after-school program providers, and the city said they were working to find options for the children and families participating in EducationWorks programs.

It’s not clear how many remain employed at EducationWorks. In its federal tax filing for the fiscal year ending June 30, 2021, the most recent available, EducationWorks employed 311.

That fiscal year, its annual revenue was $8.4 million; its net income was about $500,000. More than 90% of its revenue came from the government, according to the tax filing.

In the previous fiscal year, it operated at a loss of $1.4 million.

This was not the first time EducationWorks had failed to pay workers on time, four former employees said. Before May, it had happened at least twice in the past year.

PowerCorpsPHL staff were laid off as well, according to an automatic email response from Julia Hillengas, the organization’s executive director. “The staff of PowerCorpsPHL will continue the work under a new organizational structure,” she wrote.

Wilson, 49, had led EducationWorks since 2015. Previously, he was the director of talent and collaboration and convener of the Great Schools Compact for the nonprofit formerly known as the Philadelphia School Partnership. The Lincoln University graduate was raised by a single mother who attended one of the first classes at West Philadelphia High School that included Black students.

In a 2017 interview with The Inquirer, he said he learned an important lesson from his mother, who went to college in her 40s:

“When you are living in the world we live in, that’s filled with institutional racism, classism, you have to be willing to power through.”