New BLM head Cicley Gay has filed for personal bankruptcy three times – New York Post

The Black Lives Matters national group has a new executive to deal with its financial scandal: a woman whos bungled her own finances.

Cicley Gay, 44, a non-profit advisor and flack named chair of Black Lives Matter Global Network Foundation in April, filed for Chapter 7 bankruptcy in 2005, 2013 and 2016, federal court records show.

Her most recent filing, from August 2016, showed Gay had more than $120,000 in debts, including owing $55,000 in student loans from her time studying at Liberty University in Virginia and the University of Kansas and more than $18,000 for leasing a Lincoln MKZ sedan.

She also claimed to have $7,000 in medical expenses and owed $8,000 to two Christian schools, according to the records.

The Atlanta-based consultant had to submit to court-mandated courses on managing her money, the filings indicate, and she completed one course on Dec. 15, 2016.

But a Georgia federal judge tossed out Gays 2013 application for protection because she failed to pay the courts administrative fee of $306.

And Gay answered No when asked if she had registered a business within four years of filing for bankruptcy in 2016, according to the documents but Georgia state records show that in October 2015 she founded The Amplifiers, a public relations and consulting firm.

Gay was able to get most of her debts discharged in 2017, the bankruptcy records state, though its unclear under what terms.

The executive has spent more than 20 years advising non-profits, according to her LinkedIn profile, which claims she is skilled in grant allocations for charities.

Her hiring comes as BLM faces heat over its spending.

The organizations most recent federal tax filing showed it splurged on luxury homes, purchasing two sprawling mansions, in Los Angeles and Toronto, for about $12 million total, while doling out big bucks to a co-founders family members.

The group currently has more than $43 million in assets, according to its 2020 fiscal year filing, which covers July 1, 2020, to June 30, 2021.

No one expected the foundation to grow at this pace and to this scale, Gay said in a statement earlier this month.

Now, we are taking time to build efficient infrastructure to run the largest Black, abolitionist, philanthropic organization to ever exist in the United States.

Gay, who is one of three new board members, is also a partner in the Atlanta-based consulting firm The Media Brand, which she incorporated with a partner in 2020, according to Georgia state business records.

She doesnt list the company on her LinkedIn page.

Gay, named one of Georgias 40 Under 40 entrepreneurs in 2017, worked for the NAACP legal and education fund and The Amplifiers, among other companies, the page says. The Amplifiers was dissolved on August 24, 2017, according to the state records.

BLM did not respond to emails seeking comment.

I am so proud of the work Ive done to support my children and build a better life for them as a single mother, said Gay in a written statement after The Post asked for comment.

In addition to engaging in a thorough vetting process, the Foundation recognized that I not only bring 20 years of extensive professional non-profit experience to the board, but I also bring personal experiences that mirror those of the people we are trying to serve.That is the work of the foundation to break down systemic barriers to living full livesby providing the insights, tools and supports necessary for Black people to thrive.

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New BLM head Cicley Gay has filed for personal bankruptcy three times - New York Post