What we can learn from James O'Keefe being forced out of Project Veritas

We must make activism entrepreneurial. Running non-profits comes with complications.

Update: Since this article was originally published, new information has come to light that has changed my perspective on the situation. James O’Keefe was not forced out by the board, and did not resign. A lawsuit filed after the incident shows James was fired by the board several months after this article was published.

However, I am leaving this article as I originally published it because the broader point remains true. It remains so true that it’s exactly what James O’Keefe did after he walked out on his job and abandoned the organization he founded.

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Last night, we discovered that the icon of guerilla journalism, James O’Keefe, was forced out of his role as the head of Project Veritas because of a hostile takeover by the board.

According to this Twitter thread by a man with a source inside the organization, the board staged a coup to outs James from his leadership position:

Apparently, what happened is that two executives in the company - Tom O’Hara and Barry Hinckley - were fired by James a week ago for insubordination. We don’t know what the insubordination was…but they did come back in less than a week to rally the board through a six-hour struggle session and then place James O’Keefe on leave. After James was forced out of the company, the two executives got the board to reinstate their jobs.

Perhaps the insubordination was that James discovered they were planning to betray him and removed them, or perhaps they began implementing their plan for a hostile takeover after they were fired. We don’t know for sure, and perhaps reporting will come out in the coming days to shed more light on the situation.

Here is an article from New York Magazine explaining the situation.

I also discussed this last night on a stream on my channel as the news was breaking. YouTube took down the stream, but you can find the archive on Odysee.

While the board claims that James O’Keefe is a toxic leader, I suspect there’s more to it.

I don’t think it’s a coincidence that this happened just as Project Veritas took down Pfizer, and I think it’s deeply suspicious that there is no video evidence of the toxic behaviors they are accusing James of. Of all organizations that should have no problem providing video evidence, it’s this one.

But I digress. I want to use this example of a visionary being summarily removed from his position to discuss a larger point: The dangers of activist organizations operating as non-profits.

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The dangers of forming a non-profit.

There are a lot of people who are going to be covering the story of how and why James was removed from his role at Project Veritas in the coming days. And hopefully, there will be enough public pressure and donor complaints to reinstate James because the reality is this:

James O’Keefe is Project Veritas, and Project Veritas will either fail or fundamentally change without James O’Keefe.

And that’s why we need to have a conversation about the business structure that caused this to happen and why activist organizations and efforts must be private businesses, instead of the coveted non-profit. Because, in the case of James O’Keefe, his business structure paved the way to his downfall.

Running a non-profit has a lot of benefits, including tax exemption and being able to solicit large donation checks from donors which can also be a tax write-off. There is also a perceived level of prestige to running a non-profit - it can be viewed as a more credible organization.

However, there are two very large drawbacks:

1. Becoming a non-profit and gaining that tax exemption makes you particularly open to government interference. For an organization like Project Veritas that is actively working to dispel the narrative, this was always going to bite them eventually - you cannot be in bed with the government while simultaneously exposing the corruption of the government. They will pull every string they can to bring you down. This isn’t to say that private businesses can’t experience government interference, but it is more difficult.

2. Becoming a non-profit requires that you have a board which the CEO reports to. People are asking how James O’Keefe could be removed from the leadership position of the company he runs. The answer is that he doesn't run the company. The board runs the company, and James reports to them. This is what allows a hostile board to remove him from power, and there’s nothing he can do about it.

The financial benefits of starting a non-profit can be substantial. But the drawbacks can lead to you losing everything you’ve built, out of nowhere.

I suggest there’s a better way.

Make activism entrepreneurial.

This morning, I woke up to find that I’d achieved the milestone of Substack bestseller, which comes with a fancy new checkmark next to my name. Thank you to the hundreds of people who have paid for subscriptions to my publication to support my work - I cannot do this without your support.

And the reason I bring this up is that Actively Unwoke is a brand under my private for-profit company, The Unwoke Experience, LLC. I am the sole manager for this company. I make all decisions for the company. I report to no one but myself, and to you, the people who subscribe to my content on this and other platforms, and who financially support my work.

I thought about creating a non-profit. In some respects, it would be easier and gain me more resources to play with.

But the drawbacks are too great. While I knew it would take longer to build this way, I knew that I had to make this an entrepreneurial venture.

The work I’m doing targets the primary battlefield for woke indoctrination: The public schools. If I’m successful in what I’m trying to accomplish, government interference will not be far behind. And there are very few people I would trust enough in this space to put them on a board that would have power over something that is my brainchild.

I work 12-15 hours a day, almost every day of the week, without taking vacations, to build what I’m building. I’m not about to give that up to give people power over my work who may or may not use that power justly.

That’s why building a base of supporters like many of you, through a subscription model that is a private business, is the only way I could see moving forward.

When there are activists in the space that you value, take advantage of ways you can to financially support their efforts. Most activists do the work in their spare time, after they’ve already worked a full-time job. What that means is that they are very susceptible to burnout and quitting. We need all hands on deck. If you can’t be outspoken in public, that’s ok. Not everyone can be. But please support the people who are, either with a financial contribution or by sharing the work they are doing with your audience.

We have to make unwoke activism entrepreneurial by giving activists ways to earn money and financial support outside of a non-profit model. It is the only path forward.

Thank you to the people who choose to subscribe on here to support my work. I can’t do it without you.

What do you think?

What are your thoughts about James O’Keefe being removed from Project Veritas? Do you have other solutions for how to prevent this? Leave a comment and let me know! And please share this with your friends and family who need to learn this information.

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