Kathryn Smith Derksen - former MCC Service Worker; MAST steering committee

October 8, 2025 

Dear MCC-US National Board Members,

It is with a sad heart that I write and ask you to respond seriously to the allegations of abuse made by previous workers. This means listening to those who have been harmed, seeking forgiveness and repentance, making things right, and making some real changes to protect workers moving forward. Listening to survivors who have been abused has so far proven very difficult - so you might need the help of an external investigation to believe some of the stories that have come forward. They are hard to believe, even if you are willing to listen, but I firmly believe that the truth will set us all free.

I've worked for many years as a peace-maker, with MCC and MMN in Africa, and in conflict management work in the US. I can tell you from professional experience: hiding wrongs hurts everyone, actively covering them up is even more toxic, and in the end, this mishandling of abuse will hurt MCC the most. I was an MCC baby, and grew up donating to and as soon as I could, working for MCC in peace work. Our family was brutally terminated in 2009, and by brutal I mean, volunteer workers and their small children yanked from their home with no discernible cause or process. It was the worst way it could have been done; there was no compassion. We spent several days in Akron upon return, begging to understand what happened. The head of HR deflected our questions, and then openly lied to us about why we were terminated.

The problem with die-hard volunteers who willingly work in conflict war zones is that we are heavily committed to our calling, and with higher degrees in analyzing conflict, we were not easily put off with gaslighting. We called HR's bluff and filed a grievance, spending the next year investigating our own case. In those days, we still had access to emails and could see things like the properties of digital documents, something today's estranged workers don't have. We pieced together the betrayal by our supervisor, and his "poisoning of the well”' with our partner and in Akron, but MCC didn't want to hear it. We believed that evidence of financial fraud was being covered up, and pressed MCC to the truth. We wanted nothing but to have our experience acknowledged, hoping that with true understanding would come MCC committing to better protection for their field workers.

A year and a half after our termination, the executive director did make a half-hearted apology, but she still could not say what happened. It was as if she had been advised by lawyers to admit no wrong-doing and to take no actual responsibility. I had worked for MCC 8 years in three different places by this point, and my heart was beyond broken. We asked that MCC please learn from our situation: Don't terminate people without process, without cause. Care for your workers, especially in difficult placements. We should be one of your most precious assets. However, the facts around our termination show that MCC decided we were the most disposable element in a complex situation, while those responsible for the actual wrong-doing suffered no consequences. We reluctantly accepted that MCC was trying to do better, and moved on with our lives. Our next placement was with MMN, where we served happily for four years.

Then last year, we learned that more families were being terminated, in hurtful ways, and we couldn't believe it until we heard their stories for ourselves. MCC seemingly had learned all the wrong lessons from our case (eliminate a good grievance procedure, start forcing NDAs instead of just suggesting them, block access to email and other forms of defending oneself). Now, clear fraud and corruption are reported to MCC leadership and the whistle-blowers are abruptly terminated. No need for lengthy meetings in Akron, just make the cut and move on quickly, denying any impropriety, while wrongdoing continues, unabated, with donor money, I might add.

Sexual violence and corruption happen, unfortunately. It's how you deal with them that matters. Blaming a rape victim for her rape, asking country reps to address fraud with a partner and then blaming and firing the rep for trying to push back on fraud or report it - these are abuse, and this is the reason why we speak out now. Firing workers for being sick, for asking questions, for stealing $50 when it turns out they didn't, is also abuse, and shows how easy it has become for those in power at MCC to act with impunity.

I am aware that you are a “hands-off” board, but the level of abuse reports now require your action, especially as those charged with oversight and monitoring of the ethical behavior within the organization. Your fiduciary duty is also important here. We know that involuntary terminations are at a much higher level than MCC is willing to admit publicly. Do you know what the real numbers are? When we returned in 2009, our regional director told us that the number of involuntary terminations in her region was much higher than the non-profit average, and she worried - already then - about the sustainability of MCC. Then there are all the additional costs - from last-minute flights and hotel rooms to lawyers’ fees, and the increased use of payouts to those coerced into NDAs. Nearly half of the abuse cases we are aware of involve those involuntarily terminated. Of those 31, half were offered an NDA (14) and one third (11) signed one - sometimes under severe pressure. Are you aware of these numbers? We are hoping this is not just the tip of the iceberg. Data like this should concern you: it very directly intersects with both ethics and financial stewardship.

And so I appeal to you, members of the Board, to take courage, to have faith in what is right and true, and to ask some hard questions. We all are the owners of MCC, and you are the stewards. MCC leaders have asked you to trust them and leave the "problems with disgruntled workers" for them to deal with. And how are they dealing with it? By hiring a consultant to design a listening process that has quietly been put back on the shelf. By deflecting questions by church leaders with "you don't know the whole story."

Meanwhile, the number of cases reported to MAST (MCC Abuse Survivors Together) continues to grow. We now know of 73 stories of abuse, and people keep coming to us. How many more are out there? What has it cost? And - my most important question right now - how much do we need to uncover before MCC is willing to pivot, to face the ugly things that have been hidden, and to listen? Yes, an investigation is going to be painful, but I believe it will be the least painful in the long run.

Please, can you help make that happen?

Kathryn Smith Derksen