TOLEDO, Ohio — Ken Leslie, the founder of 1Matters and Veterans Matter, organizations that advocate for the homeless, announced his resignation from the organizations on social media on Saturday after accusations of sexual harassment were made against him.
In mid-August, three women - Cami Roth Szirotnyak, Rachel Richardson, and Heidi Buck - signed notarized affidavits that accused Leslie of sexual harassment on multiple occasions.
In each case, the women say they voiced their concerns with various board members. They also say Leslie's inappropriate behavior dates back to at least 2012.
In addition, the women sent emails to the boards of Veterans Matter, 1Matters and Toledo Streets Newspaper asking them to have Leslie removed from the boards of the organizations.
In his social media post on Saturday, Leslie said he submitted his resignation to 1Matters and Veterans Matter last week, with Friday being his final day with the organizations.
“Owning my behavior and wanting to do the right thing are the same,” Leslie wrote in his social media post. “Though I will not be involved in either, I have the privilege of always loving the people who have been on this journey with me, those who served or been served.”
On Saturday evening, Szirotnyak, Richardson and Buck released a statement to WTOL 11 concerning Leslie:
Over the course of several years, Ken Leslie sexually harassed us and several other women while leading 1Matters.org/Veterans Matter and Toledo Streets Newspaper. In August, after much legal preparation, we privately shared our reports of harassment and abuse by Mr. Leslie with both Boards and appealed to have him removed from positions of power that gave him access to vulnerable populations.
Toledo Streets Newspapers removed him immediately. 1Matters.org/Veterans Matter, on the other hand, failed to communicate with and/or include us in their “independent” investigation and failed to acknowledge to Mr. Leslie’s victims that he harassed us and abused his power. On his own social media pages, Mr. Leslie even admitted to having been a harasser, yet his Board still did not act, choosing instead to publicly support him.
Sexual harassment is about power. Today, we are pleased that Mr. Leslie will no longer have access to that power as it pertains to homeless veterans and the adjacent organizations that serve them.
We encourage survivors of sexual harassment and abuse to seek support and healing for themselves. Resources to get help include the Emotional Support Line in Lucas County (419-442-0580) and the National Sexual Assault Hotline (1-800-656-4673), or text HOME to 741741 to connect with a Crisis Counselor.
As the women stated, since the allegations were made, Toledo Streets Newspaper has removed Leslie from his position on their board while the other organizations said they were looking into the matter.
After this story was published on Saturday, Ken Leslie sent a written statement to WTOL 11 in which he addressed one of the allegations the Szirotnyak's affidavit; admitting to using "language [which] was unacceptable".
He also says he has started therapy to "make sure that I do not engage in that kind of behavior," and says he is "immensely sorry for any pain from my unacceptable behavior caused any woman":
Two years ago, I was on a volunteer committee for another non-profit, and I pushed the buttons of a woman after she identified herself as a feminist. She labeled it as sexual harassment and explained that harassment isn’t about sex, “it is about power.” The situation was very upsetting to her, and in turn caused me deep reflection and last year I started therapy.
Bottom line, my language was unacceptable, certainly not the conduct of the human and leader I want to be,
As demonstrated for over 30 years, I am committed to learning, understanding, and growing. I continue my therapy to get to the roots, and to make sure that I do not engage in that kind of behavior.
I recognize now the damage caused am immensely sorry for any pain from my unacceptable behavior caused any woman.
I want to help heal. That has always been, and always will be, my mission.
My resignation was in effort to help heal. I pray for forgiveness and for comfort and peace to any and all who I have hurt.
Neither Tent City nor Veterans Matter are about me. Both are about the people we serve, and that servanthood will continue.
Though I will no longer be involved, Veterans Matter and Tent City will continue strongly, with the same teams, partners and volunteers that we have been honored to serve with since the organization’s founding in 1990.