Lpe Collective Inc

“At the end of 2024, the Delaware nonprofit corporation ClassCrits, Inc. completed a long-planned merger with another 501c3 Delaware nonprofit, the Association for the Promotion of Political Economy and Law (APPEAL). The merger dissolved APPEAL as a separate nonprofit and established ClassCrits, Inc. as the surviving 501c3 corporation (EIN 82-1713227). The merger renamed that surviving corporation as the LPE Collective, Inc. and established a new Board of Directors and new corporate bylaws. Those bylaws specify that all assets carried over from the previous nonprofits are the property of the merged organization under governance of its Board and bylaws. That merger was completed with the filing of the Certification of Merger with the Delaware Secretary of State, with receipt confirmed by the Delaware Secretary of State on January 13, 2025. In the fall of 2024, prior to the merger, the Boards of Directors and membership of both organizations formally voted to approve this merger plan without dissent.”

“On or about September 17, 2025, all the funds in the LPE Collectives operating bank account at the time, a total of $68,750.38, were withdrawn and transferred to a new bank account using our EIN but outside of our corporations control. An additional unauthorized amount of $4,000 was diverted from the account in October 2025. This action was taken by an individual who had been a Board member of one of the pre-merger nonprofits but who was not an officer or Board member of the corporation at any time in 2025 and who was not otherwise authorized by the corporation to withdraw funds or manage its finances, but who misrepresented her corporate authority to the bank. The LPE Collective bylaws prohibit anyone not authorized by the Board of Directors from withdrawing corporate funds or controlling corporate bank accounts. In addition, the bylaws specify that upon completion of the merger on December 23, 2024, all assets carried over from the pre-merger nonprofits became assets of the corporation governed by the LPE Collective Board of Directors. On September 19, 2025, the LPE Collective filed a fraud and identity theft complaint with the bank and actively followed up with extensive documentation of the corporate status. We continue to pursue various means to recover these corporate funds.”

“The LPE Collective has classes of members allocated by designated affiliation in a Program that has complied with Board of Directors policies or by at-large affiliation. For each class, we further distinguish Associate Members who are non-voting and do not participate in governance and Voting Full Members, who are individuals who complete an annual online sign up or renewal and pay annual dues according to policies set by the Board of Directors.”

“The 990 is completed with input from individual Board members by email and phone. The final draft is circulated to the Board of Directors by email prior to filing, with an opportunity given to discuss questions or concerns individually or at a Board meeting. All Board members must confirm that they approve the 990 with no further questions or changes prior to filing.”

“The Board of Directors members must sign an annual conflicts of interest written disclosure form affirming that they have received and read the conflict of interest policy, and describing any conflicts of interest, including any compensation received from the LPE Collective, Inc. All compensation paid to Board of Directors members is approved by the Board of Directors by vote after review and deliberation at a meeting with the recipient Board member recused from the discussion and vote. The compensation rate must be comparable to similar professional services and the services must substantially contribute to the nonprofit corporations capacity to carry out its charitable activities.”

“For the Executive Director, a committee of the Board reviewed comparable salaries from similar academic organizations and presented the proposed salary to the full Board for review, discussion and approval.For the Board services compensation and Journal editor stipend, the amount was similarly based on comparable professional pay and estimated hours and level of responsibility. The compensation was reviewed and discussed at meetings of the Board and relevant committees after recusing any Board member receiving the compensation”

“The Corporation made its governing documents available to the public via its website. We did not post any financial statements or 990s as this was the first year as a newly merged organization under a new name. We did not post the conflicts of interest policy or 2025 conflicts disclosures on the website.”

“As part of the December 2024 merger, the LPE Collective Inc. combined activities of three groups, including the former ClassCrits Inc., the former Association for the Promotion of Political Economy and the Law, Inc. (APPEAL) and an unincorporated academic group, the Global LPE Network. See the list of 2025 program services.”

“During 2025, the LPE Collective Inc. provided staff and infrastructure support for planning a 2026 conference as part of a ClassCrits series held most recently in 2022 and 2024. In late 2025, the LPE Collective ceased its role as the organizational home of that conference series.”