Allen Institute

“In 2024, the allen institute experienced a diversion of assets resulting from a wire transfer sent to an imposter posing as a legitimate vendor. A payment of $261,363, intended as a vendor payment, was sent to a fraudulent account after the intended vendor's email and servers were compromised. The institute followed its standard payment controls for this transaction, including verbal confirmation of the payment instructions. Despite prompt action to investigate and recover the funds, the full amount was determined to be unrecoverable. The institute notified its financial institution and filed a report with the fbi (ic3). To reduce the risk of payment fraud, the institute implemented supplier self-registration functionality within its erp system. This control strengthens the vendor onboarding process by requiring suppliers to securely submit and update their own banking information through a verified portaleliminating reliance on potentially compromised email communications or vendor websites. The institute filed claims under its insurance coverage and has received loss payments totaling $200,000 in 2025.”

“The finance department and the legal department perform a thorough review, and the board members are given copies before filing.”

“The allen institute requires directors to comply with the board of directors conflict of interest policy. On an annual basis, each board member must sign a disclosure form confirming receipt of this policy and that they have disclosed any actual or potential conflicts of interest. If a board member believes they have an actual or potential conflict of interest that arises before the next annual disclosure, they must identify and disclose the conflict of interest. The general counsel advises the chair of the finance, risk & audit (fra chair) committee if a conflict of interest is received and if the disclosure needs to be addressed. The general counsel then reviews and makes an initial determination about whether an actual or potential conflict of interest exists. If an actual conflict of interest exists, the general counsel, along with the fra chair or a disinterested member of the board, makes a final determination about whether a conflict of interest exists and what subsequent action is appropriate (if any). The general counsel or fra chair notifies the board about the determination. The board can modify or reverse the determination and has the ultimate authority regarding application of the policy. All employees, including officers and key employees, are required to comply with the allen institute conflict of interest policy. Under the policy, all employees have a duty to disclose any actual or potential conflict of interest. Additionally, all employees annually update and review existing disclosures and are required to disclose any new conflicts of interest throughout the year. If an actual or potential disclosure is made, the institute reviews it to determine whether any controls or management are required.”

“The compensation committee makes a recommendation to the board of directors regarding the compensation of the ceo and executive management using the following practices: the institute's people and culture department uses an outside executive compensation consultant to benchmark senior executive leadership base and total cash compensation to assess market consistency. The people and culture department develops base and total cash compensation recommendations for the ceo and each executive leader. The compensation committee of the board of directors reviews the recommendations and supporting benchmarking data. Based on these reviews the compensation committee establishes salary adjustments for the ceo and the ceo's direct reports and any senior leader eligible for the variable compensation plan. Compensation was last reviewed december 2024.”

“The allen institute makes its governing documents, conflict of interest policy, and financial statements available upon request. The financial conflict of interest policy is available on the allen institute website.”

“Uncompensated board members served as volunteers during the year.”

“Prior year accrued grant reversed in current year 90,000.”