New CEO for Miracle Flights for Kids promises transparency

Las Vegan Mark Brown is winding down a lucrative consulting business to become national CEO of Miracle Flights for Kids, a nonprofit founded by Ann McGee 30 years ago, which has become mired in controversy.

McGee refused to answer questions, but Brown said he was authorized to speak on her behalf.

"She felt the time was right," Brown said. McGee, 68, always had planned to retire after 30 years and had started a national search for her successor before selecting Brown.

As far back as 2007 there have been questions raised about the generous salaries she paid herself and her husband and her lack of transparency. Plus there has been controversy over a fraud lawsuit regarding a questionable loan the nonprofit made.

In June, Miracle Flights filed a lawsuit involving a $2.2 million loan, now in default, which the nonprofit extended to Med Lien Management. Included as a defendant in the lawsuit is Michael McDonald, once a board member of Miracle Flights, who allegedly received a $200,000 finder's fee for the loan and didn't disclose he owned one-third of the lien business.

McGee started the charity in 1985 after the death of her daughter. Her goal was to provide free transportation for sick children so they could obtain necessary medical care. The small operation started in her apartment.

In 2012, Miracle Flights jumped from a relatively small charity with revenues hovering around $2.5 million to a $53 million operation, courtesy of a fuel surcharge lawsuit filed against British Airways. As part of the settlement, British Airways donated $53 million to the Las Vegas-based nonprofit.

Suddenly the charity had scads of money, enough to spend $10 million on real estate and make a $2.2 million loan to Med Lien.

The small nonprofit now has the money to expand. When the donation was announced in 2012, McGee issued a news release about her expansion plans. But before she had much time to achieve that goal, McGee decided it was time to retire.

Brown became the new CEO on Nov. 1 and has made substantial changes with plans for more. "I want to become the gold standard for charity governance and operations," Brown said.

He said his salary has not been finalized. Nor has McGee's retirement package, another question I asked.

We spoke in Miracle Flights' office dotted with large photos of sick children who were able to travel for treatment to other locations via flights paid for by Miracle Flights. The nonprofit has provided more than 96,000 flights over the past 30 years. A small meeting room has one of a 3-year-old boy who began using Miracle Flights because of his brittle bones. "He died at the age 12," Brown said.

Using his skills in public relations, advertising and lobbying, Brown has several plans for the nonprofit. First he's changing the name to reflect its new mission.

It's becoming Miracle Flights. For Kids will be dropped.

He wants to change the mission to care for others besides children. For example, he would like to be able to fly a mother to see her son who has served in Afghanistan and is recuperating in Walter Reed Hospital. "Flying her there to see her son is a miracle," he said.

"Miracle Flights is the best kept secret. We want to promote that we are looking for patients to fly," he said. "I want to increase the relationships with airlines."

To get the word about, he is going to use social media to find former patients and tell their stories. Some may be sad, but he's hopeful many will be uplifting.

Coordinating with other groups to find those who need Miracle Flights is another goal.

He has made moves to engage in various partnerships, such as with PBS at the national level, Ronald McDonald House, the World Pediatric Project and others.

Miracle Flights will not engage in any loans.

"I don't think we should be in the business of owning real estate," he said in a recent interview at the Miracle Flight offices at 5740 Eastern Ave., Suite 240. "We'll probably be disposing of the real estate. ... I want to focus on flying folks."

MFFK owns two buildings at 5820 and 5740 S. Eastern Ave. While they are good investments, and the rent brings in income, he said the buildings require too much management time. He hopes to find a buyer.

"Telemarketing is going away," he said. "I want to slowly increase the amount of money to operations and reduce the amount going to fundraising."

Brown also warned he planned to pursue the fraud lawsuit filed on McGee's behalf against Med Lien Management and partners Brad Esposito, Lincoln Lee and McDonald, the newly elected GOP state party chairman. "I will aggressively go after ... people who have defrauded the organization."

Over his career, Brown has started five businesses, mostly in the arena of public relations, advertising and lobbying. His most recent business is Mark Brown Strategies, which helped companies grow with brandings and marketing and handled crisis management. This new job will be a full-time job.

Early in his career, Brown worked as a campaign consultant for GOP candidates and later worked top-level executive jobs at the Howard Hughes Corp. and Station Casinos. He founded Brown & Partners Advertising, which merged with R&R Partners in 2005. After four years, he left to re-start his own company again.

Over the years, he has been active with major charities including YMCA, Torino Foundation, Cancer Research Center, the Clark County School District School Growth Committee, UMC's Children's Miracle Network and the Boy Scouts of America.

"I was raised here, and I have to give credit to John Goolsby (Howard Hughes Corp. chairman) about giving back," he said. "At this stage of life, I have the opportunity to run a $53 million company, to grow it nationally and internationally."

He decided to make this major job change because he experienced the travel needs of a sick child of someone close to him. "I saw this firsthand and lived it for a couple of years."

In our interviews, several times Brown promised transparency.

That should be an improvement over McGee's recent style of duck-and-cover.

Jane Ann Morrison's column runs Thursdays. Leave messages for her at 702-383-0275 or email jmorrison@reviewjournal.com. Find her on Twitter: @janeannmorrison