May your holiday be blessed and bountiful.
There is much I am thankful for this Thanksgiving – health, family, friends…
I’m especially grateful for the friendship and ongoing support of the Government Accountability Project (GAP), with their 40th-anniversary celebration last week including the unveiling of my portrait along with four other whistleblowers by Rob Shetterly of Americans Who Tell the Truth. Two of the other whistleblowers honored were close friends Michael Winston (Countrywide whistleblower) and Louis Clark (Executive Director of GAP).
Shortly after Thanksgiving, I have been invited to be one of two whistleblowers Mr. Shetterly has painted who will appear with him at a celebration of his work at Syracuse University. I‘ll also be speaking at the school of management while I’m there.
It’s been an exciting year full of growth and opportunities which I am most humbled by, including being named one of 25 whistleblowers who have changed history.
The PBS documentary series “Ethics at Work: Playing by the Rules” aired nationally earlier this year, with the first two episodes featuring Sherry Hunt and myself at Citigroup and Sherron Watkins at Enron. The series was produced by WNET PBS, New York, with the documentaries being packaged into comprehensive teaching aids with academic case studies and instructor materials for teaching business ethics in universities.
And, as always, my concern for our country keeps me focused on a continuing quest for accountability at all levels of business and government.
It’s been a full, productive and successful year and I’m grateful you were a part of it.
Happy Thanksgiving.
Richard Bowen is widely known as the Citigroup whistleblower. As Business Chief Underwriter for Citigroup during the housing bubble financial crisis meltdown, he repeatedly warned Citi executive management and the board about fraudulent behavior within the organization. The company certified poor mortgages as quality mortgages and sold them to Fannie Mae, Freddie Mac and other investors.
