To Our Faire Family and Supporters,

It’s hard to feel safe in a community when the people in charge are operating behind closed doors—when decisions are made in secret, and those doing the real work are left out of the conversation. But this movement isn’t about despair. It’s about reclaiming a vision for a festival space that is ethical, transparent, and rooted in community.

This letter is about what real nonprofit leadership should look like, how it compares to what’s happening right now in our faire circuit, and most importantly—how we’re building something better together.

🧭 What Ethical Nonprofit Leadership Looks Like

These principles—transparency and accountability—are foundational practices followed by responsible nonprofits across the country.

Take Doctors Without Borders, for example. Their board is elected by members. They post financial records and summaries of board decisions. They even share how they respond to internal misconduct. Their leadership is structured to put mission and community trust above personal benefit.

It’s not about being perfect. It’s about setting up systems that help organizations stay aligned with their values.

Closer to home, the Society for Creative Anachronism (SCA) is another example of a long-standing organization that has built a system grounded in participation. People genuinely love attending SCA events. And while no structure is flawless, they’ve maintained important practices that help their community feel informed and included:

 • Board members are nominated by the community and serve defined terms.

 • Meeting minutes and organizational decisions are published.

 • When major changes are proposed, feedback is invited from the people it affects.

We bring these examples forward to show that accountable nonprofit leadership is achievable. 

🚨 What WITP, WRAES, and WCEA Are Failing To Do

In contrast, the leadership behind our current faire organizations—Wandering In Time Productions (WITP), Washington Renaissance Arts & Education Society (WRAES), and West Coast Equestrian Arts (WCEA)—has not upheld the standards expected of public-serving nonprofits.

Based on public records, internal documents, and direct reporting, here are the concerns that have surfaced:

 • Their IRS filings acknowledge conflicts of interest, but do not explain who was involved, what the arrangements were, or how they were managed.

 • The same core individuals—David Day, Theresa Nietupski, Christina Ojeda, and Elisabeth Day—manage both the nonprofits and the for-profit companies tied to these events.

 • Operations are run from shared addresses with shared staff and branding, yet there’s no clear financial separation between nonprofit and for-profit activities.

 • Events promoted as nonprofit fundraisers are licensed through for-profit companies, raising questions about where the money actually goes.

 • There is no access to board minutes, policy decisions, or vendor selection processes.

These aren’t just oversights—they represent a pattern of behavior that limits community input, hides decision-making, and raises serious concerns about financial ethics.

🌱 What We’re Doing About It

We’re not here just to point out flaws—we’re here to build something better.

Our new council is being shaped with clear boundaries, transparent practices, and structural protections to prevent abuse and ensure the faire belongs to everyone—not just a few people at the top.

Here’s what we will guarantee:

 • Board members may have roles within the faire, but those roles will be openly disclosed, and no one will be allowed to vote on decisions where they have a financial stake.

 • All board decisions, policies, and financial records will be published and archived for community review.

 • Conflicts of interest will be formally documented, reviewed, and made public.

We have a dedicated Compliance & Ethics Officer whose role is to ensure the festival remains in full legal and ethical alignment. This includes enforcing internal policies, state and federal law, and reporting potential violations—especially fraud or misconduct. They do not answer to the board, but to the public trust. Their findings are made available to regulators and to the Public Relations Representative to ensure accountability isn’t buried.

The Public Relations Representative is a separate, protected role focused on transparent communication. Their job is not just to promote the festival—it’s to ensure that board decisions, controversies, and internal shifts are communicated clearly and honestly to the community, vendors, workers, performers, and public. If unethical behavior is uncovered, the PR Representative’s job is to make it known. They do not rely on the board for authority. Instead, they represent the interests of those the board serves.

To protect these two roles from retaliation, neither the Compliance Officer nor the PR Representative can be removed by the board alone. Removal requires both a board vote and documented community input. This dual-approval model exists to prevent the cycle we’ve seen before—where whistleblowers are silenced by the very systems they were trying to hold accountable.

We’re also expanding the number of board members to make oversight more balanced and representative. While members will be chosen based on their professional skills and operational roles, transparency and accountability will not be optional. Every board member will know: this system does not exist to protect power—it exists to protect people.

📣 Help Us Shape the Future

This faire community has always belonged to the people who build it—from the crafters and performers to the stagehands and food vendors. We believe it’s time the leadership reflected that spirit.

📬 Message us on Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/share/16dve9BGbZ/?mibextid=wwXIfr

💬 Share your thoughts, concerns, and ideas

🛠 Help shape a board that truly represents you

We are building this from the ground up, and we need your voice in that process. The more we speak, organize, and participate, the more powerful this vision becomes. 

Thank you so much for your continued support 🙏 — together, our community has already contributed $419 to help promote this petition and spread awareness.

With love, 

Compliance and Ethics Officer 

The People’s Faire Council