Charity With Marblehead Office Pays Chief $1.3M

MARBLEHEAD, MA – The board of a nonprofit with North Shore headquarters in Marblehead was recently found to have given its president a $1.3 million retirement windfall in 2014, though he has no plans to retire.

The Combined Jewish Philanthropies reportedly hired a consultant who determined that longtime president Barry Shrage was underpaid compared to other nonprofit heads. The retirement payment of $1.3 million was meant to help Shrage in his retirement, though he reportedly is not retiring anytime soon.

The Forward first reported the payment earlier this month, when the CJP filed its most recent tax returns. The $1.3 million was paid in 2014, but was not reported until recently. According to The Forward, Shrage earns $343,000 in base salary, and had led the CJP since 1987.

"Because of the great value we deemed Barry to have brought to the Jewish community, we felt he should be compensated at a minimum at this level," Neil Wallack, chairman of the CJP board of directors told the Boston Globe in an article published on Tuesday.

According to the nonprofit's website, the CJP allocated $51,157,000 for FY2017. The CJP has been described as an "umbrella group" for Jewish charities in the Boston area, and was given four out of four stars byCharity Navigator.

Twenty three North Shore municipalities joined the CJP in 2013, including Beverly, Danvers, Essex, Gloucester, Hamilton, Ipswich, Lynn, Lynnfield, Manchester, Marblehead, Newburyport, Peabody, Rockport, Salem, Swampscott, Topsfield, and Wenham

Photo via Jewish Family Services of Metrowest, Patch Archives