Honesdale Borough Mayor Derek Williams holds a paid position at the Wayne County Community Foundation, a $15 million nonprofit whose grants and funds reach nearly every civic institution in the borough he governs. That foundation has sent at least $171,500 to the Wayne County Arts Alliance, where Williams’ girlfriend Lisa Glover serves on the board of directors. Williams and Glover personally donated to the same building fund that the foundation helped capitalize.
Glover also boards a second organization — Known Grove Sacred Land Stewardship — whose charitable fund is housed inside the Wayne County Community Foundation. It was founded by Keenan Gruver.
None of these overlapping roles appear in any public conflict-of-interest disclosure. The documents behind every claim in this article are public. The questions they raise have not been answered.
Williams: From Planning Department to Mayor to Foundation Payroll
Derek Frey Williams was sworn in as Honesdale Borough Mayor on January 3, 2022, after winning an independent race billed as a walking campaign through the borough’s neighborhoods. He was reelected in November 2025. Before his election, he worked at the Wayne County Planning Department and co-operated an entity called Canaltown LLC with Lisa Glover.
While already serving as mayor, Williams took a paid job at the Wayne County Community Foundation. A September 2023 WCCF press release about a PPL Foundation grant for the Worker Crisis Fund identified him as “Community Grant Writer.” The quote ran under his name and title on WCCF’s own website.
WCCF’s IRS Form 990 for fiscal year 2023 — covering July 2022 through June 2023 — confirms the hire. The filing shows WCCF went from zero non-CEO staff wages in the prior year to $78,514 in that fiscal year. Two employees were on payroll during calendar year 2022: WCCF President/CEO Ryanne Jennings and Williams.
$171,500: WCCF’s Money Trail to the Wayne County Arts Alliance
In December 2022 — the same fiscal year Williams joined the WCCF payroll — the foundation approved a $75,000 matching grant from its Florence Longmire Treat Fund to help WCAA purchase its building at 959 Main Street in Honesdale. The sale closed February 15, 2023. The grant was documented in coverage by the Sullivan County Democrat, which also reported that WCAA raised matching funds from over 190 donors.
Separately, Schedule I of WCCF’s FY2023 Form 990 — the IRS-required grants disclosure — lists WCAA as a recipient of $96,500 in “Program Grants.” WCAA was the second-largest single organizational grant recipient that fiscal year, behind only Wayne County government itself.
Two grants in one fiscal year from Williams’ employer to an organization where his girlfriend holds a governance role: $75,000 for the building, $96,500 in program support. At least $171,500.
The relationship didn’t end there. WCCF is listed as a sponsor of WCAA’s 2024 Artists’ Studio Tour. The foundation also funded WCAA’s Creative Communities Art Trail in 2024.
Lisa Glover’s Board Seat and the Building Fund Donations
Lisa Glover is a current member of the Wayne County Arts Alliance board of directors. WCAA’s “Our Team” page, last updated March 19, 2026, lists her by name and photo alongside the organization’s president, treasurer, secretary, and three other board members.
The exact date Glover joined the WCAA board is not publicly documented. WCAA’s GuideStar profile, self-reported and last updated December 1, 2022, lists her as a board member. By October 2022, she was already producing materials for the building fund campaign — the same period in which Williams joined the WCCF payroll and the foundation approved its $75,000 matching grant to WCAA.
She was among the leaders who drove the WCAA building fund campaign. The Sullivan County Democrat’s coverage of the June 2023 grand opening named her specifically among the “WCAA Board and Leaders” who made the building purchase and renovations possible. A 2023 press release identified her as one of three board members who organized WCAA’s Summer Art Project.
The WCAA’s building fund donor page — hosted on the organization’s website and organized by giving tier — tells the story in layers. The Wayne County Community Foundation’s Florence Longmire Treat Fund sits at the top as a Platinum donor, the highest tier. Below it, the Williams-Glover family appears four times:
“Derek Williams & Lisa Glover” is listed under Silver ($1,000–$4,999). “Mayor Derek Williams” appears separately under Pewter (up to $199). “Glover Family in loving memory of Martin Glover Sr.” appears under Bronze ($500–$999). “Carolyn & Vannie Williams” also appears under Bronze — Derek Williams’ parents. His father, Vannie Williams, runs Vannie B. Williams CPA, P.C. at the same Honesdale address where Derek is listed in public records.
Four entries, one extended family, donating to the fund that Williams’ employer was simultaneously capitalizing from the top of the page. WCCF staffer Conor Simon also donated, listed in the Pewter tier.
The $75,000 from the Florence Longmire Treat Fund was a matching grant — WCCF’s money only flowed once WCAA raised $75,000 on its own. WCAA hit that target with donations from over 190 contributors. Williams and Glover were among them. They donated personally to help WCAA reach the fundraising threshold that unlocked $75,000 from Williams’ own employer.
Williams is also listed as a 2024 Studio Tour artist under the name “Derek Frey Williams” in Sullivan County Democrat coverage of the event. Lisa Glover participated in the same tour.
The WCAA Grand Opening Photo
The Sullivan County Democrat published a group photo in its June 23, 2023 coverage of the WCAA grand opening; the image file’s original name is dated June 19, four days before the public event.. The caption identifies the people in the frame. Front row: Ryanne Jennings (WCCF President/CEO), Janet Gaglione, Laura Smith, Lisa Glover, Kim Oxholm. Second row: Ron Rowe, Connor/Conor Simon (WCCF Community Outreach Manager), David Harvey, Sharon Herzog, Meg Welker, Sandra Povse, Phyllis Chekenian, Alycia Schwartz, Sarah Draidfort, Marguerite Fuller. Back row: Derek Williams, Ted Malakin, Heather Hogan Spencer, Bill Gershey, Kimberly Modrovsky, James Kilgore, Jay Hostetler, Jonathan Kline, John Carmody, Gene Schultz, Warren Schloesser.
Sharon Herzog, Meg Welker, Alycia Schwartz, Bill Gershey, James Kilgore, and Kim Oxholm all sit on WCCF’s current board of directors. Ryanne Jennings runs the foundation. Connor Simon is on WCCF’s staff. Derek Williams, a WCCF employee, stands in the back row. His girlfriend Lisa Glover stands in the front.
One photo. Two WCCF staff members. At least six WCCF board members. The grant recipient they funded. Nobody disclosed anything.
Keenan Gruver’s Known Grove
Lisa Glover’s financial ties to Williams’ employer don’t stop at WCAA.
Glover also serves on the board of Known Grove Sacred Land Stewardship, a Wayne County environmental organization. Known Grove holds a named charitable fund inside the Wayne County Community Foundation — the “Known Grove Sacred Land Stewardship Fund” — listed on WCCF’s public funds page. The foundation collects donations on Known Grove’s behalf under its 501(c)(3) umbrella and issues tax receipts to Known Grove’s donors.
Glover boards two organizations with direct financial relationships with WCCF. One receives grants from the foundation. The other has its charitable donations processed and administered by it.
In summer 2025, WCAA and Known Grove partnered on a public art project in Honesdale’s Central Park — two chainsaw-carved tree stumps by Larry Wildenstein of Wildwood Sculptures in Aldenville, Wayne County. The Tri-County Independent reported the project was executed “with the borough’s blessing.” Glover told the paper the project was an example of “placemaking” that invites residents “to have a meaningful say in their public spaces.” Keenan Gruver, Known Grove’s founder, had allegedly approached WCAA with the proposal after encountering workers during the tree removal. Gruver is also the person who produced the soil report on Central Park’s tire mulch that prompted Honesdale Borough to remove the playground in October 2025 — a removal that led directly to the formation of the People’s Playground Project, co-founded by Glover.
Williams and Glover both appeared at the public celebration. Him as mayor of the borough that blessed the project. Her as “placemaker” and “project manager” for two organizations financially tied to his employer. Not as boyfriend and girlfriend — as public officials and grant beneficiaries occupying the same stage.
Questions That Deserve Answers
For the Wayne County Community Foundation: Did Derek Williams disclose his romantic and business relationship with a WCAA board member when WCCF hired him? Does WCCF’s conflict-of-interest policy apply to non-officer, non-director staff? Did Williams play any role in reviewing, processing, or writing WCAA’s grant applications? Has the foundation evaluated whether his position creates a conflict with respect to WCAA funding or the Known Grove fund?
For Mayor Derek Williams: Did you disclose your romantic and business relationship with Lisa Glover to WCCF when you were hired? Did you recuse yourself from any involvement in WCAA grant decisions at the foundation? Did you disclose your personal donation to the WCAA building fund to your employer? In April 2022, you reported on Lisa Glover’s mural project at a borough council meeting in your capacity as mayor while already in a relationship with her. Did you disclose that relationship to council?
For Lisa Glover: Do you receive compensation from WCAA, Known Grove, or any other organization for placemaking work performed in Honesdale’s public spaces? Were you involved in drafting or submitting any of WCAA’s grant applications to the Wayne County Community Foundation?
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