A federal court in Lansing, Michigan, has sentenced Nkechy Ezeh, 61, the founder and former CEO of the Early Learning Neighborhood Collaborative, to 70 months in federal prison nearly six years for embezzling more than $1 million from a Grand Rapids nonprofit that served thousands of low-income children. U.S.
According to Sahara Reporters, district Judge Hala Jarbou called her “a fraud and a thief” as she handed down the sentence.
Ezeh was also sentenced to a concurrent prison term of 60 months for evading income taxes, and was ordered to pay approximately $1.4 million in restitution to the victims of the fraud, along with more than $300,000 to the IRS. She was remanded into custody immediately following the sentencing hearing.
Ezeh founded the ELNC, a nonprofit funded by the Department of Health and Human Services’ Early Head Start programme, the US Department of Education, and private donors. The organisation provided meals, transportation, funding, advocacy, and other services to children in preschools in underserved communities across Kent County, Kalamazoo, and Battle Creek.
She conspired with ELNC’s bookkeeper, Sharon Killebrew, to embezzle more than $1 million from the nonprofit, instructing Killebrew to create nearly $500,000 in fraudulent invoices, which Ezeh then approved using her position as CEO.
According to Sahara Reporters, federal prosecutors said Ezeh also created two more businesses to funnel additional money to herself and Killebrew, put family members on “a ghost payroll” to give them hundreds of thousands of dollars for little or no work, and used “money mules” to send money to her family in Nigeria.
Rather than serving the children in her care, prosecutors said Ezeh spent the stolen funds on herself, travelling first class to Australia, China, Dubai, India, Japan, Malaysia, Nigeria, Qatar, Singapore, South Korea, Thailand, and Zambia on purported “business trips.”
The people most affected by the fraud, according to the sentencing memorandum, were the children and families ELNC once supported mainly children of colour under the age of five, 72 percent of whom lived under the federal poverty level. ELNC closed its doors in 2023 due to the fraud, leaving many preschools without funding, depriving needy children of valuable resources, and leaving 35 employees laid off without notice.
ELNC Board Chair Amy DeLeeuw said in a statement: “The theft of millions of dollars perpetrated by Nkechy Ezeh and a co-conspirator left hundreds of children and families without the necessary resources to prepare for kindergarten and educational success beyond. The devastation Nkechy caused truly has no measure and will be felt for generations to come.”
Prior to the discovery of the fraud, Ezeh was a celebrated figure in Michigan’s educational and political circles. She had received numerous accolades including Woman of the Year awards and was appointed to a state executive committee by Governor Gretchen Whitmer in 2020.
Her co-conspirator, former ELNC bookkeeper Sharon Killebrew, was sentenced to 54 months in prison for her role in the scheme in November 2025.
