Business

Billionaire philanthropist MacKenzie Scott continues to make good on her promise to give away billions, donating $15 million to Baltimore-based Lutheran Immigration and Refugee Service — the largest gift from an individual donor in the nonprofit’s 83-year history. The Lutheran nonprofit found out about the donation weeks ago but had to keep mum until Scott was ready to divulge the news. She did so on Monday in a post on Medium, an online publishing platform, where she said she has given $1.99 billion to 343 organizations “supporting the voices and opportunities of people from underserved communities.”

The nine-word tweet was sent Thursday afternoon from an account using the name and logo of the pharmaceutical giant Eli Lilly and Co., and it immediately attracted a giant response: “We are excited to announce insulin is free now.” The tweet carried a blue “verified” check mark, a badge that Twitter had used for years to signal an account’s authenticity — and that Twitter’s new billionaire owner, Elon Musk, had, while declaring “power to the people!” suddenly opened to anyone, regardless of their identity, as long as they paid $8.

Ben Jealous will become the Sierra Club’s first executive director of color in January, the grassroots environmental organization announced Monday. Jealous, the former president of the NAACP, was the Democratic nominee for Maryland governor in 2018. Since 2020, he has served as the president of People for the American Way.

Three organizations serving Marylanders received a collective $1 million from SECU MD Foundation, the philanthropic arm of the state’s largest-state chartered credit union announced at an event Thursday. Morgan State University, Sinai Hospital of Baltimore and the Maryland Food Bank will receive community impact grants over five years in memory of Donald Tynes Sr., SECU’s longest-serving board member.

Raising Cane’s, a Plano, Texas-fast casual chicken finger chain, Monday announced it will add more than 250 jobs in Maryland with the opening of two locations in March 2023. The chicken chain will open in Gambrills at 1070 MD-3 North as its second location in Maryland, joining its inaugural site in Towson, opening later this year. Later in March, the chain will open another restaurant in Westminster at 400 Englar Road.

Maryland Gov.-elect Wes Moore has stepped down from the Under Armour Inc. board. The Baltimore sportswear company announced late Friday that Moore resigned from the board effective immediately following his election win earlier this week. Moore had previously told the Baltimore Banner that if he was elected he would resign from corporate boards and put his business investments into a blind trust. With Moore’s victory over Republican Dan Cox in the general election Tuesday, Moore, who has significant business holdings, has started to make good on his promise. Moore, the former founder and CEO of the Robin Hood Foundation and a best-selling author, joined Under Armour’s board in October 2020. During his time on the board, he served as a member of the corporate governance and sustainability committee.