The most shocking part of Exponent II‘s history is the organization’s “FBI embezzlement story.” In 2017, the board discovered that a trusted treasurer and close friend had embezzled hundreds of thousands of dollars over a six-year period. The theft was hidden because the money—often retreat deposits and subscription fees—was occasionally covered privately by the treasurer’s family to prevent the retreat centers from reporting non-payment. The discovery led to a federal investigation, and the treasurer eventually served 17 months in federal prison. This crisis forced Exponent II to professionalize its operations, moving away from a purely trust-based system to one utilizing outside auditors, forensic accounting, and transparent financial reporting.

https://youtu.be/TNqUb4KH748

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Award-winning authors Katie Rich and Heather Sundal discuss the 50-year history of Exponent II. The organization has evolved from its 1970s roots into a modern, inclusive platform that now explicitly welcomes trans and non-binary individuals, as well as other gender minorities marginalized within the LDS Church. The authors highlight how their new book acts as an anthology, curating thousands of blog posts and magazine issues to show the organization’s growth from a focus on traditional feminism to a broader “Mormon continuum” of belief and identity.

The authors also highlights the literary heart of the organization through specific essays:

• Lavina Fielding Anderson: An essay on “spiritual autobiography” that challenges the idea that women must always subsume their desires, instead arguing that seeking personal joy is a spiritually healthy and “radical” pursuit.
• Laurel Thatcher Ulrich: A 1981 piece describing the grueling balance of being a mother of five and a doctoral candidate, famously noting that “well-behaved women seldom make history”.

Despite the financial betrayal, the authors emphasize that the community’s response was one of overwhelming generosity. From Laurel Thatcher Ulrich offering immediate financial help to the journal Dialogue paying Exponent II a $10,000 guest-editing fee, the organization’s survival proved that its “baby” was too important to the Mormon feminist community to let fail.

Don’t miss our other conversations about Mormon feminism: https://gospeltangents.com/lds_theology/feminism/

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Gospel Tangents

All Rights Reserved