Loveland nonprofit's fired executive director charged with stealing $100,000

The Harrington Arts Alliance was founded in 2011 as a family endeavor to bring community theater to the people of Loveland and the opportunity to teach the art of acting to young and old alike.

That dream is now in tatters, leaving those who have supported the company divided and angry.

Former Executive Director Brittany Grim, daughter of late founder Steve Harrington, was in court Wednesday to formally answer charges that she embezzled up to $100,000 of the non-profit’s funds – one of two Class 4 felony charges that she has denied.

The Harrington Arts Alliance’s Board of directors suspended Grim in March 2023 and reported her to the Loveland Police Department after an internal audit dating back to 2015 allegedly discovered more than $100,000 worth of “misappropriated, unauthorized and stolen funds from the organization’s financial accounts,” according to a statement issued by the board.

Their complaint alleges that Grim used company funds to make personal purchases and unauthorized payments to family members and friends. They say she spent the money on dining, groceries, clothing, shoes, children’s toys and multiple vacations – and that she made unauthorized payments to her sister-in-law.

The 8th Judicial District Attorney’s office filed charges after its own six-month investigation. In its statement, the board said it was “saddened by this news but not surprised” that the findings of the local police and District Attorney’s Office were consistent with its own.

The board had alerted the media that Grim would be in court Wednesday morning to accept an unexpected plea agreement where she would plead guilty to unauthorized use of a financial device – a class 1 misdemeanor and a charge usually reserved for thefts of $2,000 or less. In return, Grim was to receive a three-year deferred sentence. She also would be expected to pay a “substantial” restitution cost, “as well as take a bookkeeping class.”

But the hearing took a dramatic turn Wednesday when David Felts, director of operations since the organization converted to a non-profit business in 2015, made an impassioned victim statement asking Judge Joshua Findley not to accept the plea agreement. Felts said the organization was founded to create a safe place for children and adults in Northern Colorado, but that “Brittany Grim and her family stole over $100,000 from our organization for their greed and self-indulgence.”

Felts believes Grim stole the money by skimming money off the top of ticket sales and production fees. “It sickened me to even think about how much good we could have done with that $100,000 that went directly into Ms. Grim and her family’s pockets,” Felts said. “This money could have granted scholarships to nearly 600 more children.”

Finley then ruled that he would not yet accept the plea agreement to allow more time to hear from community members. He set the next hearing for 11 a.m. April 22 at the Larimer County Justice Center. That proceeding will be live-streamed at live.coloradojudicial.gov.

In December, Grim attorney Kirk Waible told the Loveland Reporter-Herald’s Austin Fleskes that his client “has a constitutional right to the presumption of innocence.”

“Ms. Grim has dedicated her career to serving the community through (theater) and the arts,” he told Fleskes.

Steve and Marily Harrington founded the Harrington Arts Academy (now Alliance) in 2011 with their children, Brittany Grim and Brandon Harrington. Grim told Fleskes in 2021 that the academy now serves an average of 500 actors ranging from 5-year-olds to adult theater enthusiasts at any given time. “To go from two students to 500 – I am just incredibly proud of what we have built,” Grim told the paper. 

Marily Harrington was treasurer of the organization when the alleged theft occurred. When the board fired Grim and removed her mother from the board, Brandon Harrington left the group as well.

According to Fleskes’ reporting, Grim and Brandon Harrington have since started a new theater group in Loveland called Find Your Light. On that group’s website, the founders say that over the past 12 years, “the Harrington family produced more than 120 mainstage productions, nationally ranked haunted houses, interactive Christmas walks, comedy shows, summer camps, classes and anti-bullying school assemblies.

“Find Your Light was created to meet the local needs of performance artists and all ages of community members seeking connection and avenues to express, create, heal and find their chosen family through the positive outlet of theater in Loveland.”