• Heather Hiles made their first comments amid dueling lawsuits with the nonprofit's founder.

• The nonprofit's board fully backed firing CEO Kimberly Bryant after an investigation, they said.

• Bryant has denied any misconduct: "My work and legacy stands on its own now and forever," she said.

Black Girls Code's chair of the board of directors denied allegations by the nonprofit's founder, Kimberly Bryant, that her removal earlier this month as the nonprofit's CEO was a power grab.

"I believe the actions that were taken with respect to Kimberly were appropriate and necessary to responsibly protect Black Girls Code in its mission," said Heather Hiles, Black Girls Code's board chair, at a press conference on Thursday. "I also believe Kimberly's ongoing actions since her termination, which are knowingly causing harm to the organization that she built, demonstrate a lack of judgment, and validate the decisions I made as a member of the board."

The remarks were Hiles's first public comments amid dueling lawsuits in California federal court this month between Bryant and the nonprofit she founded. Bryant had also previously filed lawsuits in Alameda County, California's court against BGC and several of its board members, including Hiles.

Bryant alleges that the board acted unaccountably in pushing her out and taking over the tech nonprofit's finances, including a bank account that she said contained $38 million in donations. Bryant claims that Hiles had attempted to direct donations...

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