Above the Rest Academy

Nonprofit profile at a glance

EIN
831353003
IRS 990 coverage
2021–2025
Forms available
Form 990 2025, Form 990-EZ 2020
Location
Ontario, CA, USA
Rating
74
Verdict
SUPPORTED
Rating confidence
Moderate
Sector
Human Service Organizations

Reported finances

Revenue
$389,261
Expenses
$376,447
Assets
$321,847
Liabilities
$3,404

Source: IRS Form 990. Selected filing: tax year 2025. Amounts in USD.

Leadership & pay

3 people listed

Executive titles in this filing

  • Samantha Teves (President)

Highest reported compensation

  • Samantha Teves (President): $86,000 total reported compensation

Source: IRS Form 990. Selected filing: tax year 2025. Names and roles reflect this filing, not necessarily current officeholders.

Overview

Mission

To educate and assist youth and underserved individuals in developing technical skills to achieve employment. We provide career training, apprenticeship opportunities, & workforce development programs that help individuals develop technical skills & obtain sustainable employment.

What it reported doing in 2025

In 2025, Above The Rest Academy continued providing career-focused training programs designed to prepare students for success in the barbering and cosmetology industries. Through both traditional instruction and apprenticeship opportunities, students gained hands-on experience while developing the technical and professional skills needed to enter the workforce. Our apprenticeship program remained a key part of our mission, allowing students to earn wages while completing training to become licensed barbers and cosmetologists. We remain committed to creating opportunities that promote independence, career growth, and long-term success for our students and the communities we serve.

Operating model

Revenue model
Earned-program. 97% of the money available for current operations came from fees and other program revenue.
Distribution model
Direct operator. The filing allocates 100% of reported program-service expenses outside its grant, affiliate-payment, and member-benefit lines. This expense classification does not rule out separately announced grant awards.

The verdict

SUPPORTED - A large share of available resources goes toward mission work and the filed numbers largely add up. A relatively small share of voting board members are independent and some filing-based governance responses are negative or unanswered.

Rating breakdown

  • Financial Efficiency: 84
  • Transparency & Controls: 100
  • Accountability: 16
  • Sustainability: 38
  • Growth: 100

Detailed rating inputs

Financial Efficiency

  • Mission deployment rate: 91.9%; rating input score 92
  • Program expense ratio: 97.7%; rating input score 98
  • Fundraising efficiency: Limited

Transparency & Controls

  • Consistency checks: 100%; rating input score 100; 64th percentile among comparable filings
  • Pay-setting controls: Limited
  • Foreign activity oversight: Limited
  • Grant itemization coverage: Limited
  • Major donor itemization: Limited
  • Related-party transparency: Limited

Accountability

  • Independent voting board: 0%; rating input score 0; 8th percentile among comparable filings
  • Governance controls: 3 of 8 controls in place; rating input score 38
    • Conflict-of-interest policy: Pass
    • Whistleblower policy: Fail
    • Document-retention policy: Fail
    • CEO compensation review process: Fail
    • Other executive compensation review process: NotApplicable
    • Form 990 shared with the board: Pass
    • Board meeting minutes documented: Pass
    • Audit committee oversight: Missing
    • Independent financial-statement audit: Fail

Sustainability

  • Operating margin: 3.3%; rating input score 43; 43rd percentile among comparable filings
  • Total-asset coverage ratio: 0.85; rating input score 37; 37th percentile among comparable filings
  • Liabilities to assets ratio: 0.01; rating input score 39; 39th percentile among comparable filings
  • Officer compensation ratio: 22.8%; rating input score 16; 16th percentile among comparable filings

Growth

  • Program expense growth: 42% per year; rating input score 100; 94th percentile among comparable filings
  • Revenue growth: 19.3% per year; rating input score 100; 86th percentile among comparable filings
  • Asset growth: 26.4% per year; rating input score 100; 88th percentile among comparable filings

Details

  • Where the money goes: 91.9% of revenue deployed · 97.7% of spending went to programs
  • Governance: 0 of 3 board members independent · 3 of 8 filing controls reported
  • Programs: 1 filed program accomplishment · $368K in reported program spending
  • Leadership: top reported pay $86K · 3 people listed
  • Consistency: 28 of 28 current checks pass
  • Schedules: 4 filed schedules
  • Filing history: 5 filing years from 2021 to 2025
  • Contacts: How to reach this organization
  • Money network: 2 filed money-flow records
  • Grant readiness: Federal tax and exclusion status, award history, and grant-maker relationships.
  • People: Everyone the filings name, and which of them the filings identify by more than a name.

Key Signals

Signals prioritize questions for review. They are not findings of misconduct.

  • High — Accountability: Independent voting board scored 0/100.
  • Moderate — Accountability: Governance controls: 4 of 7 not reported.
  • Moderate — Sustainability: Operating margin scored 43/100.
  • Moderate — Sustainability: Total-asset coverage ratio scored 37/100.
  • High — Sustainability: Officer compensation ratio scored 16/100.
  • Moderate — Sustainability: Liabilities to assets ratio scored 39/100.