Academyhealth

Nonprofit profile at a glance

EIN
521260918
IRS 990 coverage
2011–2025
Forms available
Form 990 2025, Form 990-T 2025
Location
Washinton, DC, USA
Phone
2022926700
Rating
76
Verdict
SUPPORTED
Rating confidence
Moderate

Official website

Reported finances

Revenue
$17,821,575
Expenses
$17,070,063
Assets
$11,304,414
Liabilities
$7,602,469

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

Leadership & pay

26 people listed

Executive titles in this filing

  • AARON CARROLL (PRESIDENT AND CEO)
  • HOLLY HUESTON (CFO AND VICE PRESIDENT)
  • MARGO EDMUNDS (VICE PRESIDENT)
  • MICHAEL GLUCK (VICE PRESIDENT)
  • KRISTIN ROSENGREN (VICE PRESIDENT)
  • TEASHA PELHAM (VICE PRESIDENT)

Highest reported compensation

  • AARON CARROLL (PRESIDENT AND CEO): $709,199 total reported compensation
  • HOLLY HUESTON (CFO AND VICE PRESIDENT): $290,321 total reported compensation
  • MARGO EDMUNDS (VICE PRESIDENT): $282,321 total reported compensation

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

Overview

Mission

Academyhealth improves health and health care for all by advancing evidence to inform policy and practice.

What it reported doing in 2025

Advancing the health research ecosystem: academyhealth strengthens the health services research ecosystem by investing in people, partnerships, and infrastructure. We connect researchers with patients, policymakers, and practitioners to ensure research addresses real-world priorities and drives meaningful change. Our grantmaking and programming support career development at all levels through mentorship, training, and peer learning. We build field capacity by advancing research methods, data infrastructure, and systems for collaboration. To increase the impact of evidence, we help researchers translate findings into accessible, actionable insights for decisionmakers and communities, and provide tailored implementation support through technical assistance, learning collaboratives, and resource hubs.

Operating model

Revenue model
Mixed. Its operating money came from several sources; no one source provided a clear majority.
Distribution model
Hybrid. The nonprofit split its reported program spending across 73% for direct work, and 27% for grants.

The verdict

SUPPORTED - A large share of available resources goes toward mission work and the filed numbers largely add up. Expenses are high relative to revenue and total assets are small relative to annual expenses; liquid coverage is unknown.

Rating breakdown

  • Financial Efficiency: 69
  • Transparency & Controls: 79
  • Accountability: 91
  • Sustainability: 27
  • Growth: 100

Detailed rating inputs

Financial Efficiency

  • Mission deployment rate: 69.9%; rating input score 70
  • Program expense ratio: 63.9%; rating input score 64
  • Fundraising efficiency: $65.16 raised per $1 spent on fundraising; rating input score 79; 79th percentile among comparable filings

Transparency & Controls

  • Consistency checks: 100%; rating input score 100; 64th percentile among comparable filings
  • Pay-setting controls: 2 of 6 controls in place; rating input score 33
    • Compensation committee: Missing
    • Independent consultant: Missing
    • Other Form 990s reviewed: Missing
    • Written employment contract: Missing
    • Compensation survey or study: Pass
    • Board or committee approval: Pass
  • Foreign activity oversight: Limited
  • Grant itemization coverage: 100%; rating input score 100; 76th percentile among comparable filings
  • Major donor itemization: Yes; rating input score 100
  • Related-party transparency: Limited

Accountability

  • Independent voting board: 93.3%; rating input score 93; 22nd percentile among comparable filings
  • Governance controls: 7 of 8 controls in place; rating input score 88
    • Conflict-of-interest policy: Pass
    • Whistleblower policy: Pass
    • Document-retention policy: Pass
    • CEO compensation review process: Pass
    • Other executive compensation review process: NotApplicable
    • Form 990 shared with the board: Fail
    • Board meeting minutes documented: Pass
    • Audit committee oversight: Pass
    • Independent financial-statement audit: Pass

Sustainability

  • Operating margin: 4.2%; rating input score 42; 42nd percentile among comparable filings
  • Total-asset coverage ratio: 0.66; rating input score 17; 17th percentile among comparable filings
  • Liabilities to assets ratio: 0.67; rating input score 15; 15th percentile among comparable filings
  • Officer compensation ratio: 19.5%; rating input score 6; 6th percentile among comparable filings

Growth

  • Program expense growth: 0.4% per year; rating input score 100; 11th percentile among comparable filings
  • Revenue growth: 2.5% per year; rating input score 100; 18th percentile among comparable filings
  • Asset growth: 5.9% per year; rating input score 100; 41st percentile among comparable filings

Details

  • Where the money goes: 69.9% of revenue deployed · 63.9% of spending went to programs
  • Governance: 14 of 15 board members independent · 7 of 8 filing controls reported
  • Programs: 3 filed program accomplishments · $10.9M in reported program spending
  • Leadership: top reported pay $709K · 26 people listed · 2 of 6 pay-setting controls reported
  • Highest-paid contractors: 4 contractors listed · $953K reported
  • Consistency: 36 of 36 current checks pass
  • Schedules: 7 filed schedules · includes major donors, grants, and executive pay
  • Filing history: 15 filing years from 2011 to 2025
  • Contacts: How to reach this organization
  • Money network: 52 filed money-flow records
  • Related organizations: 39 filed related-organization links
  • 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.

  • Moderate — Sustainability: Operating margin scored 42/100.
  • High — Sustainability: Total-asset coverage ratio scored 17/100.
  • Review — Accountability: Governance controls: Form 990 shared with the board not reported.
  • High — Sustainability: Officer compensation ratio scored 6/100.
  • High — Sustainability: Liabilities to assets ratio scored 15/100.