Aequitas Education
Nonprofit profile at a glance
- EIN
- 831080761
- IRS 990 coverage
- 2019–2024
- Forms available
- Form 990 2024, Form 990-N 2018
- Location
- Gallup, NM, USA
- Phone
- 5058629498
- Rating
- 73
- Verdict
- SUPPORTED
- Rating confidence
- Moderate
- Sector
- Fund Raising and/or Fund Distribution
Reported finances
- Revenue
- $898,668
- Expenses
- $452,165
- Assets
- $8,502,031
- Liabilities
- $7,194,983
Source: IRS Form 990. Selected filing: tax year 2024. Amounts in USD.
Leadership & pay
4 people listed
Executive titles in this filing
- Patrick T Mason (President)
- Joshua Montagnini (Vice President)
People named in this filing
- Patrick T Mason (President)
- Joshua Montagnini (Vice President)
- Shane Terrill (Secretary/Tres.)
Selected names, not a complete roster or a statement of current roles. Open leadership details for the complete filed list.
Source: IRS Form 990. Selected filing: tax year 2024. Names and roles reflect this filing, not necessarily current officeholders.
Overview
Mission
Supporting high-quality education in the liberal arts for all people.Classical Learning: Proper education does not rely on modern tricks or gimmicks for learning, but rather on the self-discipline of students and the natural joy of learning the True, the Good, and the Beautiful.High Expectations: Proper education is one that upholds a standard of excellence and is based on the truth that students will achieve their best potential when challenged with high expectations.Moral Character: Students educated in a holistic program are more likely to develop a strong moral character and live a life of virtue.Civic Virtue: Students should be taught not only how to excel in academics, but also how to excel in their communities and how to act for the Common Good of all.
What it reported doing in 2024
Supported the continued develop and operation of Hozho Academy Charter School in New Mexico. This school is currently Grades K-12 and serves 850 full time students. Approximately 60% Native American and 15% Hispanic. We also held a major DC event with the Secretary of Energy at the National Archives, and welcomed Secretary Kennedy to our school for a visit.Supported other local organizations in the area that are focused on formation of the population in various ways. This included partnering in a workforce development program with Southwest Indian Foundation.Supported general operations funds at Sacred Heart Catholic School.
Operating model
- Revenue model
- Other-operating. 72% of the money available for current operations came from other operating revenue.
- Distribution model
- Hybrid. The nonprofit split its reported program spending across 64% for direct work, and 36% for grants.
The verdict
SUPPORTED - The filed numbers largely add up and most voting board members are independent. A relatively small share of available resources goes toward mission work and program spending has declined or grown slowly.
Rating breakdown
- Financial Efficiency: 53
- Transparency & Controls: 87
- Accountability: 94
- Sustainability: 82
- Growth: 60
Detailed rating inputs
Financial Efficiency
- Mission deployment rate: 43%; rating input score 43
- Program expense ratio: 85.5%; rating input score 86
- Fundraising efficiency: Limited
Transparency & Controls
- Consistency checks: 93.3%; rating input score 93; 22nd percentile among comparable filings
- Pay-setting controls: Limited
- Foreign activity oversight: Limited
- Grant itemization coverage: 86.7%; rating input score 87; 37th percentile among comparable filings
- Major donor itemization: Yes; rating input score 100
- Related-party transparency: Limited
Accountability
- Independent voting board: 100%; rating input score 100; 63rd percentile among comparable filings
- Governance controls: 6 of 7 controls in place; rating input score 86
- Conflict-of-interest policy: Pass
- Whistleblower policy: Pass
- Document-retention policy: Fail
- CEO compensation review process: NotApplicable
- Other executive compensation review process: NotApplicable
- Form 990 shared with the board: Pass
- Board meeting minutes documented: Pass
- Audit committee oversight: Pass
- Independent financial-statement audit: Pass
Sustainability
- Operating margin: 49.7%; rating input score 92; 92nd percentile among comparable filings
- Total-asset coverage ratio: 18.8; rating input score 96; 96th percentile among comparable filings
- Liabilities to assets ratio: 0.85; rating input score 8; 8th percentile among comparable filings
- Officer compensation ratio: 0%; rating input score 81; 81st percentile among comparable filings
Growth
- Program expense growth: -0.8% per year; rating input score 0; 15th percentile among comparable filings
- Revenue growth: 9.8% per year; rating input score 100; 66th percentile among comparable filings
- Asset growth: 22.7% per year; rating input score 100; 85th percentile among comparable filings
Details
- Where the money goes: 43% of revenue deployed · 85.5% of spending went to programs
- Governance: 4 of 4 board members independent · 6 of 7 filing controls reported
- Programs: 1 filed program accomplishment · $387K in reported program spending
- Leadership: top reported pay $0 · 4 people listed
- Consistency: 22 of 23 current checks pass · 1 finding to review
- Schedules: 5 filed schedules · includes major donors and grants
- Filing history: 6 filing years from 2019 to 2024
- Contacts: How to reach this organization
- Money network: 2 filed money-flow records
- Related organizations: 2 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 — Financial Efficiency: Mission deployment rate scored 43/100.
- High — Growth: Program expense growth scored 0/100.
- Review — Accountability: Governance controls: Document-retention policy not reported.
- Review — Transparency & Controls: Domestic grant itemization did not reconcile in the filed values.
- High — Sustainability: Liabilities to assets ratio scored 8/100.