Akari Foundation

Nonprofit profile at a glance

EIN
822557369
IRS 990 coverage
2023–2025
Forms available
Form 990 2025, Form 990-EZ 2022, Form 990-N 2020
Location
San Antonio, TX, USA
Phone
2103790914
Rating
66
Verdict
SUPPORTED
Rating confidence
Moderate
Sector
Fund Raising and Fund Distribution

Reported finances

Revenue
$635,981
Expenses
$635,873
Assets
$137,914
Liabilities
$0

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

Leadership & pay

4 people listed

Executive titles in this filing

  • Luisa Leal (CEO)

Highest reported compensation

  • Luisa Leal (CEO): $96,500 total reported compensation

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

Overview

Mission

The Akari Foundation provides culturally and linguistically tailored education advocacy and support to Hispanic families affected by rare neuromuscular diseases delivering all programs entirely in Spanish. In 2025 The Akari Foundation: Served 1,545 families across all programs through direct services education and resource navigation Provided intensive one-on-one support to 102 families through the Family Support and Resources Program across 8 countries Engaged nearly 4,400 individuals through community support peer networks and resource-sharing initiatives

What it reported doing in 2025

Workshops and Community Outreach The Workshops and Community Outreach Program provides in-person educational opportunities for Hispanic families affected by rare neuromuscular diseases. In 2025 the organization conducted 4 in-person workshops across the United States 2 in Puerto Rico and 2 events in Mexico reaching families caregivers and community members through direct engagement. These sessions provided education on disease management clinical trials and available resources. These efforts were complemented by broader outreach activities resulting in approximately 761,748 impressions across digital platforms and an 83 percent increase in engagement compared to the prior year. All services are delivered in Spanish. All services are delivered in Spanish and focus on healthcare navigation education access to clinical trials emotional support and connection to trusted providers and resources.

Operating model

Revenue model
Other-operating. 97% of the money available for current operations came from other operating 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: 81
  • Transparency & Controls: 85
  • Accountability: 10
  • Sustainability: 31
  • Growth: 100

Detailed rating inputs

Financial Efficiency

  • Mission deployment rate: 90.7%; rating input score 91
  • Program expense ratio: 90.7%; rating input score 91
  • Fundraising efficiency: $1.42 raised per $1 spent on fundraising; rating input score 4; 4th percentile among comparable filings

Transparency & Controls

  • Consistency checks: 90.9%; rating input score 91; 10th percentile among comparable filings
  • Pay-setting controls: Limited
  • Foreign activity oversight: Limited
  • Grant itemization coverage: Limited
  • Major donor itemization: Yes; rating input score 100
  • Related-party transparency: Limited

Accountability

  • Independent voting board: 0%; rating input score 0; 6th percentile among comparable filings
  • Governance controls: 2 of 8 controls in place; rating input score 25
    • Conflict-of-interest policy: Fail
    • 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: 0%; rating input score 30; 30th percentile among comparable filings
  • Total-asset coverage ratio: 0.22; rating input score 11; 11th percentile among comparable filings
  • Liabilities to assets ratio: 0; rating input score 88; 88th percentile among comparable filings
  • Officer compensation ratio: 15.2%; rating input score 24; 24th percentile among comparable filings

Growth

  • Program expense growth: 28.1% per year; rating input score 100; 87th percentile among comparable filings
  • Revenue growth: 38% per year; rating input score 100; 93rd percentile among comparable filings
  • Asset growth: 20.1% per year; rating input score 100; 79th percentile among comparable filings

Details

  • Where the money goes: 90.7% of revenue deployed · 90.7% of spending went to programs
  • Governance: 0 of 5 board members independent · 2 of 8 filing controls reported
  • Programs: 3 filed program accomplishments · $577K in reported program spending
  • Leadership: top reported pay $96K · 4 people listed
  • Consistency: 40 of 41 current checks pass · 1 finding to review
  • Schedules: 4 filed schedules · includes major donors
  • Filing history: 3 filing years from 2023 to 2025
  • Contacts: How to reach this organization
  • Money network: 1 filed money-flow record
  • 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.
  • High — Accountability: Governance controls: 5 of 7 not reported.
  • High — Financial Efficiency: Fundraising efficiency scored 4/100.
  • Moderate — Sustainability: Operating margin scored 30/100.
  • High — Sustainability: Total-asset coverage ratio scored 11/100.
  • Moderate — Transparency & Controls: Schedule A contributions reconciliation did not reconcile in the filed values.
  • High — Sustainability: Officer compensation ratio scored 24/100.