Arts and Healing Initiative

Nonprofit profile at a glance

EIN
261485541
IRS 990 coverage
2011–2025
Forms available
Form 990 2025, Form 990-EZ 2010, Form 990-N 2008
Location
Santa Monica, CA, USA
Phone
3104521439
Rating
81
Verdict
STRONG
Rating confidence
Moderate
Sector
Public Health Program (Includes General Health and Wellness Promotion Services)

Official website

Reported finances

Revenue
$394,632
Expenses
$390,943
Assets
$95,206
Liabilities
$64,590

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

Leadership & pay

5 people listed

People named in this filing

  • PING HO (Executive Direc)
  • RUTH WESTREICH (Treasurer)
  • KELLEE KEMP (Director)

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 2025. Names and roles reflect this filing, not necessarily current officeholders.

Overview

Mission

Our mission is to transform lives through the innate power of the arts, guided by mental health practices, to foster healing, connection, and resilience for all.

What it reported doing in 2025

We served 8,426 individuals in 2025 through 11 offerings of our signature training programs (450), 20 offerings of our free monthly HOPE Series (802 attending live and 1,138 viewing recordings), and 309 contract services for 55 community partners listed below (5,856 adults and youth).LA OperaSal Castro Middle SchoolTurnaroundArts: CA statewide retreatFoothill Technology High SchoolChild Life on CallLong Beach SchoolsTO ArtsMonterey County Office of EducationChild Care Alliance LATwo ChairsUCLA Visual and Performing Arts EducationWiley CanyonTurnaroundArts: CAUCLA Behavioral Wellness CenterJohn Adams Middle School and Will Rogers Learning CommunityOntario Museum of ArtL A County Museum of ArtMontare Media - Emerging Themes in Behavioral Health 2025 conferenceSegerstrom Center for the ArtsAmerican Alliance of MuseumsAnnual Meeting and Museum ExpoThe GettyUCLA Science of Music courseUCLA Dept of Theatre Film and TelevisionOntario Museum of History and ArtVentura County Family Justice CenterLos Angeles Unified School District Arts Matters SymposiumAmerican Cinema EditorsAveson Global Learning AcademyOntario Museum of History and ArtAveson School of LeadersGrief Dialogues (Let's Make a Musical)TurnaroundArts: CACreativity through MusicUCLA Nathanson Famliy Resiliency Center Department of Mental Health and UCLA Early Childhood FellowshipUCLA Luskin School of Public AffairsGarment Worker CenterBig Bear Retreat CenterUCLA VA Veteran Family Wellbeing CenterUCLA Krieger Early Childhood CenterGrant Elementary School

Operating model

Revenue model
Mixed. Its operating money came from several sources; no one source provided a clear majority.
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

STRONG - 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: 83
  • Transparency & Controls: 86
  • Accountability: 82
  • Sustainability: 31
  • Growth: 80

Detailed rating inputs

Financial Efficiency

  • Mission deployment rate: 81.9%; rating input score 82
  • Program expense ratio: 82.7%; rating input score 83
  • Fundraising efficiency: $148.43 raised per $1 spent on fundraising; rating input score 88; 88th percentile among comparable filings

Transparency & Controls

  • Consistency checks: 92.3%; rating input score 92; 24th 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: 80%; rating input score 80; 23rd 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: Pass
    • 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: Fail

Sustainability

  • Operating margin: 0.9%; rating input score 38; 38th percentile among comparable filings
  • Total-asset coverage ratio: 0.24; rating input score 14; 14th percentile among comparable filings
  • Liabilities to assets ratio: 0.68; rating input score 6; 6th percentile among comparable filings
  • Officer compensation ratio: 0%; rating input score 67; 67th percentile among comparable filings

Growth

  • Program expense growth: 5.2% per year; rating input score 100; 52nd percentile among comparable filings
  • Revenue growth: 6% per year; rating input score 100; 53rd percentile among comparable filings
  • Asset growth: -1.5% per year; rating input score 0; 17th percentile among comparable filings

Details

  • Where the money goes: 81.9% of revenue deployed · 82.7% of spending went to programs
  • Governance: 4 of 5 board members independent · 6 of 7 filing controls reported
  • Programs: 1 filed program accomplishment · $323K in reported program spending
  • Leadership: top reported pay $0 · 5 people listed
  • Consistency: 22 of 23 current checks pass · 1 finding to review
  • Schedules: 4 filed schedules · includes major donors
  • Filing history: 15 filing years from 2011 to 2025
  • Contacts: How to reach this organization
  • Money network: Resolved incoming and outgoing counterparties from filed money flows.
  • 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 38/100.
  • High — Sustainability: Total-asset coverage ratio scored 14/100.
  • Review — Accountability: Governance controls: Independent financial-statement audit not reported.
  • Moderate — Transparency & Controls: Schedule A contributions reconciliation did not reconcile in the filed values.
  • High — Growth: Asset growth scored 0/100.
  • High — Sustainability: Liabilities to assets ratio scored 6/100.