Asian American Bar Association of the Greater Bay Area

Nonprofit profile at a glance

EIN
942981598
IRS 990 coverage
2015–2025
Official website data refreshed
Sep 2026
Forms available
Form 990 2025, Form 990-EZ 2020
Location
San Francisco, CA, US
Phone
6284003346
Rating
47
Verdict
MIXED
Rating confidence
Moderate

Official website

Reported finances

Revenue
$401,319
Expenses
$418,776
Assets
$553,159
Liabilities
$20,506

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

Leadership & pay

15 people listed

Executive titles in this filing

  • Kelly Matayoshi (President)
  • Angel Lin Garrett (President-Elect)

Highest reported compensation

  • Ezra Denney (Operations Dir.): $87,646 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 promote the professional development of Asian American attorneys, to advocate for the Asian American community, and to foster diversity in the legal profession.

What it reported doing in 2025

2025 has been a tough year for our community. From the challenges to our immigrant families, LGBTQ+ community, and DEI to attacks on the rule of law and the foundations of our democracy, it felt relentless and demoralizing. I promised in my first message that AABA will fight back. And we did, in big ways and small.AABA spoke out over a dozen times through amicus briefs and statements. AABA joined forces with organizations like the Asian Law Caucus and API Legal Outreach to create Know Your Rights materials and trainings, identify resources, and call our community to action. AABA celebrated the LGBTQ+ community through the first ever API LGBTQ+ conference, our Rainbow Road Gala, and the inaugural AABA/BALIF Foundation Scholarship. AABA strengthened access and equality by bringing its Pathways to Law program back in-person and honoring its Pathways to Partnership program. AABA brought together and supported our judiciary by holding a Judges Dinner for the first time since the pandemic. AABA Law Foundation celebrated over 35 years of scholarships. And these are just the highlights AABA also continued its bread and butter work of uplifting the API community through its committee work.2025 Numbers:75 Events attended by over 1900 people55 Dedicated committee co-chairs389 Community posts on AABA website10 free MCLE events786 Gala attendees & 64 Gala sponsors10 Judicial Candidates evaluated13 Amici Briefs/Statements issued

Operating model

Revenue model
Donor-supported. 79% of the money available for current operations came from contributions and gifts.
Distribution model
Cannot be determined from the filing. The filing does not provide enough consistent spending detail to tell whether the nonprofit works directly or through others.

The verdict

MIXED - 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 a relatively small share of total spending goes to programs.

Rating breakdown

  • Financial Efficiency: 0
  • Transparency & Controls: 86
  • Accountability: 84
  • Sustainability: 32
  • Growth: 60

Detailed rating inputs

Financial Efficiency

  • Mission deployment rate: 0%; rating input score 0
  • Program expense ratio: 0%; rating input score 0
  • Fundraising efficiency: Limited

Transparency & Controls

  • Consistency checks: 88.9%; rating input score 89; 6th percentile among comparable filings
  • Pay-setting controls: Limited
  • Foreign activity oversight: Limited
  • Grant itemization coverage: 95.4%; rating input score 95; 57th 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; 64th percentile among comparable filings
  • Governance controls: 5 of 8 controls in place; rating input score 62
    • Conflict-of-interest policy: Pass
    • Whistleblower policy: Pass
    • Document-retention policy: Pass
    • CEO compensation review process: NotApplicable
    • Other executive compensation review process: Fail
    • Form 990 shared with the board: Pass
    • Board meeting minutes documented: Pass
    • Audit committee oversight: Missing
    • Independent financial-statement audit: Fail

Sustainability

  • Operating margin: -4.3%; rating input score 26; 26th percentile among comparable filings
  • Total-asset coverage ratio: 1.32; rating input score 48; 48th percentile among comparable filings
  • Liabilities to assets ratio: 0.04; rating input score 30; 30th percentile among comparable filings
  • Officer compensation ratio: 20.9%; rating input score 17; 17th percentile among comparable filings

Growth

  • Program expense growth: Limited
  • Revenue growth: 8.3% per year; rating input score 100; 63rd percentile among comparable filings
  • Asset growth: 10.6% per year; rating input score 100; 65th percentile among comparable filings

Details

  • What they do: 4 programs and campaigns described on the official site
  • Where the money goes: 0% of revenue deployed · 0% of spending went to programs
  • Governance: 14 of 14 board members independent · 5 of 8 filing controls reported
  • Programs: 1 filed program accomplishment
  • Leadership: top reported pay $88K · 15 people listed
  • Consistency: 11 of 13 current checks pass · 2 findings to review
  • Schedules: 5 filed schedules · includes major donors and grants
  • Filing history: 9 filing years from 2015 to 2025
  • Contacts: How to reach this organization
  • Money network: 3 filed money-flow records
  • Related organizations: 1 filed related-organization link
  • 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 — Financial Efficiency: Mission deployment rate scored 0/100.
  • High — Financial Efficiency: Program expense ratio scored 0/100.
  • Review — Accountability: Governance controls: 2 of 7 not reported.
  • High — Sustainability: Operating margin scored 26/100.
  • Moderate — Transparency & Controls: Functional expense sum did not reconcile in the filed values.
  • Review — Transparency & Controls: Domestic grant itemization did not reconcile in the filed values.
  • Moderate — Sustainability: Total-asset coverage ratio scored 48/100.
  • High — Sustainability: Officer compensation ratio scored 17/100.
  • Moderate — Sustainability: Liabilities to assets ratio scored 30/100.