Association for the Advancement of Sustainability in Higher Education
Nonprofit profile at a glance
- EIN
- 223319874
- IRS 990 coverage
- 2012–2025
- Forms available
- Form 990 2025, Form 990-T 2023
- Location
- Boston, MA, USA
- Phone
- 8883479997
- Rating
- 73
- Verdict
- SUPPORTED
- Rating confidence
- Moderate
- Sector
- Biological & Life Sciences
Reported finances
- Revenue
- $2,224,688
- Expenses
- $2,275,377
- Assets
- $1,140,576
- Liabilities
- $805,275
Source: IRS Form 990. Selected filing: tax year 2025. Amounts in USD.
Leadership & pay
17 people listed
Executive titles in this filing
- STEPHANIA FREGOSI (PRESIDENT)
- DARYL PIERSON (VICE PRESIDENT)
- MEGHAN FAY ZAHNISER (EXECUTIVE DIRECTOR)
Highest reported compensation
- MEGHAN FAY ZAHNISER (EXECUTIVE DIRECTOR): $142,266 total reported compensation
- JULIAN DAUTREMONT (DIRECTOR OF PROGRAMS): $119,614 total reported compensation
- ROGELIO ZUNIGA RUBIO (IT MANAGER): $117,247 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 inspire and catalyze higher education to lead the global sustainability transformation. To lead higher education to be a foundation for a thriving, equitable and ecologically healthy world.
What it reported doing in 2025
Conference and education programs: attendees from around the world share innovations, activities, frameworks, learning outcomes, tools, strategies, research, theory and leadership initiatives that are changing the face of sustainability in higher education. With trailblazing keynote speakers, workshops, awards and networking opportunities, aashe conferences advance the full spectrum of current sustainability solutions and best practices in higher education each year. Education programs aim to engage a diverse group of campus representatives; from faculty to sustainability officers, presidents to students in dialogue and action focused on pressing issues including but not limited to: curriculum transformation, social justice, climate action and behavior change.
Operating model
- Revenue model
- Other-operating. 98% 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. Fundraising costs are high for each dollar raised and program spending has declined or grown slowly.
Rating breakdown
- Financial Efficiency: 64
- Transparency & Controls: 84
- Accountability: 100
- Sustainability: 17
- Growth: 20
Detailed rating inputs
Financial Efficiency
- Mission deployment rate: 73%; rating input score 73
- Program expense ratio: 70.9%; rating input score 71
- Fundraising efficiency: $0 raised per $1 spent on fundraising; rating input score 0; 0th percentile among comparable filings
Transparency & Controls
- Consistency checks: 93.3%; rating input score 93; 18th percentile among comparable filings
- Pay-setting controls: Limited
- Foreign activity oversight: Limited
- Grant itemization coverage: Limited
- Major donor itemization: Limited
- Related-party transparency: Limited
Accountability
- Independent voting board: 100%; rating input score 100; 63rd percentile among comparable filings
- Governance controls: 9 of 9 controls in place; rating input score 100
- Conflict-of-interest policy: Pass
- Whistleblower policy: Pass
- Document-retention policy: Pass
- CEO compensation review process: Pass
- Other executive compensation review process: Pass
- Form 990 shared with the board: Pass
- Board meeting minutes documented: Pass
- Audit committee oversight: Pass
- Independent financial-statement audit: Pass
Sustainability
- Operating margin: -2.3%; rating input score 20; 20th percentile among comparable filings
- Total-asset coverage ratio: 0.5; rating input score 17; 17th percentile among comparable filings
- Liabilities to assets ratio: 0.71; rating input score 10; 10th percentile among comparable filings
- Officer compensation ratio: 20.7%; rating input score 15; 15th percentile among comparable filings
Growth
- Program expense growth: -2.4% per year; rating input score 0; 7th percentile among comparable filings
- Revenue growth: -0.6% per year; rating input score 0; 7th percentile among comparable filings
- Asset growth: 3.5% per year; rating input score 100; 25th percentile among comparable filings
Details
- Where the money goes: 73% of revenue deployed · 70.9% of spending went to programs
- Governance: 13 of 13 board members independent · 9 of 9 filing controls reported
- Programs: 3 filed program accomplishments · $1.6M in reported program spending
- Leadership: top reported pay $142K · 17 people listed
- Consistency: 29 of 29 current checks pass
- Schedules: 3 filed schedules
- Filing history: 11 filing years from 2012 to 2025
- Contacts: How to reach this organization
- Money network: 4 filed money-flow records
- 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.
- Staff and benefit plans: Retirement and health plans the organization files with the Department of Labor, and the people in them.
Key Signals
Signals prioritize questions for review. They are not findings of misconduct.
- High — Financial Efficiency: Fundraising efficiency scored 0/100.
- High — Growth: Program expense growth scored 0/100.
- High — Growth: Revenue growth scored 0/100.
- High — Sustainability: Operating margin scored 20/100.
- High — Sustainability: Total-asset coverage ratio scored 17/100.
- High — Sustainability: Liabilities to assets ratio scored 10/100.
- High — Sustainability: Officer compensation ratio scored 15/100.