Barrier Breakers Inc

Nonprofit profile at a glance

EIN
873589522
IRS 990 coverage
2023–2025
Forms available
Form 990 2025, Form 990-EZ 2022, Form 990-PF 2021
Location
Gaithersburg, MD, USA
Phone
3014175167
Rating
64
Verdict
SUPPORTED
Rating confidence
Moderate
Sector
Scholarships, Student Financial Aid Services, Awards

Official website

Reported finances

Revenue
$471,009
Expenses
$362,779
Assets
$6,409
Liabilities
$9,549

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

Leadership & pay

10 people listed

Executive titles in this filing

  • Sydney Montgomery (Executive Director)

Highest reported compensation

  • Sydney Montgomery (Executive Director): $45,389 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 increase access to, and success in, higher education for First-Generation students and others who face barriers to entry

What it reported doing in 2025

Provide high touch college advising to students of all backgrounds, races, and income levels from former admissions deans, directors, and professional writers. We provide 1:1 high-touch counseling to individual families as well as partnerships with local non-profits, organizations, and schools to provide full-service college counseing to the entire student body population in these programs. Our services are free of charge to students who attend Title I schools or who qualify for free and reduced lunch.

Operating model

Revenue model
Earned-program. 76% of the money available for current operations came from fees and other program 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 - 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: 44
  • Transparency & Controls: 92
  • Accountability: 73
  • Sustainability: 39
  • Growth: 40

Detailed rating inputs

Financial Efficiency

  • Mission deployment rate: 44.4%; rating input score 44
  • Program expense ratio: 57.6%; rating input score 58
  • Fundraising efficiency: Limited

Transparency & Controls

  • Consistency checks: 100%; rating input score 100; 64th 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: 90%; rating input score 90; 27th percentile among comparable filings
  • Governance controls: 4 of 8 controls in place; rating input score 50
    • Conflict-of-interest policy: Pass
    • Whistleblower policy: Fail
    • Document-retention policy: Fail
    • CEO compensation review process: Pass
    • 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: 23%; rating input score 74; 74th percentile among comparable filings
  • Total-asset coverage ratio: 0.02; rating input score 3; 3rd percentile among comparable filings
  • Liabilities to assets ratio: 1.49; rating input score 2; 2nd percentile among comparable filings
  • Officer compensation ratio: 12.5%; rating input score 25; 25th percentile among comparable filings

Growth

  • Program expense growth: -31.3% per year; rating input score 0; 4th percentile among comparable filings
  • Revenue growth: 33.7% per year; rating input score 100; 94th percentile among comparable filings
  • Asset growth: -65.9% per year; rating input score 0; 1st percentile among comparable filings

Details

  • Where the money goes: 44.4% of revenue deployed · 57.6% of spending went to programs
  • Governance: 9 of 10 board members independent · 4 of 8 filing controls reported
  • Programs: 3 filed program accomplishments · $209K in reported program spending
  • Leadership: top reported pay $45K · 10 people listed
  • Consistency: 19 of 19 current checks pass
  • Schedules: 4 filed schedules · includes major donors
  • Filing history: 3 filing years from 2023 to 2025
  • Contacts: How to reach this organization
  • Money network: 2 filed money-flow records
  • Related organizations: Filed and resolved organization relationships.
  • 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 44/100.
  • Review — Financial Efficiency: Program expense ratio scored 58/100.
  • Review — Accountability: Governance controls: 3 of 7 not reported.
  • High — Growth: Program expense growth scored 0/100.
  • High — Sustainability: Total-asset coverage ratio scored 3/100.
  • High — Growth: Asset growth scored 0/100.
  • High — Sustainability: Liabilities to assets ratio scored 2/100.
  • High — Sustainability: Officer compensation ratio scored 25/100.