Better Youth Inc

Nonprofit profile at a glance

EIN
134166295
IRS 990 coverage
2022–2024
Forms available
Form 990 2024, Form 990-EZ 2021, Form 990-N 2018
Location
Los Angeles, CA, USA
Phone
8003572535
Rating
77
Verdict
SUPPORTED
Rating confidence
Moderate
Sector
Adult, Child Matching Programs

Official website

Reported finances

Revenue
$1,043,046
Expenses
$1,027,685
Assets
$209,548
Liabilities
$0

Source: IRS Form 990. Selected filing: tax year 2024. Amounts in USD.

Leadership & pay

6 people listed

Executive titles in this filing

  • Sydnee Stewart (CEO)

Highest reported compensation

  • Sydnee Stewart (CEO): $120,000 total reported compensation
  • Larry Hughes (CFO): $32,000 total reported compensation

Source: IRS Form 990. Selected filing: tax year 2024. Names and roles reflect this filing, not necessarily current officeholders.

Overview

Mission

We provide access, equity, and validation to foster and system impacted youth creatives ages 16-24 through media arts programming and mentoring helping them bridge the digital divide and develop their creative confidence, upleveling our youth through pre-apprenticeship and apprenticeship career pathways in digital storytelling.

What it reported doing in 2024

Registered Apprenticeship Program - RAP - designed in collaboration with industry experts, employers, and community partners. Our unique program is tailored for system-impacted youth aged 18 and over, creating a pathway to success for those with lived experience in the child welfare system. A youth apprenticeship combines on the job training with job related academic instruction in a curriculum aligned with a specific career pathway.

Operating model

Revenue model
Mixed. Its operating money came from several sources; no one source provided a clear majority.
Distribution model
Hybrid. The nonprofit split its reported program spending across 73% for direct work, and 27% for grants.

The verdict

SUPPORTED - The filed numbers largely add up and a large share of available resources goes toward mission work. Some filing-based governance responses are negative or unanswered and expenses are high relative to revenue.

Rating breakdown

  • Financial Efficiency: 65
  • Transparency & Controls: 94
  • Accountability: 82
  • Sustainability: 35
  • Growth: 100

Detailed rating inputs

Financial Efficiency

  • Mission deployment rate: 73.2%; rating input score 73
  • Program expense ratio: 74.3%; rating input score 74
  • Fundraising efficiency: Limited

Transparency & Controls

  • Consistency checks: 100%; rating input score 100; 63rd percentile among comparable filings
  • Pay-setting controls: Limited
  • Foreign activity oversight: Limited
  • Grant itemization coverage: 100%; rating input score 100; 76th 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; 63rd percentile among comparable filings
  • Governance controls: 5 of 9 controls in place; rating input score 56
    • Conflict-of-interest policy: Pass
    • Whistleblower policy: Pass
    • Document-retention policy: Pass
    • CEO compensation review process: Fail
    • 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: 1.5%; rating input score 40; 40th percentile among comparable filings
  • Total-asset coverage ratio: 0.2; rating input score 10; 10th percentile among comparable filings
  • Liabilities to assets ratio: 0; rating input score 91; 91st percentile among comparable filings
  • Officer compensation ratio: 14.8%; rating input score 23; 23rd percentile among comparable filings

Growth

  • Program expense growth: 51.9% per year; rating input score 100; 96th percentile among comparable filings
  • Revenue growth: 44.9% per year; rating input score 100; 96th percentile among comparable filings
  • Asset growth: 33.1% per year; rating input score 100; 92nd percentile among comparable filings

Details

  • Where the money goes: 73.2% of revenue deployed · 74.3% of spending went to programs
  • Governance: 4 of 4 board members independent · 5 of 9 filing controls reported
  • Programs: 3 filed program accomplishments · $764K in reported program spending
  • Leadership: top reported pay $120K · 6 people listed
  • Consistency: 28 of 28 current checks pass
  • Schedules: 5 filed schedules · includes major donors and grants
  • Filing history: 3 filing years from 2022 to 2024
  • Contacts: How to reach this organization
  • Money network: 3 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.

  • Review — Accountability: Governance controls: 3 of 8 not reported.
  • Moderate — Sustainability: Operating margin scored 40/100.
  • High — Sustainability: Total-asset coverage ratio scored 10/100.
  • High — Sustainability: Officer compensation ratio scored 23/100.