Brave Space Alliance
Nonprofit profile at a glance
- EIN
- 844538090
- IRS 990 coverage
- 2020–2025
- Forms available
- Form 990 2025
- Location
- Chicago, IL, USA
- Phone
- 8723335199
- Rating
- 71
- Verdict
- SUPPORTED
- Rating confidence
- Moderate
- Sector
- LGBT Centers
Reported finances
- Revenue
- $3,472,581
- Expenses
- $2,885,044
- Assets
- $3,750,808
- Liabilities
- $143,557
Source: IRS Form 990. Selected filing: tax year 2025. Amounts in USD.
Leadership & pay
15 people listed
Executive titles in this filing
- CHANNYN PARKER (EMERITUS CEO)
- NICOLE PATIN (INTERIM CEO)
Highest reported compensation
- CHANNYN PARKER (EMERITUS CEO): $135,839 total reported compensation
- MARVIN THOMPSON (DIRECTOR OF PEOPLE, CULTURE & OPERATIONS): $80,900 total reported compensation
- GAYLON ALCARAZ (INTERIM COO): $49,356 total reported compensation
Source: IRS Form 990. Selected filing: tax year 2025. Names and roles reflect this filing, not necessarily current officeholders.
Overview
Mission
Brave space alliance is a social services agency providing affirming, culturally competent, for-us by-us resources, programming, and services for individuals within chicago's south and west side communities. We empower, embolden, and educate the community through wrap-around services, knowledge-sharing and community-sourced resources.
What it reported doing in 2025
Food pantry: bsa's community pantry serves as an alternative food system that reaches individuals who fall outside of existing services available to populations experiencing hunger in chicago. We partner with dozens of local restaurants, food re-distributors, and local, bipoc-run farms to provide 3,000+ lbs of food biweekly.
Operating model
- Revenue model
- Donor-supported. 85% of the money available for current operations came from contributions and gifts.
- 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.
- Includes noncash contributions: Reported contributions include donated property or goods.
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: 100
- Sustainability: 56
- Growth: 60
Detailed rating inputs
Financial Efficiency
- Mission deployment rate: 41.4%; rating input score 41
- Program expense ratio: 49.8%; rating input score 50
- Fundraising efficiency: $11.2 raised per $1 spent on fundraising; rating input score 40; 40th percentile among comparable filings
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: Limited
- 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: 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: 16.9%; rating input score 68; 68th percentile among comparable filings
- Total-asset coverage ratio: 1.3; rating input score 43; 43rd percentile among comparable filings
- Liabilities to assets ratio: 0.04; rating input score 64; 64th percentile among comparable filings
- Officer compensation ratio: 10.4%; rating input score 32; 32nd percentile among comparable filings
Growth
- Program expense growth: 16.2% per year; rating input score 100; 78th percentile among comparable filings
- Revenue growth: -4.6% per year; rating input score 0; 3rd percentile among comparable filings
- Asset growth: 4.3% per year; rating input score 100; 29th percentile among comparable filings
Details
- Where the money goes: 41.4% of revenue deployed · 49.8% of spending went to programs
- Governance: 11 of 11 board members independent · 9 of 9 filing controls reported
- Programs: 5 filed program accomplishments · $1.4M in reported program spending
- Leadership: top reported pay $136K · 15 people listed
- Highest-paid contractors: 1 contractor listed · $205K reported
- Consistency: 33 of 33 current checks pass
- Schedules: 6 filed schedules · includes major donors
- Filing history: 6 filing years from 2020 to 2025
- Contacts: How to reach this organization
- Money network: 4 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.
- 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.
- Moderate — Financial Efficiency: Mission deployment rate scored 41/100.
- Review — Financial Efficiency: Program expense ratio scored 50/100.
- Moderate — Financial Efficiency: Fundraising efficiency scored 40/100.
- High — Growth: Revenue growth scored 0/100.
- Moderate — Sustainability: Total-asset coverage ratio scored 43/100.
- Moderate — Sustainability: Officer compensation ratio scored 32/100.