Breaktime

Legal name: Breaktime United Inc

Nonprofit profile at a glance

EIN
842301372
IRS 990 coverage
2020–2025
Official website data refreshed
Sep 2026
Forms available
Form 990 2025, Form 990-EZ 2019
Location
Boston, MA, US
Phone
(508) 319-1679
Rating
70
Verdict
SUPPORTED
Rating confidence
Moderate
Sector
Job Training

Official website

Reported finances

Revenue
$7,209,020
Expenses
$7,052,288
Assets
$14,865,217
Liabilities
$3,432,262

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

Leadership & pay

12 people listed

Executive titles in this filing

  • CONNOR SCHOEN (CO-FOUNDER/E.D/CEO)
  • TONY SHU (CO-FOUNDER/CEO)

Highest reported compensation

  • CONNOR SCHOEN (CO-FOUNDER/E.D/CEO): $262,384 total reported compensation
  • KELLY WHALEN (VP OF DEVELOPMENT): $193,233 total reported compensation
  • RYAN MCCARTHY (VP OF PROGRAMS & COMMUNITY OUTREACH): $150,674 total reported compensation

Source: IRS Form 990. Selected filing: tax year 2025. Names and roles reflect this filing, not necessarily current officeholders.

Overview

Mission

Break the cycle of homelessness by equipping young adults with the job and financial security they need to establish housing security.

What it reported doing in 2025

Breaktime's model centers around a 15-week purposeful transitional employment program called the double impact initiative. This program ensures that participants (associates) are (1) equipped with the job skills and financial stability they need for long-term success; engaged in meaningful work in their community; and empowered to see their own potential as a young person. We recruit young adults from other nonprofits providing transitional housing and case management, and following two weeks of cohort-based training, we co-fund the wages for associates to work at local non-profits and community organizations for three months. Through this early intervention, breaktime combats long-term chronic homelessness and supports young adults experiencing homelessness and empowering them through purposeful transitional employment that promotes the health and wellbeing of their communiities. We believe in the power and potential of all young people to support their communities and believe that the opportunity to give back to others is just as transformative as the job itself. We hope to not only empower young adults with the pathways and financial resources to lead a stable life, but we also hope to empower young adults with the purpose and perspective to become changemakers in our community.

Operating model

Revenue model
Donor-supported. 86% 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 - A large share of available resources goes toward mission work and the filed numbers largely add up. Few specific pay-setting methods are documented in the filing; unanswered boxes are not proof of absence and some filing-based governance responses are negative or unanswered.

Rating breakdown

  • Financial Efficiency: 74
  • Transparency & Controls: 65
  • Accountability: 68
  • Sustainability: 40
  • Growth: 100

Detailed rating inputs

Financial Efficiency

  • Mission deployment rate: 78.6%; rating input score 79
  • Program expense ratio: 80.1%; rating input score 80
  • Fundraising efficiency: $10.01 raised per $1 spent on fundraising; rating input score 35; 35th percentile among comparable filings

Transparency & Controls

  • Consistency checks: 100%; rating input score 100; 63rd percentile among comparable filings
  • Pay-setting controls: 0 of 6 controls in place; rating input score 0
    • Compensation committee: Missing
    • Independent consultant: Missing
    • Other Form 990s reviewed: Missing
    • Written employment contract: Missing
    • Compensation survey or study: Missing
    • Board or committee approval: Missing
  • Foreign activity oversight: Limited
  • Grant itemization coverage: Limited
  • Major donor itemization: Yes; rating input score 100
  • Related-party transparency: Limited

Accountability

  • Independent voting board: 85.7%; rating input score 86; 19th percentile among comparable filings
  • Governance controls: 4 of 9 controls in place; rating input score 44
    • Conflict-of-interest policy: Fail
    • Whistleblower policy: Fail
    • Document-retention policy: Fail
    • 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: Pass
    • Independent financial-statement audit: Pass

Sustainability

  • Operating margin: 2.2%; rating input score 34; 34th percentile among comparable filings
  • Total-asset coverage ratio: 2.11; rating input score 59; 59th percentile among comparable filings
  • Liabilities to assets ratio: 0.23; rating input score 32; 32nd percentile among comparable filings
  • Officer compensation ratio: 14.3%; rating input score 23; 23rd percentile among comparable filings

Growth

  • Program expense growth: 31.2% per year; rating input score 100; 92nd percentile among comparable filings
  • Revenue growth: 34.1% per year; rating input score 100; 95th percentile among comparable filings
  • Asset growth: 47.8% per year; rating input score 100; 97th percentile among comparable filings

Details

  • What they do: 6 programs and campaigns described on the official site · 1 operating location identified
  • Where the money goes: 78.6% of revenue deployed · 80.1% of spending went to programs
  • Governance: 6 of 7 board members independent · 4 of 9 filing controls reported
  • Programs: 1 filed program accomplishment · $5.7M in reported program spending
  • Leadership: top reported pay $262K · 12 people listed · 0 of 6 pay-setting controls reported
  • Highest-paid contractors: 5 contractors listed · $2.2M reported
  • Consistency: 26 of 27 current checks pass · 1 finding to review
  • Schedules: 5 filed schedules · includes major donors and executive pay
  • Filing history: 6 filing years from 2020 to 2025
  • Contacts: How to reach this organization
  • Money network: 6 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.

  • High — Transparency & Controls: Pay-setting controls scored 0/100.
  • Moderate — Accountability: Governance controls: 5 of 9 not reported.
  • Moderate — Financial Efficiency: Fundraising efficiency scored 35/100.
  • Moderate — Sustainability: Operating margin scored 34/100.
  • Moderate — Transparency & Controls: Schedule A contributions reconciliation did not reconcile in the filed values.
  • Review — Sustainability: Total-asset coverage ratio scored 59/100.
  • High — Sustainability: Officer compensation ratio scored 23/100.
  • Moderate — Sustainability: Liabilities to assets ratio scored 32/100.