Brooklyn Emerging Leaders Academy
Nonprofit profile at a glance
- EIN
- 813554882
- IRS 990 coverage
- 2016–2024
- Forms available
- Form 990 2024
- Location
- Brooklyn, NY, USA
- Phone
- 3474738831
- Rating
- 82
- Verdict
- STRONG
- Rating confidence
- Moderate
- Sector
- Charter Schools
Reported finances
- Revenue
- $5,017,108
- Expenses
- $5,314,745
- Assets
- $2,271,362
- Liabilities
- $367,495
Source: IRS Form 990. Selected filing: tax year 2024. Amounts in USD.
Leadership & pay
17 people listed
Highest reported compensation
- NICIA FULLWOOD (HEAD OF SCHOOL): $228,969 total reported compensation
- SHANNON RILEY (CHIEF OF STAFF): $172,617 total reported compensation
- MEREDITH LOOP (ETHNIC STUDIES TEACHER): $143,574 total reported compensation
Source: IRS Form 990. Selected filing: tax year 2024. Names and roles reflect this filing, not necessarily current officeholders.
Overview
Mission
Bela's mission is to empower each young woman to be the best version of herself. Through a rigorous college preparatory curriculum, service learning initiatives, and a commitment to cultivating a spirit of resilience within each young woman, bela students will attend and graduate from college.
What it reported doing in 2024
Brooklyn emerging leaders academy (bela) was founded with a deep commitment to expanding educational opportunities for the young women of the bedford-stuyvesant community. Rooted in the belief that every student possesses boundless potential, bela provides a transformative learning environment designed to inspire, challenge, and empower.at bela, we cultivate a culture of excellence that nurtures intellectual curiosity, leadership, and resilience. Our program equips students with the academic foundation and personal confidence needed to thrive in high school, excel in college, and embark on fulfilling careers. By fostering a supportive and dynamic educational experience, we set our students on a trajectory for lifelong successensuring they emerge as leaders ready to shape their communities and the world.
Operating model
- Revenue model
- Grant-funded. 94% of the money available for current operations came from government grants.
- 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
STRONG - A large share of available resources goes toward mission work and the filed numbers largely add up. Expenses are high relative to revenue and total assets are small relative to annual expenses; liquid coverage is unknown.
Rating breakdown
- Financial Efficiency: 88
- Transparency & Controls: 74
- Accountability: 95
- Sustainability: 20
- Growth: 100
Detailed rating inputs
Financial Efficiency
- Mission deployment rate: 89.3%; rating input score 89
- Program expense ratio: 84.3%; rating input score 84
- Fundraising efficiency: $179.8 raised per $1 spent on fundraising; rating input score 91; 91st percentile among comparable filings
Transparency & Controls
- Consistency checks: 100%; rating input score 100; 63rd percentile among comparable filings
- Pay-setting controls: 2 of 6 controls in place; rating input score 33
- Compensation committee: Missing
- Independent consultant: Missing
- Other Form 990s reviewed: Missing
- Written employment contract: Missing
- Compensation survey or study: Pass
- Board or committee approval: Pass
- 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: 8 of 9 controls in place; rating input score 89
- Conflict-of-interest policy: Pass
- Whistleblower policy: Pass
- Document-retention policy: Pass
- CEO compensation review process: Pass
- 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: -5.9%; rating input score 19; 19th percentile among comparable filings
- Total-asset coverage ratio: 0.43; rating input score 14; 14th percentile among comparable filings
- Liabilities to assets ratio: 0.16; rating input score 49; 49th percentile among comparable filings
- Officer compensation ratio: 19.4%; rating input score 13; 13th percentile among comparable filings
Growth
- Program expense growth: 17.4% per year; rating input score 100; 82nd percentile among comparable filings
- Revenue growth: 14.2% per year; rating input score 100; 80th percentile among comparable filings
- Asset growth: 20.1% per year; rating input score 100; 84th percentile among comparable filings
Details
- Where the money goes: 89.3% of revenue deployed · 84.3% of spending went to programs
- Governance: 10 of 10 board members independent · 8 of 9 filing controls reported
- Programs: 1 filed program accomplishment · $4.5M in reported program spending
- Leadership: top reported pay $229K · 17 people listed · 2 of 6 pay-setting controls reported
- Highest-paid contractors: 1 contractor listed · $117K reported
- Consistency: 28 of 28 current checks pass
- Schedules: 6 filed schedules · includes major donors and executive pay
- Filing history: 9 filing years from 2016 to 2024
- Contacts: How to reach this organization
- Money network: 7 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.
Key Signals
Signals prioritize questions for review. They are not findings of misconduct.
- High — Sustainability: Operating margin scored 19/100.
- High — Sustainability: Total-asset coverage ratio scored 14/100.
- Review — Accountability: Governance controls: Other executive compensation review process not reported.
- High — Sustainability: Officer compensation ratio scored 13/100.
- Moderate — Sustainability: Liabilities to assets ratio scored 49/100.