Building Bridges Education

Nonprofit profile at a glance

EIN
933945882
IRS 990 coverage
2025–2025
Forms available
Form 990 2025, Form 990-EZ 2024
Location
Hyde Park, MA, USA
Phone
6173078294
Rating
76
Verdict
SUPPORTED
Rating confidence
Moderate
Sector
Educational Services and Schools - Other

Reported finances

Revenue
$232,731
Expenses
$234,715
Assets
$58,555
Liabilities
$610

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

Leadership & pay

2 people listed

Executive titles in this filing

  • Dr Keith Lezama (CEO/President)

Highest reported compensation

  • Dr Keith Lezama (CEO/President): $67,795 total reported compensation

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

Overview

Mission

Building Bridges Education (BBE) is a non-profit organization at the forefront of creating transformative, high-impact programming. BBE is committed to equity-driven initiatives that empower students to embark on journeys of self-discovery, academic exploration, and college and career readiness. BBE's programs are designed to equip students with the skills, knowledge, awareness, and access they need to see a future they may have not imagined and prepare them for fulfilling professional lives.

What it reported doing in 2025

The Building Bridges HBCU Program stands as the largest HBCU event in Massachusetts hosting over 1,500 students annually, along with more than 300 educators. In the past two years, the program has partnered with over 20 HBCUs, providing resources and opportunities for high school students, educators, and families. To date, the program has helped secure over $6 million in scholarships and provided over 300 on-the-spot college acceptances for high school seniors in Massachusetts. The Building Bridges HBCU Program continues to make a significant impact in shaping the future of higher education for students and families across Massachusetts.

Operating model

Revenue model
Donor-supported. 65% of the money available for current operations came from contributions and gifts.
Distribution model
Direct operator. The filing allocates 97% 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. A relatively small share of voting board members are independent and some filing-based governance responses are negative or unanswered.

Rating breakdown

  • Financial Efficiency: 87
  • Transparency & Controls: 92
  • Accountability: 50
  • Sustainability: 26
  • Growth: 40

Detailed rating inputs

Financial Efficiency

  • Mission deployment rate: 91.6%; rating input score 92
  • Program expense ratio: 90.8%; rating input score 91
  • Fundraising efficiency: $14.94 raised per $1 spent on fundraising; rating input score 48; 48th percentile among comparable filings

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: 50%; rating input score 50; 19th 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: -0.9%; rating input score 33; 33rd percentile among comparable filings
  • Total-asset coverage ratio: 0.25; rating input score 14; 14th percentile among comparable filings
  • Liabilities to assets ratio: 0.01; rating input score 39; 39th percentile among comparable filings
  • Officer compensation ratio: 28.9%; rating input score 12; 12th percentile among comparable filings

Growth

  • Program expense growth: Limited
  • Revenue growth: 54.1% per year; rating input score 100; 97th percentile among comparable filings
  • Asset growth: -15.8% per year; rating input score 0; 4th percentile among comparable filings

Details

  • Where the money goes: 91.6% of revenue deployed · 90.8% of spending went to programs
  • Governance: 1 of 2 board members independent · 4 of 8 filing controls reported
  • Programs: 3 filed program accomplishments · $213K in reported program spending
  • Leadership: top reported pay $68K · 2 people listed
  • Consistency: 23 of 23 current checks pass
  • Schedules: 3 filed schedules · includes major donors
  • 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.

  • Review — Accountability: Independent voting board scored 50/100.
  • Review — Accountability: Governance controls: 3 of 7 not reported.
  • Moderate — Financial Efficiency: Fundraising efficiency scored 48/100.
  • High — Growth: Asset growth scored 0/100.
  • Moderate — Sustainability: Operating margin scored 33/100.
  • High — Sustainability: Total-asset coverage ratio scored 14/100.
  • High — Sustainability: Officer compensation ratio scored 12/100.
  • Moderate — Sustainability: Liabilities to assets ratio scored 39/100.