C-stem Teacher and Student Support Services

Nonprofit profile at a glance

EIN
753058574
IRS 990 coverage
2014–2025
Forms available
Form 990 2025
Location
Houston, TX, USA
Phone
2814516509
Rating
56
Verdict
MIXED
Rating confidence
Standard
Sector
Educational Services and Schools - Other

Official website

Reported finances

Revenue
$187,712
Expenses
$184,578
Assets
$35,835
Liabilities
$189,176

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

Leadership & pay

7 people listed

People named in this filing

  • AHMAD SHAHEED (CHAIR)
  • SEUN HARRIS (DIRECTOR)
  • REAGAN FLOWERS (TREASURER)

Selected names, not a complete roster or a statement of current roles. Open leadership details for the complete filed list.

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

Overview

Mission

Inspire the next generation of innovators and thought leaders by emerging them in exciting hands on projects solving real world problem to encourage entry into the talent pipeline

What it reported doing in 2025

Challenge competition between elementary to high school students competing in different areas including the arts and robotics

Operating model

Revenue model
Earned-program. 95% of the money available for current operations came from fees and other program revenue.
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

MIXED - 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: 35
  • Transparency & Controls: 93
  • Accountability: 65
  • Sustainability: 30
  • Growth: 0

Detailed rating inputs

Financial Efficiency

  • Mission deployment rate: 39.2%; rating input score 39
  • Program expense ratio: 39.8%; rating input score 40
  • Fundraising efficiency: $0.3 raised per $1 spent on fundraising; rating input score 4; 4th percentile among comparable filings

Transparency & Controls

  • Consistency checks: 90.9%; rating input score 91; 15th 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: 80%; rating input score 80; 23rd percentile among comparable filings
  • Governance controls: 3 of 7 controls in place; rating input score 43
    • Conflict-of-interest policy: Pass
    • Whistleblower policy: Fail
    • Document-retention policy: Fail
    • CEO compensation review process: NotApplicable
    • 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: 1.7%; rating input score 40; 40th percentile among comparable filings
  • Total-asset coverage ratio: 0.19; rating input score 12; 12th percentile among comparable filings
  • Liabilities to assets ratio: 5.28; rating input score 1; 1st percentile among comparable filings
  • Officer compensation ratio: 0%; rating input score 67; 67th percentile among comparable filings

Growth

  • Program expense growth: -20.3% per year; rating input score 0; 6th percentile among comparable filings
  • Revenue growth: -13.1% per year; rating input score 0; 4th percentile among comparable filings
  • Asset growth: -2.8% per year; rating input score 0; 14th percentile among comparable filings

Details

  • Where the money goes: 39.2% of revenue deployed · 39.8% of spending went to programs
  • Governance: 4 of 5 board members independent · 3 of 7 filing controls reported
  • Programs: 2 filed program accomplishments · $73K in reported program spending
  • Leadership: top reported pay $0 · 7 people listed
  • Consistency: 25 of 26 current checks pass · 1 finding to review
  • Schedules: 4 filed schedules · includes major donors
  • Filing history: 12 filing years from 2014 to 2025
  • Contacts: How to reach this organization
  • Money network: Resolved incoming and outgoing counterparties from filed money flows.
  • 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.

  • Moderate — Financial Efficiency: Mission deployment rate scored 39/100.
  • Moderate — Financial Efficiency: Program expense ratio scored 40/100.
  • High — Financial Efficiency: Fundraising efficiency scored 4/100.
  • Moderate — Accountability: Governance controls: 3 of 6 not reported.
  • High — Growth: Program expense growth scored 0/100.
  • High — Growth: Revenue growth scored 0/100.
  • Moderate — Sustainability: Operating margin scored 40/100.
  • High — Sustainability: Total-asset coverage ratio scored 12/100.
  • High — Growth: Asset growth scored 0/100.
  • Moderate — Transparency & Controls: Schedule A contributions reconciliation did not reconcile in the filed values.
  • High — Sustainability: Liabilities to assets ratio scored 1/100.