Cambiar Education

Nonprofit profile at a glance

EIN
813508420
IRS 990 coverage
2016–2024
Official website data refreshed
Sep 2026
Forms available
Form 990 2024
Location
San Diego, CA, USA
Phone
2132208782
Rating
75
Verdict
SUPPORTED
Rating confidence
Moderate
Sector
Educational Services and Schools - Other

Official website

Reported finances

Revenue
$69,537,421
Expenses
$42,701,629
Assets
$61,120,247
Liabilities
$3,801,551

Source: IRS Form 990. Selected filing: tax year 2024. Amounts in USD.

Leadership & pay

9 people listed

Executive titles in this filing

  • Christina Heitz (FOUNDER, CEO, PRESIDENT)

Highest reported compensation

  • Christina Heitz (FOUNDER, CEO, PRESIDENT): $509,896 total reported compensation
  • Kimberly Smith (Entrepreneur): $495,274 total reported compensation
  • Christopher Maher (Superintendent in Residence): $321,936 total reported compensation

Source: IRS Form 990. Selected filing: tax year 2024. Names and roles reflect this filing, not necessarily current officeholders.

Overview

Mission

We operate initiatives that build entrepreneurship, critical partnerships, and innovative communities.

What it reported doing in 2024

Cambiar Education is a nonprofit k-12 venture studio built to change the marketplace for education innovation to prove undeniably that every student can succeed and thrive. It propels groundbreaking ventures charting the future of education led by founders with unshakable optimism and courage. Cambiar cultivates a community of over 100 connected ventures, anchored in a commitment to build positive, life-changing solutions for our most vulnerable youth, and operating at the speed of innovation to make a lasting impact.

Operating model

Revenue model
Donor-supported. 73% of the money available for current operations came from contributions and gifts.
Distribution model
Direct operator. The filing allocates 89% 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 total spending goes to programs and the filed numbers largely add up. A relatively small share of available resources goes toward mission work and the filing reports few safeguards for money sent abroad.

Rating breakdown

  • Financial Efficiency: 73
  • Transparency & Controls: 67
  • Accountability: 85
  • Sustainability: 72
  • Growth: 100

Detailed rating inputs

Financial Efficiency

  • Mission deployment rate: 59%; rating input score 59
  • Program expense ratio: 94.9%; rating input score 95
  • Fundraising efficiency: $71.05 raised per $1 spent on fundraising; rating input score 80; 80th percentile among comparable filings

Transparency & Controls

  • Consistency checks: 93.3%; rating input score 93; 21st percentile among comparable filings
  • Pay-setting controls: 3 of 6 controls in place; rating input score 50
    • Compensation committee: Pass
    • Independent consultant: Missing
    • Other Form 990s reviewed: Pass
    • Written employment contract: Missing
    • Compensation survey or study: Missing
    • Board or committee approval: Pass
  • Foreign activity oversight: Scored; rating input score 0
  • Grant itemization coverage: 95.5%; rating input score 96; 28th percentile among comparable filings
  • Major donor itemization: Yes; rating input score 100
  • Related-party transparency: Limited

Accountability

  • Independent voting board: 75%; rating input score 75; 24th 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: 38.6%; rating input score 94; 94th percentile among comparable filings
  • Total-asset coverage ratio: 1.43; rating input score 52; 52nd percentile among comparable filings
  • Liabilities to assets ratio: 0.06; rating input score 87; 87th percentile among comparable filings
  • Officer compensation ratio: 5.1%; rating input score 16; 16th percentile among comparable filings

Growth

  • Program expense growth: 37.6% per year; rating input score 100; 97th percentile among comparable filings
  • Revenue growth: 38.2% per year; rating input score 100; 98th percentile among comparable filings
  • Asset growth: 38.8% per year; rating input score 100; 98th percentile among comparable filings

Details

  • What they do: 8 programs and campaigns described on the official site · 1 operating location identified
  • Where the money goes: 59% of revenue deployed · 94.9% of spending went to programs
  • Governance: 3 of 4 board members independent · 9 of 9 filing controls reported
  • Programs: 1 filed program accomplishment · $40.5M in reported program spending
  • Leadership: top reported pay $510K · 9 people listed · 3 of 6 pay-setting controls reported
  • Highest-paid contractors: 5 contractors listed · $4.1M reported
  • Consistency: 33 of 34 current checks pass · 1 finding to review
  • Schedules: 9 filed schedules · includes major donors, foreign activity, grants, and executive pay
  • Filing history: 8 filing years from 2016 to 2024
  • Contacts: How to reach this organization
  • Money network: 59 filed money-flow records
  • Related organizations: 51 filed related-organization links
  • 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 — Financial Efficiency: Mission deployment rate scored 59/100.
  • High — Transparency & Controls: Foreign activity oversight scored 0/100.
  • Review — Sustainability: Total-asset coverage ratio scored 52/100.
  • High — Sustainability: Officer compensation ratio scored 16/100.
  • Review — Transparency & Controls: Domestic grant itemization did not reconcile in the filed values.