Catalytic Communities
Nonprofit profile at a glance
- EIN
- 522266240
- IRS 990-EZ coverage
- 2014–2025
- Forms available
- Form 990 2021, Form 990-EZ 2025
- Location
- Silver Spring, MD, USA
- Phone
- 3016377360
- Rating
- 79
- Verdict
- SUPPORTED
- Rating confidence
- Moderate
- Sector
- Education N.E.C.
Reported finances
- Revenue
- $158,485
- Expenses
- $122,718
- Assets
- $240,253
- Liabilities
- $570
Source: IRS Form 990-EZ. Selected filing: tax year 2025. Amounts in USD.
Leadership & pay
7 people listed
Executive titles in this filing
- Theresa Williamson (Executive Director)
People named in this filing
- Theresa Williamson (Executive Director)
- Wendy Muse Sinek (Treasurer)
- Lyvia Rodriguez Del Valle (Secretary)
Selected names, not a complete roster or a statement of current roles. Open leadership details for the complete filed list.
Source: IRS Form 990-EZ. Selected filing: tax year 2025. Names and roles reflect this filing, not necessarily current officeholders.
Overview
Mission
Catalytic communities develops models for effective social and economic development and integration of informal settlements across the globe, based on the experience of rio de janeiro and through implementation of asset-based community development approaches. We do this through a combination of research, education, training, strategic communications, technology, networks, advocacy and participatory urban planning. Programs include: training favela leaders in infrastructure technologies (energy, waste, sewage, etc.), mobilization and research: publishing local perspectives for local-to-global urban planning and community development audiences; educational community visits in partnership with universities; public lectures; educational publications; conducting field reserach; development of land regularization proposals and convening and mapping community assets and organizations. The organization scales its activities by disseminating models and approaches developed to other development
What it reported doing in 2025
Support of communities in Brazil in development community land trusts through legal support for establishing future associations: Information to local governments in Brazil interested in integrating CLTs into their master plans.
Operating model
- Revenue model
- Donor-supported. 74% 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.
The verdict
SUPPORTED - The filed numbers largely add up and a large share of available resources goes toward mission work. Assets have declined or grown slowly and reported officer compensation is a large share of total spending, which may reflect staffing concentration.
Rating breakdown
- Financial Efficiency: 64
- Transparency & Controls: 100
- Sustainability: 65
- Growth: 80
Detailed rating inputs
Financial Efficiency
- Mission deployment rate: 59.7%; rating input score 60
- Program expense ratio: 71.8%; rating input score 72
Transparency & Controls
- Consistency checks: 100%; rating input score 100; 52nd percentile among comparable filings
- Major donor itemization: Yes; rating input score 100
Sustainability
- Operating margin: 22.6%; rating input score 74; 74th percentile among comparable filings
- Total-asset coverage ratio: 1.96; rating input score 79; 79th percentile among comparable filings
- Liabilities to assets ratio: 0; rating input score 44; 44th percentile among comparable filings
- Officer compensation ratio: 31.3%; rating input score 12; 12th percentile among comparable filings
Growth
- Program expense growth: 1.7% per year; rating input score 100; 34th percentile among comparable filings
- Revenue growth: 6% per year; rating input score 100; 49th percentile among comparable filings
- Asset growth: -3.3% per year; rating input score 0; 18th percentile among comparable filings
Details
- Where the money goes: 59.7% of revenue deployed · 71.8% of spending went to programs
- Governance: Filed governance answers
- Accomplishments: 3 filed program accomplishments · $88K in reported program spending
- Leadership: top reported pay $0 · 7 people listed
- Consistency: 9 of 9 current checks pass
- Schedules: 3 filed schedules
- Filing history: 5 filing years from 2014 to 2025
- Contacts: How to reach this organization
- Money network: 2 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 — Growth: Asset growth scored 0/100.
- High — Sustainability: Officer compensation ratio scored 12/100.
- Moderate — Sustainability: Liabilities to assets ratio scored 44/100.