CBA Media and Civic Education Inc

Nonprofit profile at a glance

EIN
363467483
IRS 990 coverage
2020–2024
Forms available
Form 990 2024, Form 990-EZ 2019, Form 990-N 2019
Location
Chicago, IL, USA
Phone
3125542137
Rating
78
Verdict
SUPPORTED
Rating confidence
Moderate

Official website

Reported finances

Revenue
$60,965
Expenses
$89,526
Assets
$51,000
Liabilities
$14,763

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

Leadership & pay

14 people listed

Executive titles in this filing

  • Elizabeth McMeen (Executive Director)
  • Joshua Boggioni (President)
  • Alexis Crawford Douglas (Vice President)

Highest reported compensation

  • Elizabeth McMeen (Executive Director): $191,467 total reported compensation

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

Overview

Mission

The cba media and civic education, inc. Undertakes activities and initiatives including, but not limited to, the understanding of legal and constitutional principles and violence prevention and restorative justice principles and their applications in interactions among persons, groups, and institutions in a free society, and the means of reform or improvement of the law.

What it reported doing in 2024

The CBA's Edward J. Lewis II Lawyers in the Classroom (LIC) program is a civic education program with a curriculum that focuses on teaching 2nd - 8th grade students how to better understand the U.S. Constitution, and the nation's legal system, instill knowledge of their rights and responsibilities as U.S. Citizens and bring awareness to racial injustice, racial equity, and restorative justice principles. Attorney volunteers are scheduled to visit public and private schools in the Chicagoland area. During LIC visits, attorney volunteers partner with teachers to educate students on the first amendment's clauses, the fourth amendment, jury selection, the meaning of Reasonable Doubt, the letter of the law versus the intent of the law, and landmark court cases. The program currently has nearly 500 attorney volunteers and relationships with 60 partner schools and reaches more than 3,000 students.

Operating model

Revenue model
Donor-supported. 96% 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 - A large share of available resources goes toward mission work and the filed numbers largely add up. Some filing-based governance responses are negative or unanswered and revenue has declined or grown slowly.

Rating breakdown

  • Financial Efficiency: 89
  • Transparency & Controls: 80
  • Accountability: 75
  • Sustainability: 23
  • Growth: 40

Detailed rating inputs

Financial Efficiency

  • Mission deployment rate: 100%; rating input score 100
  • Program expense ratio: 100%; rating input score 100
  • Fundraising efficiency: Limited

Transparency & Controls

  • Consistency checks: 92.9%; rating input score 93; 25th 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: Limited
  • Grant itemization coverage: Limited
  • Major donor itemization: Yes; rating input score 100
  • Related-party transparency: Limited

Accountability

  • Independent voting board: 92.9%; rating input score 93; 28th 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: Fail
    • Other executive compensation review process: NotApplicable
    • Form 990 shared with the board: Fail
    • Board meeting minutes documented: Pass
    • Audit committee oversight: Pass
    • Independent financial-statement audit: Pass

Sustainability

  • Operating margin: -46.8%; rating input score 30; 30th percentile among comparable filings
  • Total-asset coverage ratio: 0.57; rating input score 18; 18th percentile among comparable filings
  • Liabilities to assets ratio: 0.29; rating input score 13; 13th percentile among comparable filings
  • Officer compensation ratio: 1%; rating input score 20; 20th percentile among comparable filings

Growth

  • Program expense growth: 6.7% per year; rating input score 100; 70th percentile among comparable filings
  • Revenue growth: -16.8% per year; rating input score 0; 23rd percentile among comparable filings
  • Asset growth: -23.9% per year; rating input score 0; 6th percentile among comparable filings

Details

  • Where the money goes: 100% of revenue deployed · 100% of spending went to programs
  • Governance: 13 of 14 board members independent · 4 of 8 filing controls reported
  • Programs: 1 filed program accomplishment · $90K in reported program spending
  • Leadership: top reported pay $191K · 14 people listed · 3 of 6 pay-setting controls reported
  • Consistency: 22 of 23 current checks pass · 1 finding to review
  • Schedules: 7 filed schedules · includes major donors and executive pay
  • Filing history: 5 filing years from 2020 to 2024
  • Contacts: How to reach this organization
  • Related organizations: 3 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 — Accountability: Governance controls: 4 of 8 not reported.
  • High — Growth: Revenue growth scored 0/100.
  • Moderate — Sustainability: Operating margin scored 30/100.
  • High — Sustainability: Total-asset coverage ratio scored 18/100.
  • 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 13/100.
  • High — Sustainability: Officer compensation ratio scored 20/100.