Coro Northern California Inc

Nonprofit profile at a glance

EIN
943117758
IRS 990 coverage
2009–2024
Forms available
Form 990 2024
Location
San Francisco, CA, USA
Phone
4159860521
Rating
79
Verdict
SUPPORTED
Rating confidence
Moderate
Sector
Leadership Development

Official website

Reported finances

Revenue
$4,635,464
Expenses
$4,317,243
Assets
$3,075,909
Liabilities
$596,403

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

Leadership & pay

27 people listed

Executive titles in this filing

  • CATHERINE WHITCANACK (CEO)

Highest reported compensation

  • CATHERINE WHITCANACK (CEO): $249,841 total reported compensation
  • Lauren Haworth (VP of Finance and Operations): $181,859 total reported compensation
  • Clifford C Yee (VP PROGRAMS): $168,900 total reported compensation

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

Overview

Mission

Coro northern California (coro) is a nonpartisan nonprofit organization focused on redefining leadership coro's mission is to equip people with skills, knowledge, and networks to collaborate and accelerate positive change wherever they are founded in san francisco in 1942, coro has a 76-year track record of cultivating emerging leaders through experiential leadership programs for youth, recent college graduates, and professionals coro helps emerging leaders find their voices, paths, and passions-and ignite change in their communities coro offers an innovative, hands-on approach to develop leadership skills through intensive experiential learning and internship placements, group interaction, and collaborative communication our programs are comprehensive and transformative, giving participants lifelong skills and confidence we are dedicated to serving diverse communities and we empower participants to develop and apply their skills.

What it reported doing in 2024

In January 2025, Coro welcomed its second cohort of Partnership for the Bays Future Fellowship Fellows. The Fellows spend two years as Coro employees, working in jurisdictions across the Bay Area to promote equitable and inclusive affordable housing policy. Coro launched a new program with UC ANR, a new UC partner.In April 2025, Coro hosted a Spring Celebration, gathering hundreds of members of its network together to celebrate Coros mission of developing ethical and effective leaders. Ned Segal, San Franciscos Chief of Housing and Economic Development was the keynote speaker. In June 2025, Coro Northern Californias Board voted to pursue a Plan of Merger with Coro Southern California. This vote kicked off an intensive process of due diligence in preparation for a Board vote in the Fall of 2025, which ultimately resulted in the decision to merge the two entities.

Operating model

Revenue model
Donor-supported. 62% of the money available for current operations came from contributions and gifts.
Distribution model
Direct operator. The filing allocates 82% 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. Fundraising costs are high for each dollar raised and total assets are small relative to annual expenses; liquid coverage is unknown.

Rating breakdown

  • Financial Efficiency: 68
  • Transparency & Controls: 83
  • Accountability: 100
  • Sustainability: 40
  • Growth: 100

Detailed rating inputs

Financial Efficiency

  • Mission deployment rate: 70%; rating input score 70
  • Program expense ratio: 75.1%; rating input score 75
  • Fundraising efficiency: $9.13 raised per $1 spent on fundraising; rating input score 35; 35th percentile among comparable filings

Transparency & Controls

  • Consistency checks: 100%; rating input score 100; 63rd percentile among comparable filings
  • Pay-setting controls: 3 of 6 controls in place; rating input score 50
    • Compensation committee: Missing
    • Independent consultant: Missing
    • Other Form 990s reviewed: Pass
    • Written employment contract: Missing
    • Compensation survey or study: Pass
    • Board or committee approval: Pass
  • Foreign activity oversight: Limited
  • Grant itemization coverage: 100%; rating input score 100; 72nd percentile among comparable filings
  • Major donor itemization: Yes; rating input score 100
  • Related-party transparency: Limited

Accountability

  • Independent voting board: 100%; rating input score 100; 63rd 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: 6.9%; rating input score 56; 56th percentile among comparable filings
  • Total-asset coverage ratio: 0.71; rating input score 26; 26th percentile among comparable filings
  • Liabilities to assets ratio: 0.19; rating input score 45; 45th percentile among comparable filings
  • Officer compensation ratio: 32.6%; rating input score 4; 4th percentile among comparable filings

Growth

  • Program expense growth: 13.8% per year; rating input score 100; 75th percentile among comparable filings
  • Revenue growth: 11.3% per year; rating input score 100; 73rd percentile among comparable filings
  • Asset growth: 11.4% per year; rating input score 100; 64th percentile among comparable filings

Details

  • Where the money goes: 70% of revenue deployed · 75.1% of spending went to programs
  • Governance: 18 of 18 board members independent · 9 of 9 filing controls reported
  • Programs: 2 filed program accomplishments · $3.2M in reported program spending
  • Leadership: top reported pay $250K · 27 people listed · 3 of 6 pay-setting controls reported
  • Consistency: 36 of 36 current checks pass
  • Schedules: 7 filed schedules · includes major donors, grants, and executive pay
  • Filing history: 16 filing years from 2009 to 2024
  • Contacts: How to reach this organization
  • Money network: 10 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.

  • Moderate — Financial Efficiency: Fundraising efficiency scored 35/100.
  • High — Sustainability: Total-asset coverage ratio scored 26/100.
  • Review — Sustainability: Operating margin scored 56/100.
  • High — Sustainability: Officer compensation ratio scored 4/100.
  • Moderate — Sustainability: Liabilities to assets ratio scored 45/100.