Coyote Institute
Nonprofit profile at a glance
- EIN
- 264145797
- IRS 990-EZ coverage
- 2010–2024
- Official website data refreshed
- Sep 2026
- Forms available
- Form 990-EZ 2024, Form 990-N 2023
- Location
- Orono, ME, USA
- Phone
- 808-772-1099
- Rating
- 82
- Verdict
- STRONG
- Rating confidence
- Moderate
- Sector
- Public Health Program (Includes General Health and Wellness Promotion Services)
Reported finances
- Revenue
- $67,768
- Expenses
- $65,739
- Assets
- $5,622
- Liabilities
- $0
Source: IRS Form 990-EZ. Selected filing: tax year 2024. Amounts in USD.
Leadership & pay
5 people listed
Executive titles in this filing
- Dr Lewis Mehl-Madrona (Executive Director)
People named in this filing
- Dr Lewis Mehl-Madrona (Executive Director)
- Barbara Mainguy (Secretary & Treasurer)
- Sharon Evans (Director)
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 2024. Names and roles reflect this filing, not necessarily current officeholders.
Overview
Mission
Coyote Institute provides workshops, seminars, trainings, and consultations related to indigenous knowledge and practices as well as personal and planetary transformation. The mission of the Coyote Institute, a 501(c)(3) nonprofit, is to enrich contemporary medicine and psychology with the knowledge and wisdom of indigenous cultures. We aim toward Two-Eyed Seeing, celebrating indigenous knowledge and wisdom, while appreciating the insights of contemporary academic science, and determining how we can do both in a complementary fashion without diminishing either.
What it reported doing in 2024
In 2024, Coyote Institute advanced its mission to bring Indigenous wisdom to the modern world through the following initiatives: 1) Annual Two-Eyed Seeing Conference - Hosted in Augusta, Maine, this flagship event brought together over 100 participants to explore the intersection of Indigenous and Western healing practices. 2) International Workshops and Community-Based Retreats - Coyote Institute hosted eight events throughout the year in the United States and internationally. Programming focused on therapeutic storytelling, agency building, and healing through narrative and Indigenous practices, fostering cross-cultural understanding and holistic well-being. 3) Academic and Professional Engagement - Members of the Institute presented at prestigious annual meetings in psychiatry, neurology, and medical education, demonstrating their interdisciplinary and international approach to knowledge-sharing. 4) Scholarly Publication - Coyote Institute published the 2025 edition of Etuaptmumk: The Journal of Two-Eyed Seeing, continuing its commitment to advancing scholarship that bridges Indigenous knowledge and contemporary science.
Operating model
- Revenue model
- Earned-program. 99% 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
STRONG - A large share of available resources goes toward mission work and the filed numbers largely add up. Revenue has declined or grown slowly and total assets are small relative to annual expenses; liquid coverage is unknown.
Rating breakdown
- Financial Efficiency: 90
- Transparency & Controls: 82
- Sustainability: 42
- Growth: 40
Detailed rating inputs
Financial Efficiency
- Mission deployment rate: 89.4%; rating input score 89
- Program expense ratio: 92.2%; rating input score 92
Transparency & Controls
- Consistency checks: 100%; rating input score 100; 52nd percentile among comparable filings
- Major donor itemization: Limited
Sustainability
- Operating margin: 3%; rating input score 51; 51st percentile among comparable filings
- Total-asset coverage ratio: 0.09; rating input score 10; 10th percentile among comparable filings
- Liabilities to assets ratio: 0; rating input score 68; 68th percentile among comparable filings
- Officer compensation ratio: 0%; rating input score 56; 56th percentile among comparable filings
Growth
- Program expense growth: 0.5% per year; rating input score 100; 50th percentile among comparable filings
- Revenue growth: -0.5% per year; rating input score 0; 49th percentile among comparable filings
- Asset growth: -5.8% per year; rating input score 0; 23rd percentile among comparable filings
Details
- What they do: 9 programs and campaigns described on the official site · 5 operating locations identified
- Where the money goes: 89.4% of revenue deployed · 92.2% of spending went to programs
- Governance: Filed governance answers
- Accomplishments: 1 filed program accomplishment · $61K in reported program spending
- Leadership: top reported pay $0 · 5 people listed
- Consistency: 9 of 9 current checks pass
- Schedules: 2 filed schedules
- Filing history: 10 filing years from 2010 to 2024
- 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.
- High — Growth: Revenue growth scored 0/100.
- High — Sustainability: Total-asset coverage ratio scored 10/100.
- Review — Sustainability: Operating margin scored 51/100.
- High — Growth: Asset growth scored 0/100.
- Review — Sustainability: Officer compensation ratio scored 56/100.