Easterseals Serving Chicagoland and Greater Rockford
Legal name: Easter Seals Metropolitan Chicago Inc
Nonprofit profile at a glance
- EIN
- 362169153
- IRS 990 coverage
- 2007–2024
- Official website data refreshed
- Sep 2026
- Forms available
- Form 990 2024
- Location
- Chicago, IL, US
- Phone
- 312.491.4110
- Rating
- 89
- Verdict
- STRONG
- Rating confidence
- Standard
- Sector
- Rehabilitative Medical Services
Reported finances
- Revenue
- $78,391,883
- Expenses
- $79,598,467
- Assets
- $53,859,821
- Liabilities
- $19,602,659
Source: IRS Form 990. Selected filing: tax year 2024. Amounts in USD.
Leadership & pay
41 people listed
Executive titles in this filing
- PAMELA MIRANDA (VICE PRESIDENT)
- RALPH R LESLIE (VICE PRESIDENT)
- RICHARD G SMITH (VICE PRESIDENT)
- SARA RAY HALLMAN (PRESIDENT AND CEO)
Highest reported compensation
- SARA RAY HALLMAN (PRESIDENT AND CEO): $624,070 total reported compensation
- SARAH J BOBURKA (EXECUTIVE VP & CFO (THRU 10/24)): $366,429 total reported compensation
- RHONDA ROBINSON (VP OF PEOPLE AND PROGRAMS): $254,511 total reported compensation
Source: IRS Form 990. Selected filing: tax year 2024. Names and roles reflect this filing, not necessarily current officeholders.
Overview
Mission
To create life-changing possibilities for individuals with disabilities through support, education, and employment opportunities.
What it reported doing in 2024
The disability services program provides special education programs for students with a primary diagnosis of autism, emotional disabilities, cognitive or developmental delays. Services include an integrated curriculum balancing academic and functional skills including art, behavioral, speech, occupational, music and vocational therapies, as well as nursing and social work services. Autism diagnostics, family support, vocational training and after school programs and meaningful work opportunities are also provided. This division also provides the support to school districts and other organizations to increase their capacity and competency in working with people with autism spectrum disorder.
Operating model
- Revenue model
- Mixed. Its operating money came from several sources; no one source provided a clear majority.
- 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.
- Includes noncash contributions: Reported contributions include donated property or goods.
The verdict
STRONG - A large share of available resources goes toward mission work and the filed numbers largely add up. Expenses are high relative to revenue and total assets are small relative to annual expenses; liquid coverage is unknown.
Rating breakdown
- Financial Efficiency: 93
- Transparency & Controls: 85
- Accountability: 100
- Sustainability: 28
- Growth: 100
Detailed rating inputs
Financial Efficiency
- Mission deployment rate: 93.8%; rating input score 94
- Program expense ratio: 92.4%; rating input score 92
- Fundraising efficiency: $271.95 raised per $1 spent on fundraising; rating input score 91; 91st percentile among comparable filings
Transparency & Controls
- Consistency checks: 100%; rating input score 100; 68th 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: Missing
- Written employment contract: Missing
- Compensation survey or study: Pass
- Board or committee approval: Pass
- Foreign activity oversight: Limited
- Grant itemization coverage: Limited
- Major donor itemization: Yes; rating input score 100
- Related-party transparency: Yes; rating input score 100
Accountability
- Independent voting board: 100%; rating input score 100; 77th 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: -1.5%; rating input score 20; 20th percentile among comparable filings
- Total-asset coverage ratio: 0.68; rating input score 26; 26th percentile among comparable filings
- Liabilities to assets ratio: 0.36; rating input score 49; 49th percentile among comparable filings
- Officer compensation ratio: 2.4%; rating input score 47; 47th percentile among comparable filings
Growth
- Program expense growth: 8.7% per year; rating input score 100; 68th percentile among comparable filings
- Revenue growth: 7% per year; rating input score 100; 61st percentile among comparable filings
- Asset growth: 4% per year; rating input score 100; 28th percentile among comparable filings
Details
- What they do: 5 programs and campaigns described on the official site · 2 operating locations identified
- Where the money goes: 93.8% of revenue deployed · 92.4% of spending went to programs
- Governance: 32 of 32 board members independent · 9 of 9 filing controls reported
- Programs: 2 filed program accomplishments · $73.5M in reported program spending
- Leadership: top reported pay $624K · 41 people listed · 3 of 6 pay-setting controls reported
- Highest-paid contractors: 3 contractors listed · $629K reported
- Consistency: 41 of 43 current checks pass · 2 findings to review
- Schedules: 9 filed schedules · includes major donors, executive pay, and related organizations
- Filing history: 15 filing years from 2007 to 2024
- Contacts: How to reach this organization
- Money network: 7 filed money-flow records
- Related organizations: 1 filed related-organization link
- 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.
- Staff and benefit plans: Retirement and health plans the organization files with the Department of Labor, and the people in them.
Key Signals
Signals prioritize questions for review. They are not findings of misconduct.
Grant-readiness screening is separate from the live rating, not a measure of program quality. Review the source records before making a grant decision.
- High — Sustainability: Operating margin scored 20/100.
- High — Sustainability: Total-asset coverage ratio scored 26/100.
- Moderate — Transparency & Controls: Schedule D expense reconciliation did not reconcile in the filed values.
- Moderate — Transparency & Controls: Schedule D revenue reconciliation did not reconcile in the filed values.
- Moderate — Sustainability: Officer compensation ratio scored 47/100.
- Moderate — Sustainability: Liabilities to assets ratio scored 49/100.
- High — Grant Readiness: Federal audit findings: this organization reported findings in its latest federal Single Audit.