Education Forward Arizona
Nonprofit profile at a glance
- EIN
- 202366755
- IRS 990 coverage
- 2015–2025
- Forms available
- Form 990 2025
- Location
- Phoenix, AZ, USA
- Phone
- 6026361850
- Rating
- 84
- Verdict
- STRONG
- Rating confidence
- Moderate
Reported finances
- Revenue
- $5,917,126
- Expenses
- $7,834,621
- Assets
- $19,811,044
- Liabilities
- $2,516,416
Source: IRS Form 990. Selected filing: tax year 2025. Amounts in USD.
Leadership & pay
22 people listed
Executive titles in this filing
- RICH NICKEL (PRESIDENT & CEO)
Highest reported compensation
- RICH NICKEL (PRESIDENT & CEO): $323,071 total reported compensation
- DIANA FIGUEROA (SR VP MARCOMM & STRATEGIC): $160,616 total reported compensation
- TEENA OLSZEWSKI (SR VP & CHIEF OF STAFF): $160,582 total reported compensation
Source: IRS Form 990. Selected filing: tax year 2025. Names and roles reflect this filing, not necessarily current officeholders.
Overview
Mission
To advocate for high-quality education and training that aligns with career and workforce opportunities to advance the quality of life for all arizonans.
What it reported doing in 2025
Education forward Arizona is a statewide nonprofit organization dedicated to advancing educational attainment and equity across Arizona. The organization works to ensure that all arizonans have access to high-quality education and training that align with career and workforce opportunities. By convening cross-sector partners, advancing data-driven solutions, and directly supporting schools and students, education forward Arizona works to strengthen the connection among education attainment, workforce readiness, and long-term economic mobility. (continued on schedule o)education forward Arizona advances its mission through several integrated program areas designed to improve postsecondary access, persistence, and completion for Arizona students.
Operating model
- Revenue model
- Donor-supported. 93% of the money available for current operations came from contributions and gifts.
- Distribution model
- Hybrid. The nonprofit split its reported program spending across 57% for direct work, and 43% for grants.
The verdict
STRONG - 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 expenses are high relative to revenue.
Rating breakdown
- Financial Efficiency: 88
- Transparency & Controls: 76
- Accountability: 96
- Sustainability: 29
- Growth: 100
Detailed rating inputs
Financial Efficiency
- Mission deployment rate: 100%; rating input score 100
- Program expense ratio: 81.3%; rating input score 81
- Fundraising efficiency: $12.91 raised per $1 spent on fundraising; rating input score 45; 45th percentile among comparable filings
Transparency & Controls
- Consistency checks: 93.8%; rating input score 94; 21st percentile among comparable filings
- Pay-setting controls: 2 of 6 controls in place; rating input score 33
- Compensation committee: Missing
- 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: 97.5%; rating input score 98; 39th percentile among comparable filings
- Major donor itemization: Yes; rating input score 100
- Related-party transparency: Limited
Accountability
- Independent voting board: 94.1%; rating input score 94; 25th 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: -32.4%; rating input score 3; 3rd percentile among comparable filings
- Total-asset coverage ratio: 2.53; rating input score 65; 65th percentile among comparable filings
- Liabilities to assets ratio: 0.13; rating input score 44; 44th percentile among comparable filings
- Officer compensation ratio: 13%; rating input score 26; 26th percentile among comparable filings
Growth
- Program expense growth: 9.3% per year; rating input score 100; 58th percentile among comparable filings
- Revenue growth: 9.4% per year; rating input score 100; 64th percentile among comparable filings
- Asset growth: 2.7% per year; rating input score 100; 21st percentile among comparable filings
Details
- Where the money goes: 100% of revenue deployed · 81.3% of spending went to programs
- Governance: 16 of 17 board members independent · 9 of 9 filing controls reported
- Programs: 1 filed program accomplishment · $6.4M in reported program spending
- Leadership: top reported pay $323K · 22 people listed · 2 of 6 pay-setting controls reported
- Highest-paid contractors: 1 contractor listed · $458K reported
- Consistency: 37 of 38 current checks pass · 1 finding to review
- Schedules: 8 filed schedules · includes major donors, grants, and executive pay
- Filing history: 10 filing years from 2015 to 2025
- Contacts: How to reach this organization
- Money network: 6 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 45/100.
- High — Sustainability: Operating margin scored 3/100.
- High — Sustainability: Officer compensation ratio scored 26/100.
- Review — Transparency & Controls: Domestic grant itemization did not reconcile in the filed values.
- Moderate — Sustainability: Liabilities to assets ratio scored 44/100.