Ellis Early Learning Inc

Nonprofit profile at a glance

EIN
042104168
IRS 990 coverage
2013–2024
Forms available
Form 990 2024
Location
Boston, MA, USA
Phone
6176959307
Rating
71
Verdict
SUPPORTED
Rating confidence
Moderate
Sector
Kindergarten, Preschool, Nursery School, Early Admissions

Reported finances

Revenue
$16,165,987
Expenses
$10,528,886
Assets
$25,069,892
Liabilities
$6,383,416

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

Leadership & pay

28 people listed

Executive titles in this filing

  • LAUREN COOK (CHIEF EXECUTIVE OFFICER)

Highest reported compensation

  • LAUREN COOK (CHIEF EXECUTIVE OFFICER): $214,146 total reported compensation
  • PATTI KEENAN (CHIEF ADVANCEMENT OFFICER): $156,750 total reported compensation
  • JAY DAVE (CHIEF FINANCE & STRATEGY OFFICER): $146,904 total reported compensation

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

Overview

Mission

Ellis partners with families to provide high-quality early childhood education in a warm, nurturing environment. A recognized leader in our field, we support children across the socio-economic spectrum, treasure diversity in all forms, and celebrate the joy of childhood.

What it reported doing in 2024

Pre-school education: this program provides full-day, year round early childhood education and care to preschool children between the ages of three years and nine months and five years. The program's goal is to promote school readiness by ensuring all children have the learning experiences and resources they need for healthy social, emotional and cognitive development. There are five psk classrooms: three located at 58 berkeley street, and one each at 66 berkeley street and 555 amory street. Ellis has a partnership with the boston public schools to provide expanded access to universal preschool (upk) to boston's three and four year olds. In four of these classrooms, students benefit from bps curriculum, enhanced teacher development and increased compensation, all helping to retain teachers and promote program quality. This partnership continues in fy2025.

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.

The verdict

SUPPORTED - The filed numbers largely add up and most voting board members are independent. A relatively small share of available resources goes toward mission work and fundraising costs are high for each dollar raised.

Rating breakdown

  • Financial Efficiency: 55
  • Transparency & Controls: 67
  • Accountability: 100
  • Sustainability: 72
  • Growth: 100

Detailed rating inputs

Financial Efficiency

  • Mission deployment rate: 47.3%; rating input score 47
  • Program expense ratio: 72.6%; rating input score 73
  • Fundraising efficiency: $11.38 raised per $1 spent on fundraising; rating input score 42; 42nd percentile among comparable filings

Transparency & Controls

  • Consistency checks: 93.8%; rating input score 94; 17th percentile among comparable filings
  • Pay-setting controls: 1 of 6 controls in place; rating input score 17
    • Compensation committee: Missing
    • Independent consultant: Missing
    • Other Form 990s reviewed: Missing
    • 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: 100%; rating input score 100; 66th 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: 34.9%; rating input score 90; 90th percentile among comparable filings
  • Total-asset coverage ratio: 2.38; rating input score 67; 67th percentile among comparable filings
  • Liabilities to assets ratio: 0.25; rating input score 51; 51st percentile among comparable filings
  • Officer compensation ratio: 7.3%; rating input score 34; 34th percentile among comparable filings

Growth

  • Program expense growth: 11.5% per year; rating input score 100; 75th percentile among comparable filings
  • Revenue growth: 14.2% per year; rating input score 100; 85th percentile among comparable filings
  • Asset growth: 12.7% per year; rating input score 100; 75th percentile among comparable filings

Details

  • Where the money goes: 47.3% of revenue deployed · 72.6% of spending went to programs
  • Governance: 23 of 23 board members independent · 9 of 9 filing controls reported
  • Programs: 4 filed program accomplishments · $7.6M in reported program spending
  • Leadership: top reported pay $214K · 28 people listed · 1 of 6 pay-setting controls reported
  • Highest-paid contractors: 1 contractor listed · $150K reported
  • Consistency: 30 of 31 current checks pass · 1 finding to review
  • Schedules: 6 filed schedules · includes major donors and executive pay
  • Filing history: 11 filing years from 2013 to 2024
  • Contacts: How to reach this organization
  • Money network: 5 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.
  • 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.

  • Moderate — Financial Efficiency: Mission deployment rate scored 47/100.
  • Moderate — Financial Efficiency: Fundraising efficiency scored 42/100.
  • Moderate — Transparency & Controls: Schedule A contributions reconciliation did not reconcile in the filed values.
  • Moderate — Sustainability: Officer compensation ratio scored 34/100.
  • Review — Sustainability: Liabilities to assets ratio scored 51/100.