Empower Charter School
Nonprofit profile at a glance
- EIN
- 462073430
- IRS 990 coverage
- 2014–2024
- Forms available
- Form 990 2024, Form 990-N 2013
- Location
- San Diego, CA, USA
- Phone
- 8582921304
- Rating
- 77
- Verdict
- SUPPORTED
- Rating confidence
- Moderate
- Sector
- Charter Schools
Reported finances
- Revenue
- $3,244,292
- Expenses
- $3,152,649
- Assets
- $731,394
- Liabilities
- $527,178
Source: IRS Form 990. Selected filing: tax year 2024. Amounts in USD.
Leadership & pay
7 people listed
Highest reported compensation
- DEMETRIA BROWN (Executive Dir.): $189,166 total reported compensation
Source: IRS Form 990. Selected filing: tax year 2024. Names and roles reflect this filing, not necessarily current officeholders.
Overview
Mission
We empower a generation of creative thinkers and effective communicators who lead healthy and fit lifestyles. Our caring school community provides students from all backgrounds with an educational experience that honors multilingualism, critical thinking, and fitness. Our students will explore and question in a writing-centered, creative, and collaborative learning environment
What it reported doing in 2024
Empower language academy is a public charter school in san diego, California. The educational philosophy is based on the belief that when the school, parents, and community work together to empower a child using a holistic approach, the child will be equipped to achieve his/ her educational goals and become a contributing member of society. Empower language academy believes that in order to prepare students to be global leaders, bilingualism and bi-literacy in a foreign language is an essential life skill. Empower language academy also believes that personal wellness is an important component to a successful life.
Operating model
- Revenue model
- Grant-funded. 95% of the money available for current operations came from government grants.
- 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 - A large share of available resources goes toward mission work and the filed numbers largely add up. Total assets are small relative to annual expenses; liquid coverage is unknown and expenses are high relative to revenue.
Rating breakdown
- Financial Efficiency: 76
- Transparency & Controls: 70
- Accountability: 95
- Sustainability: 30
- Growth: 100
Detailed rating inputs
Financial Efficiency
- Mission deployment rate: 72.7%; rating input score 73
- Program expense ratio: 74.8%; rating input score 75
- Fundraising efficiency: $1,592.18 raised per $1 spent on fundraising; rating input score 98; 98th percentile among comparable filings
Transparency & Controls
- Consistency checks: 100%; rating input score 100; 63rd 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; 63rd percentile among comparable filings
- Governance controls: 7 of 8 controls in place; rating input score 88
- Conflict-of-interest policy: Pass
- Whistleblower policy: Pass
- Document-retention policy: Pass
- CEO compensation review process: NotApplicable
- Other executive compensation review process: Fail
- Form 990 shared with the board: Pass
- Board meeting minutes documented: Pass
- Audit committee oversight: Pass
- Independent financial-statement audit: Pass
Sustainability
- Operating margin: 2.8%; rating input score 44; 44th percentile among comparable filings
- Total-asset coverage ratio: 0.23; rating input score 7; 7th percentile among comparable filings
- Liabilities to assets ratio: 0.72; rating input score 12; 12th percentile among comparable filings
- Officer compensation ratio: 6%; rating input score 47; 47th percentile among comparable filings
Growth
- Program expense growth: 10.6% per year; rating input score 100; 66th percentile among comparable filings
- Revenue growth: 10.4% per year; rating input score 100; 70th percentile among comparable filings
- Asset growth: 6.9% per year; rating input score 100; 44th percentile among comparable filings
Details
- Where the money goes: 72.7% of revenue deployed · 74.8% of spending went to programs
- Governance: 6 of 6 board members independent · 7 of 8 filing controls reported
- Programs: 1 filed program accomplishment · $2.4M in reported program spending
- Leadership: top reported pay $189K · 7 people listed · 1 of 6 pay-setting controls reported
- Consistency: 32 of 32 current checks pass
- Schedules: 7 filed schedules · includes major donors and executive pay
- Filing history: 11 filing years from 2014 to 2024
- Contacts: How to reach this organization
- Money network: 1 filed money-flow record
- 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.
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: Total-asset coverage ratio scored 7/100.
- Moderate — Sustainability: Operating margin scored 44/100.
- Review — Accountability: Governance controls: Other executive compensation review process not reported.
- High — Sustainability: Liabilities to assets ratio scored 12/100.
- Moderate — Sustainability: Officer compensation ratio scored 47/100.
- Review — Grant Readiness: California registration: this organization could not be resolved against the register, so the check is unfinished.