Empower Through Health

Nonprofit profile at a glance

EIN
824208158
IRS 990 coverage
2024–2025
Forms available
Form 990 2025, Form 990-EZ 2023, Form 990-N 2020
Location
Seattle, WA, USA
Phone
7066919813
Rating
63
Verdict
SUPPORTED
Rating confidence
Moderate
Sector
Ambulatory Health Center, Community Clinic

Reported finances

Revenue
$323,946
Expenses
$223,578
Assets
$219,500
Liabilities
$137

Source: IRS Form 990. Selected filing: tax year 2025. Amounts in USD.

Leadership & pay

11 people listed

Executive titles in this filing

  • Yang Jae Lee (Chairperson and Executive Director)

People named in this filing

  • Yang Jae Lee (Chairperson and Executive Director)
  • Ibrahim Ssekalo (Vice Chairperson)
  • Timothy Scott Blackwell (Secretary)

Selected names, not a complete roster or a statement of current roles. Open leadership details for the complete filed list.

Source: IRS Form 990. Selected filing: tax year 2025. Names and roles reflect this filing, not necessarily current officeholders.

Overview

Mission

Empower Through Health is dedicated to improving public health and advancing health equity in underserved communities. We achieve this by supporting healthcare services conducting research to develop effective health interventions and offering educational programs to strengthen capacity and promote sustainable health outcomes.

What it reported doing in 2025

Supporting clinical activities at Empower Through Health-Ugandas health center in Mpunde Uganda. ETH-Uganda a subsidiary of organization of Empower Through Health has been recognized as an NGO by the Ugandan government and is directly responsible for executing the operation of the Mpunde Health Center. ETH-U hires the necessary medical professionals researchers and staff required for said execution. ETHs role in oversight involves raising and providing necessary funds to ETH-U to carry forward its role recruiting students and researchers to shadow and volunteer at the health center and approving decisions made by ETH-U as they hire medical professionals and purchase the necessary items required to run the health center.

Operating model

Revenue model
Other-operating. 71% of the money available for current operations came from other operating revenue.
Distribution model
Cannot be determined from the filing. The filing does not provide enough consistent spending detail to tell whether the nonprofit works directly or through others.

The verdict

SUPPORTED - A large share of available resources goes toward mission work and the filed numbers largely add up. A relatively small share of voting board members are independent and the filing reports few safeguards for money sent abroad.

Rating breakdown

  • Financial Efficiency: 68
  • Transparency & Controls: 71
  • Accountability: 30
  • Sustainability: 64
  • Growth: 100

Detailed rating inputs

Financial Efficiency

  • Mission deployment rate: 65.8%; rating input score 66
  • Program expense ratio: 95.3%; rating input score 95
  • Fundraising efficiency: Limited

Transparency & Controls

  • Consistency checks: 90.9%; rating input score 91; 15th percentile among comparable filings
  • Pay-setting controls: Limited
  • Foreign activity oversight: 0 of 8 controls in place; rating input score 0
    • Claims monitoring procedures: Fail
    • Requires narrative reports: Fail
    • Conducts field audits: Fail
    • May suspend future funding: Fail
    • Requires financial reports: Fail
    • Conducts site visits: Fail
    • Requires grant agreements: Fail
    • May require repayment: Fail
  • Grant itemization coverage: 100%; rating input score 100; 81st percentile among comparable filings
  • Major donor itemization: Yes; rating input score 100
  • Related-party transparency: Limited

Accountability

  • Independent voting board: 0%; rating input score 0; 8th percentile among comparable filings
  • Governance controls: 5 of 7 controls in place; rating input score 71
    • Conflict-of-interest policy: Pass
    • Whistleblower policy: Pass
    • Document-retention policy: Pass
    • CEO compensation review process: NotApplicable
    • Other executive compensation review process: NotApplicable
    • Form 990 shared with the board: Pass
    • Board meeting minutes documented: Pass
    • Audit committee oversight: Missing
    • Independent financial-statement audit: Fail

Sustainability

  • Operating margin: 31%; rating input score 81; 81st percentile among comparable filings
  • Total-asset coverage ratio: 0.98; rating input score 40; 40th percentile among comparable filings
  • Liabilities to assets ratio: 0; rating input score 51; 51st percentile among comparable filings
  • Officer compensation ratio: 0%; rating input score 67; 67th percentile among comparable filings

Growth

  • Program expense growth: 16.9% per year; rating input score 100; 79th percentile among comparable filings
  • Revenue growth: 33.3% per year; rating input score 100; 94th percentile among comparable filings
  • Asset growth: 62.4% per year; rating input score 100; 97th percentile among comparable filings

Details

  • Where the money goes: 65.8% of revenue deployed · 95.3% of spending went to programs
  • Governance: 0 of 9 board members independent · 5 of 7 filing controls reported
  • Programs: 5 filed program accomplishments · $213K in reported program spending
  • Leadership: top reported pay $0 · 11 people listed
  • Consistency: 38 of 43 current checks pass · 5 findings to review
  • Schedules: 4 filed schedules · includes major donors and foreign activity
  • Filing history: 2 filing years from 2024 to 2025
  • Contacts: How to reach this organization
  • Money network: Resolved incoming and outgoing counterparties from filed money flows.
  • 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.

  • High — Accountability: Independent voting board scored 0/100.
  • High — Transparency & Controls: Foreign activity oversight: 8 of 8 not reported.
  • Review — Accountability: Governance controls: Independent financial-statement audit not reported.
  • Moderate — Sustainability: Total-asset coverage ratio scored 40/100.
  • Moderate — Transparency & Controls: Functional expense sum did not reconcile in the filed values.
  • Moderate — Transparency & Controls: Part IX Advertising column sum did not reconcile in the filed values.
  • Moderate — Transparency & Controls: Part IX InformationTechnology column sum did not reconcile in the filed values.
  • Moderate — Transparency & Controls: Part IX OfficeExpenses column sum did not reconcile in the filed values.
  • Moderate — Transparency & Controls: Part IX Travel column sum did not reconcile in the filed values.
  • Review — Sustainability: Liabilities to assets ratio scored 51/100.