Essential Impact Inc

Nonprofit profile at a glance

EIN
932593106
IRS 990 coverage
2023–2024
Forms available
Form 990 2024
Location
Concord, CA, USA
Phone
2027395284
Rating
72
Verdict
SUPPORTED
Rating confidence
Standard
Sector
Research Institutes and Public Policy Analysis

Official website

Reported finances

Revenue
$437,155
Expenses
$1,030,725
Assets
$2,078,800
Liabilities
$96,964

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

Leadership & pay

4 people listed

Executive titles in this filing

  • GRANT GORDON (CEO & CO-FOUNDER)
  • FIREHIWOT TACHEA (MEMBER OF THE BOARD OF DIRECTORS, VICE PRESIDENT,)

Highest reported compensation

  • FIREHIWOT TACHEA (MEMBER OF THE BOARD OF DIRECTORS, VICE PRESIDENT,): $150,994 total reported compensation
  • GRANT GORDON (CEO & CO-FOUNDER): $113,032 total reported compensation

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

Overview

Mission

Essential impact creates breakthrough solutions to tackle malnutrition and transform food systems in sub-saharan africa. We leverage advances in fermentation to create affordable, accessible, and climate-resilient proteins that can be integrated into food products to prevent and treat malnutrition.

What it reported doing in 2024

In 2024, essential impact launched a 7,000-square-foot bio manufacturing plant in nairobi, one of east africa's leading bioscience labs, and produced the first bio-manufactured protein for human consumption in sub-saharan africa. The team completed 19 production runs, secured operating licenses and permits, and worked with the kenya bureau of standards toward food-safety certification. Scientific operations scaled from 5l to 500l bio reactors, completing over 30 fermentation experiments and deploying new in-house tools for cost and process optimization. Essential also began joint r&d with a kenyan food manufacturer to develop a protein-fortified porridge and advanced discussions with four additional partners. Policy partnerships and advocacy helped include fermented proteins in ethiopia's national bioeconomy strategy and launched a collaboration with the world bank and stanford university on a report about fermentation and food security.

Operating model

Revenue model
Donor-supported. 100% of the money available for current operations came from contributions and gifts.
Distribution model
Grant intermediary. The nonprofit sent 65% of its reported program spending out as grants.

The verdict

SUPPORTED - A large share of available resources goes toward mission work and the filed numbers largely add up. Few specific pay-setting methods are documented in the filing; unanswered boxes are not proof of absence and a relatively small share of voting board members are independent.

Rating breakdown

  • Financial Efficiency: 85
  • Transparency & Controls: 68
  • Accountability: 71
  • Sustainability: 23
  • Growth: 40

Detailed rating inputs

Financial Efficiency

  • Mission deployment rate: 100%; rating input score 100
  • Program expense ratio: 76%; rating input score 76
  • Fundraising efficiency: $8.41 raised per $1 spent on fundraising; rating input score 34; 34th percentile among comparable filings

Transparency & Controls

  • Consistency checks: 100%; rating input score 100; 64th percentile among comparable filings
  • Pay-setting controls: 0 of 6 controls in place; rating input score 0
    • Compensation committee: Missing
    • Independent consultant: Missing
    • Other Form 990s reviewed: Missing
    • Written employment contract: Missing
    • Compensation survey or study: Missing
    • Board or committee approval: Missing
  • Foreign activity oversight: 2 of 8 controls in place; rating input score 25
    • Claims monitoring procedures: Pass
    • Requires narrative reports: Fail
    • Conducts field audits: Fail
    • May suspend future funding: Fail
    • Requires financial reports: Fail
    • Conducts site visits: Fail
    • Requires grant agreements: Pass
    • May require repayment: Fail
  • Grant itemization coverage: 100%; rating input score 100; 80th percentile among comparable filings
  • Major donor itemization: Yes; rating input score 100
  • Related-party transparency: Yes; rating input score 100

Accountability

  • Independent voting board: 50%; rating input score 50; 16th percentile among comparable filings
  • Governance controls: 8 of 8 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: NotApplicable
    • Form 990 shared with the board: Pass
    • Board meeting minutes documented: Pass
    • Audit committee oversight: Pass
    • Independent financial-statement audit: Pass

Sustainability

  • Operating margin: -135.8%; rating input score 1; 1st percentile among comparable filings
  • Total-asset coverage ratio: 2.02; rating input score 59; 59th percentile among comparable filings
  • Liabilities to assets ratio: 0.05; rating input score 33; 33rd percentile among comparable filings
  • Officer compensation ratio: 25.6%; rating input score 14; 14th percentile among comparable filings

Growth

  • Program expense growth: 144.2% per year; rating input score 100; 99th percentile among comparable filings
  • Revenue growth: -145.1% per year; rating input score 0; 0th percentile among comparable filings
  • Asset growth: -24.9% per year; rating input score 0; 2nd percentile among comparable filings

Details

  • Where the money goes: 100% of revenue deployed · 76% of spending went to programs
  • Governance: 2 of 4 board members independent · 8 of 8 filing controls reported
  • Programs: 1 filed program accomplishment · $783K in reported program spending
  • Leadership: top reported pay $151K · 4 people listed · 0 of 6 pay-setting controls reported
  • Consistency: 28 of 28 current checks pass
  • Schedules: 7 filed schedules · includes major donors, foreign activity, executive pay, and related organizations
  • Filing history: 2 filing years from 2023 to 2024
  • Contacts: How to reach this organization
  • Money network: 2 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.

  • High — Transparency & Controls: Pay-setting controls scored 0/100.
  • Review — Accountability: Independent voting board scored 50/100.
  • High — Transparency & Controls: Foreign activity oversight: 6 of 8 not reported.
  • Moderate — Financial Efficiency: Fundraising efficiency scored 34/100.
  • High — Sustainability: Operating margin scored 1/100.
  • High — Growth: Revenue growth scored 0/100.
  • High — Growth: Asset growth scored 0/100.
  • Review — Sustainability: Total-asset coverage ratio scored 59/100.
  • High — Sustainability: Officer compensation ratio scored 14/100.
  • Moderate — Sustainability: Liabilities to assets ratio scored 33/100.