First Ladies Initiative

Nonprofit profile at a glance

EIN
454323493
IRS 990 coverage
2022–2024
Forms available
Form 990 2024, Form 990-EZ 2020, Form 990-N 2019
Location
Los Angeles, CA, USA
Phone
3235404418
Rating
73
Verdict
SUPPORTED
Rating confidence
Moderate
Sector
International Economic Development

Official website

Reported finances

Revenue
$536,180
Expenses
$376,069
Assets
$272,971
Liabilities
$0

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

Leadership & pay

6 people listed

Executive titles in this filing

  • Nicole Field Brzeski (Executive Director)

Highest reported compensation

  • Cora Neumann (Director): $145,758 total reported compensation

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

Overview

Mission

The First Ladies Initiative supports first ladies individually and collectively in their efforts to advance positive change in their communities and around the world.

What it reported doing in 2024

Preparations for the Global First Ladies Academy to be held in July 2024 in partnership with Columbia University Mailman School of Public Health and the Organization of African First Ladies for Development. This academy is a four-day certified executive leadership program to advance health and development including increasing understanding of womens cancer HPV HIV AIDS and the link between health and economic empowerment. In addition we provided executive training for First Lady offices in September 2024 during the United Nations General Assembly.

Operating model

Revenue model
Donor-supported. 100% of the money available for current operations came from contributions and gifts.
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. Some filing-based governance responses are negative or unanswered and fundraising costs are high for each dollar raised.

Rating breakdown

  • Financial Efficiency: 70
  • Transparency & Controls: 84
  • Accountability: 57
  • Sustainability: 60
  • Growth: 100

Detailed rating inputs

Financial Efficiency

  • Mission deployment rate: 61.7%; rating input score 62
  • Program expense ratio: 88%; rating input score 88
  • Fundraising efficiency: $18.39 raised per $1 spent on fundraising; rating input score 56; 56th percentile among comparable filings

Transparency & Controls

  • Consistency checks: 90%; rating input score 90; 5th percentile among comparable filings
  • Pay-setting controls: Limited
  • Foreign activity oversight: Limited
  • Grant itemization coverage: Limited
  • Major donor itemization: Yes; rating input score 100
  • Related-party transparency: Limited

Accountability

  • Independent voting board: 66.7%; rating input score 67; 14th percentile among comparable filings
  • Governance controls: 3 of 7 controls in place; rating input score 43
    • Conflict-of-interest policy: Pass
    • Whistleblower policy: Fail
    • Document-retention policy: Fail
    • 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: 29.9%; rating input score 84; 84th percentile among comparable filings
  • Total-asset coverage ratio: 0.73; rating input score 33; 33rd percentile among comparable filings
  • Liabilities to assets ratio: 0; rating input score 91; 91st percentile among comparable filings
  • Officer compensation ratio: 38.8%; rating input score 4; 4th percentile among comparable filings

Growth

  • Program expense growth: 42.4% per year; rating input score 100; 94th percentile among comparable filings
  • Revenue growth: 26.8% per year; rating input score 100; 91st percentile among comparable filings
  • Asset growth: 27.4% per year; rating input score 100; 89th percentile among comparable filings

Details

  • Where the money goes: 61.7% of revenue deployed · 88% of spending went to programs
  • Governance: 4 of 6 board members independent · 3 of 7 filing controls reported
  • Programs: 3 filed program accomplishments · $331K in reported program spending
  • Leadership: top reported pay $146K · 6 people listed
  • Consistency: 40 of 41 current checks pass · 1 finding to review
  • Schedules: 3 filed schedules · includes major donors
  • Filing history: 3 filing years from 2022 to 2024
  • Contacts: How to reach this organization
  • Money network: 4 filed money-flow records
  • 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 — Accountability: Governance controls: 3 of 6 not reported.
  • Review — Financial Efficiency: Fundraising efficiency scored 56/100.
  • Moderate — Sustainability: Total-asset coverage ratio scored 33/100.
  • Moderate — Transparency & Controls: Schedule A contributions reconciliation did not reconcile in the filed values.
  • High — Sustainability: Officer compensation ratio scored 4/100.