Fuerza LaboralPower of Workers
Nonprofit profile at a glance
- EIN
- 205428607
- IRS 990 coverage
- 2015–2024
- Forms available
- Form 990 2024, Form 990-EZ 2017
- Location
- Central Falls, RI, USA
- Phone
- 4017252700
- Rating
- 82
- Verdict
- STRONG
- Rating confidence
- Moderate
- Sector
- Education N.E.C.
Reported finances
- Revenue
- $505,532
- Expenses
- $532,712
- Assets
- $1,007,218
- Liabilities
- $273,593
Source: IRS Form 990. Selected filing: tax year 2024. Amounts in USD.
Leadership & pay
8 people listed
Executive titles in this filing
- Miguel Garcia (President)
- Michelle Arias-Santabay (Vice-President)
- Heiny Maldonado (Executive Director)
Highest reported compensation
- Heiny Maldonado (Executive Director): $107,737 total reported compensation
Source: IRS Form 990. Selected filing: tax year 2024. Names and roles reflect this filing, not necessarily current officeholders.
Overview
Mission
Fuerza Laboral is a workers' rights center whose mission is to shift the balance of power in our economy in favor of workers by educating, training, and organizing workers to become community leaders; taking direct action to recover unpaid wages and improve workplace conditions; organizing to win institutional changes that will better prevent injustices; and, with our Cooperative Incubator Project, constructing a network of cooperative-owned businesses that will provide living wage employment as an alternative to the low- wage, exploitative jobs typically reserved for immigrants and people of color
What it reported doing in 2024
In 2024, Fuerza Laboral deepened its impact by expanding worker education and leadership training; advancing campaigns for wage justice; scaling its co-op incubator work to build worker-owned businesses with a network of more than 25 cooperatives across RI; and forming partnerships. It remains firmly focused on shifting economic opportunities toward low-income workers and on creating durable mechanisms (co-ops, community leadership) rather than only case-by-case relief.Fuerza Laboral also expanded its job readiness programs, with more than 100 people receiving services in Computer and financial literacy, Retention, Advancement & Job QualityFuerza Laboral also expanded its Childcare Educators, business entrepreneurship, and workforce development programs. Fuerza Laboral continued delivering more than 50 in 2024 year-round on labor rights, leadership development, including "Basic Workers' Rights"Overall, Fuerza Laboral served more than 2,000 people across all programs in 2024
Operating model
- Revenue model
- Donor-supported. 96% 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
STRONG - 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 expenses are high relative to revenue.
Rating breakdown
- Financial Efficiency: 77
- Transparency & Controls: 92
- Accountability: 84
- Sustainability: 34
- Growth: 100
Detailed rating inputs
Financial Efficiency
- Mission deployment rate: 87.7%; rating input score 88
- Program expense ratio: 83.1%; rating input score 83
- Fundraising efficiency: Limited
Transparency & Controls
- Consistency checks: 100%; rating input score 100; 63rd 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: 100%; rating input score 100; 63rd percentile among comparable filings
- Governance controls: 5 of 8 controls in place; rating input score 62
- Conflict-of-interest policy: Pass
- Whistleblower policy: Pass
- Document-retention policy: Pass
- CEO compensation review process: Fail
- 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: -5.4%; rating input score 23; 23rd percentile among comparable filings
- Total-asset coverage ratio: 1.89; rating input score 63; 63rd percentile among comparable filings
- Liabilities to assets ratio: 0.27; rating input score 26; 26th percentile among comparable filings
- Officer compensation ratio: 20.2%; rating input score 15; 15th percentile among comparable filings
Growth
- Program expense growth: 13.9% per year; rating input score 100; 73rd percentile among comparable filings
- Revenue growth: 15.5% per year; rating input score 100; 79th percentile among comparable filings
- Asset growth: 33.4% per year; rating input score 100; 92nd percentile among comparable filings
Details
- Where the money goes: 87.7% of revenue deployed · 83.1% of spending went to programs
- Governance: 7 of 7 board members independent · 5 of 8 filing controls reported
- Programs: 1 filed program accomplishment · $442K in reported program spending
- Leadership: top reported pay $108K · 8 people listed
- Consistency: 27 of 27 current checks pass
- Schedules: 4 filed schedules · includes major donors
- Filing history: 7 filing years from 2015 to 2024
- Contacts: How to reach this organization
- Money network: 2 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.
- Review — Accountability: Governance controls: 2 of 7 not reported.
- High — Sustainability: Operating margin scored 23/100.
- High — Sustainability: Officer compensation ratio scored 15/100.
- High — Sustainability: Liabilities to assets ratio scored 26/100.