Fully Liberated Youth

Nonprofit profile at a glance

EIN
854272767
IRS 990 coverage
2021–2024
Forms available
Form 990 2024, Form 990-N 2020
Location
Denver, CO, USA
Phone
7203184413
Rating
81
Verdict
STRONG
Rating confidence
Moderate
Sector
Youth Development Programs

Official website

Reported finances

Revenue
$1,492,323
Expenses
$1,333,158
Assets
$786,539
Liabilities
$274,266

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

Leadership & pay

6 people listed

People named in this filing

  • NIKIYAH ADAMS (BOARD MEMBER)
  • CHARLES GILFORD (BOARD SECRETARY)
  • GRETCHEN MORGAN (BOARD CHAIR)

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 2024. Names and roles reflect this filing, not necessarily current officeholders.

Overview

Mission

To holistically resource and empower young people who are experiencing opression, trauma, gang involvement, or system involvement so they can continue becoming the liberated individuals our communities need.

What it reported doing in 2024

FLY operates four interrelated programs that together provide a continuum of prevention, intervention, and reentry support: 1) School-Based Prevention Services (SBPS): Embedded mentorship, theraphy, and restorative practices within public schools to dismantle the school-to-prison pipeline and foster safe, supportive learning environments. 2)Community-Based Intervention Services (CBIS): Therapy and peer mentorship for youth who are system- or gang-involved, focusing on mental health, conflict resolution, and reentry support. 3)Division of Youth Services Transition Services: Long-term reentry support for youth transitioning from incarceration back into the community. 4)Community and Policy Advocacy: Ensures youth voices influence systemic reform efforts in education, mental health, and justice systems through legislative and policy partnerships. Each program is grounded in healing-centered, trauma-informed, and culturally humble practices, led by qualified and trained staff. Over 95% of youth served live and attend school in Denver metro area priority neighborhoods. More than half of FLYs staff have direct experience with legal system involvement. Our service delivery model and our staff model what true community-based transformation looks like- centering radical relationships as pathways to lasting growth and healing.

Operating model

Revenue model
Grant-funded. 82% 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.
  • Includes noncash contributions: Reported contributions include donated property or goods.

The verdict

STRONG - A large share of available resources goes toward mission work and the filed numbers largely add up. Fundraising costs are high for each dollar raised and some filing-based governance responses are negative or unanswered.

Rating breakdown

  • Financial Efficiency: 76
  • Transparency & Controls: 84
  • Accountability: 88
  • Sustainability: 50
  • Growth: 100

Detailed rating inputs

Financial Efficiency

  • Mission deployment rate: 74.9%; rating input score 75
  • Program expense ratio: 83.7%; rating input score 84
  • Fundraising efficiency: $17.99 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: 100%; rating input score 100; 63rd 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: 10.7%; rating input score 63; 63rd percentile among comparable filings
  • Total-asset coverage ratio: 0.59; rating input score 27; 27th percentile among comparable filings
  • Liabilities to assets ratio: 0.35; rating input score 22; 22nd percentile among comparable filings
  • Officer compensation ratio: 0%; rating input score 81; 81st percentile among comparable filings

Growth

  • Program expense growth: 42.4% per year; rating input score 100; 94th percentile among comparable filings
  • Revenue growth: 38.8% per year; rating input score 100; 95th percentile among comparable filings
  • Asset growth: 44% per year; rating input score 100; 95th percentile among comparable filings

Details

  • Where the money goes: 74.9% of revenue deployed · 83.7% of spending went to programs
  • Governance: 5 of 5 board members independent · 5 of 7 filing controls reported
  • Programs: 1 filed program accomplishment · $1.1M in reported program spending
  • Leadership: top reported pay $0 · 6 people listed
  • Consistency: 20 of 21 current checks pass · 1 finding to review
  • Schedules: 3 filed schedules · includes major donors
  • Filing history: 4 filing years from 2021 to 2024
  • 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.

  • Review — Financial Efficiency: Fundraising efficiency scored 56/100.
  • Review — Accountability: Governance controls: Independent financial-statement audit not reported.
  • Moderate — Transparency & Controls: Schedule A contributions reconciliation did not reconcile in the filed values.
  • High — Sustainability: Total-asset coverage ratio scored 27/100.
  • High — Sustainability: Liabilities to assets ratio scored 22/100.