Gps Education Partners Inc

Nonprofit profile at a glance

EIN
391667442
IRS 990 coverage
2009–2024
Forms available
Form 990 2024
Location
Waukesha, WI, USA
Phone
2622262001
Rating
78
Verdict
SUPPORTED
Rating confidence
Moderate
Sector
Arts, Culture, and Humanities N.E.C.

Official website

Reported finances

Revenue
$6,124,513
Expenses
$5,990,539
Assets
$5,826,347
Liabilities
$1,132,908

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

Leadership & pay

23 people listed

Executive titles in this filing

  • STEPHANIE REISNER (PRESIDENT, CHIEF EXECUTIVE)
  • ANTHONY J LANZA (VICE PRESIDENT OF FINANCE)

Highest reported compensation

  • STEPHANIE REISNER (PRESIDENT, CHIEF EXECUTIVE): $223,305 total reported compensation
  • BILLIE TORRENTT (CHIEF OPERATIONS OFFICER): $176,709 total reported compensation
  • MICHAEL HEPBURN (SENIOR DIRECTOR OF WBL SOLUTIONS DESIGN AND DELIVE): $160,518 total reported compensation

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

Overview

Mission

Gps education partners is a non-profit work-based learning solutions provider and advocate, representing our students, businesses, and communities, focusing on access and equity for all students to succeed in the jobs of the future.

What it reported doing in 2024

Gps ed continues to provide a transformational alternative education and youth apprenticeship program through our eight education centers located throughout southeast and northeast Wisconsin. With an average annual enrollment of 230 students, this immersive program enables students to earn their high school diploma from their home high school while also earning stackable and transferable credentials aligned with technical career pathways. The class of 2025 had 95 senior graduates and boasts a 97% graduation rate, with 91% earning their national career readiness certification, 96% earning the full certified production technician (cpt) certificate from the manufacturing skill standards council (mssc), and 77% hired full-time at a gps ed business partner or within an adjacent industry. Many graduates who plan to pursue post-secondary education also earn college credits. Notably, most of our students overcome severe academic deficiencies and gain valuable soft skills needed for gainful employment. The organization continues to expand its portfolio of school and business partners, providing more career pathways to more students.gps ed's wbl program is a capacity-building intermediary that partners with schools, employers, and communities to design, implement, and scale high-quality work-based learning (wbl) programs. We define high-quality wbl as "authentic learning that develops a student's aspiration, abilities, and agency to succeed in the world of work." grounded in this definition, our work follows a systematic and strategic design process that ensures every program is purpose-driven, stakeholder-informed, outcomes-focused, and built for sustainability. By aligning wbl efforts to this high standard, gps ed builds the capacity of its partners to deliver impactful, scalable programs that expand access to meaningful career-connected learning experiences for students across diverse regions.

Operating model

Revenue model
Donor-supported. 61% 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. Fundraising costs are high for each dollar raised and expenses are high relative to revenue.

Rating breakdown

  • Financial Efficiency: 70
  • Transparency & Controls: 79
  • Accountability: 95
  • Sustainability: 38
  • Growth: 100

Detailed rating inputs

Financial Efficiency

  • Mission deployment rate: 76.3%; rating input score 76
  • Program expense ratio: 75.9%; rating input score 76
  • Fundraising efficiency: $6.03 raised per $1 spent on fundraising; rating input score 22; 22nd percentile among comparable filings

Transparency & Controls

  • Consistency checks: 100%; rating input score 100; 63rd percentile among comparable filings
  • Pay-setting controls: 3 of 6 controls in place; rating input score 50
    • Compensation committee: Pass
    • Independent consultant: Missing
    • Other Form 990s reviewed: Missing
    • Written employment contract: Missing
    • Compensation survey or study: Pass
    • Board or committee approval: Pass
  • 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: 8 of 9 controls in place; rating input score 89
    • Conflict-of-interest policy: Pass
    • Whistleblower policy: Pass
    • Document-retention policy: Pass
    • CEO compensation review process: Pass
    • Other executive compensation review process: Fail
    • Form 990 shared with the board: Pass
    • Board meeting minutes documented: Pass
    • Audit committee oversight: Pass
    • Independent financial-statement audit: Pass

Sustainability

  • Operating margin: 2.2%; rating input score 42; 42nd percentile among comparable filings
  • Total-asset coverage ratio: 0.97; rating input score 36; 36th percentile among comparable filings
  • Liabilities to assets ratio: 0.19; rating input score 45; 45th percentile among comparable filings
  • Officer compensation ratio: 16.4%; rating input score 17; 17th percentile among comparable filings

Growth

  • Program expense growth: 4% per year; rating input score 100; 34th percentile among comparable filings
  • Revenue growth: 8% per year; rating input score 100; 60th percentile among comparable filings
  • Asset growth: 3.9% per year; rating input score 100; 29th percentile among comparable filings

Details

  • Where the money goes: 76.3% of revenue deployed · 75.9% of spending went to programs
  • Governance: 17 of 17 board members independent · 8 of 9 filing controls reported
  • Programs: 1 filed program accomplishment · $4.5M in reported program spending
  • Leadership: top reported pay $223K · 23 people listed · 3 of 6 pay-setting controls reported
  • Consistency: 37 of 37 current checks pass
  • Schedules: 6 filed schedules · includes major donors and executive pay
  • Filing history: 16 filing years from 2009 to 2024
  • Contacts: How to reach this organization
  • Money network: 6 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.
  • 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 — Financial Efficiency: Fundraising efficiency scored 22/100.
  • Moderate — Sustainability: Operating margin scored 42/100.
  • Moderate — Sustainability: Total-asset coverage ratio scored 36/100.
  • Review — Accountability: Governance controls: Other executive compensation review process not reported.
  • High — Sustainability: Officer compensation ratio scored 17/100.
  • Moderate — Sustainability: Liabilities to assets ratio scored 45/100.