Greenhouse Gas Experts Network Inc

Nonprofit profile at a glance

EIN
260554688
IRS 990 coverage
2009–2025
Forms available
Form 990 2025
Location
Seattle, WA, USA
Phone
2023509047
Rating
65
Verdict
SUPPORTED
Rating confidence
Moderate
Sector
Education N.E.C.

Official website

Reported finances

Revenue
$4,128,241
Expenses
$3,753,145
Assets
$3,910,897
Liabilities
$788,474

Source: IRS Form 990. Selected filing: tax year 2025. Amounts in USD.

Leadership & pay

13 people listed

Highest reported compensation

  • MICHAEL GILLENWATER (EXECUTIVE DI): $209,316 total reported compensation
  • KERI ENRIGHT-KATO (MANAGING DIR): $186,409 total reported compensation
  • MOLLY WHITE (EDUCATION DI): $168,372 total reported compensation

Source: IRS Form 990. Selected filing: tax year 2025. Names and roles reflect this filing, not necessarily current officeholders.

Overview

Mission

To enable meaningful climate action by governments, corporations, and organizations by growing and supporting a global community of experts and institutions with the highest standards of professional practice in measuring, reporting, verifying, accounting for, and managing greenhouse gas emissions.

What it reported doing in 2025

Ghgmi strengthens the global climate change mitigation field by training, certifying, and supporting greenhouse gas (ghg) professionals - the experts who measure, account for, audit, and manage ghg emissions across industries worldwide. These professionals ensure that climate policies, market mechanisms, and infrastructure investments are effective and credible. With deep expertise in ghg management, international capacity building, and pedagogy, ghgmi has delivered training for governments and major climate institutions, including the unfccc secretariat, USAID, the european commission, rggi, and the world bank. To date, we have trained over 9,000 professionals in 190 countries, representing over 30% of the unfccc's official expert roster. ----- more detail on schedule o -----

Operating model

Revenue model
Earned-program. 90% of the money available for current operations came from fees and other program revenue.
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 most voting board members are independent. The filing reports few safeguards for money sent abroad and the filing does not identify recipients for some grant dollars.

Rating breakdown

  • Financial Efficiency: 66
  • Transparency & Controls: 48
  • Accountability: 85
  • Sustainability: 41
  • Growth: 100

Detailed rating inputs

Financial Efficiency

  • Mission deployment rate: 67.3%; rating input score 67
  • Program expense ratio: 75.2%; rating input score 75
  • Fundraising efficiency: $9.36 raised per $1 spent on fundraising; rating input score 33; 33rd percentile among comparable filings

Transparency & Controls

  • Consistency checks: 92.3%; rating input score 92; 11th percentile among comparable filings
  • Pay-setting controls: 2 of 6 controls in place; rating input score 33
    • Compensation committee: Missing
    • Independent consultant: Missing
    • Other Form 990s reviewed: Pass
    • Written employment contract: Missing
    • Compensation survey or study: Missing
    • Board or committee approval: Pass
  • Foreign activity oversight: Scored; rating input score 0
  • Grant itemization coverage: Scored; rating input score 0
  • Major donor itemization: Yes; rating input score 100
  • Related-party transparency: Limited

Accountability

  • Independent voting board: 75%; rating input score 75; 14th percentile among comparable filings
  • Governance controls: 9 of 9 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: Pass
    • Form 990 shared with the board: Pass
    • Board meeting minutes documented: Pass
    • Audit committee oversight: Pass
    • Independent financial-statement audit: Pass

Sustainability

  • Operating margin: 9.1%; rating input score 53; 53rd percentile among comparable filings
  • Total-asset coverage ratio: 1.04; rating input score 35; 35th percentile among comparable filings
  • Liabilities to assets ratio: 0.2; rating input score 35; 35th percentile among comparable filings
  • Officer compensation ratio: 21.6%; rating input score 14; 14th percentile among comparable filings

Growth

  • Program expense growth: 12.8% per year; rating input score 100; 69th percentile among comparable filings
  • Revenue growth: 11.7% per year; rating input score 100; 71st percentile among comparable filings
  • Asset growth: 14.3% per year; rating input score 100; 72nd percentile among comparable filings

Details

  • Where the money goes: 67.3% of revenue deployed · 75.2% of spending went to programs
  • Governance: 6 of 8 board members independent · 9 of 9 filing controls reported
  • Programs: 1 filed program accomplishment · $2.8M in reported program spending
  • Leadership: top reported pay $209K · 13 people listed · 2 of 6 pay-setting controls reported
  • Consistency: 29 of 29 current checks pass
  • Schedules: 7 filed schedules · includes major donors, foreign activity, and executive pay
  • Filing history: 16 filing years from 2009 to 2025
  • Contacts: How to reach this organization
  • Money network: 7 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: Foreign activity oversight scored 0/100.
  • High — Transparency & Controls: Grant itemization coverage scored 0/100.
  • Moderate — Financial Efficiency: Fundraising efficiency scored 33/100.
  • Review — Sustainability: Operating margin scored 53/100.
  • Moderate — Sustainability: Total-asset coverage ratio scored 35/100.
  • High — Sustainability: Officer compensation ratio scored 14/100.
  • Moderate — Sustainability: Liabilities to assets ratio scored 35/100.