Heart of Los Angeles Youth Inc

Nonprofit profile at a glance

EIN
954397418
IRS 990 coverage
2014–2024
Forms available
Form 990 2024
Location
Los Angeles, CA, USA
Phone
2133891148
Rating
78
Verdict
SUPPORTED
Rating confidence
Moderate
Sector
Youth Centers, Clubs

Official website

Reported finances

Revenue
$6,892,346
Expenses
$19,415,023
Assets
$13,287,609
Liabilities
$1,391,404

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

Leadership & pay

28 people listed

Executive titles in this filing

  • TONY BROWN (CEO/PRESIDENT)
  • ALFONSO ALFARO (DEPUTY CEO)

Highest reported compensation

  • TONY BROWN (CEO/PRESIDENT): $240,000 total reported compensation
  • CRISTINA BRISKIE-WOOD (THRU 4/25 - HIGHEST COMPENSATED EMPLOY): $140,686 total reported compensation
  • ALFONSO ALFARO (DEPUTY CEO): $140,664 total reported compensation

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

Overview

Mission

In the fiscal year 2024-2025, heart of los angeles helped 3,100+ youth in central and south central los angeles overcome barriers through exceptional, free, integrated programs and personalized guidance in a trusted, nurturing environment.

What it reported doing in 2024

Arts: hola's visual arts department has provided 75+ weekly visual arts classes across 7 different sites. We served 332 students on our main campus in westlake/rampart, as well as an additional 102 students at augustus hawkins nature park (ahnp) in central alameda, 98 students in the watts district through a new partnership with the watts labor community action committee (wlcac), and 890 through in-school art classes at four lausd schools in the dorsey/crenshaw cluster, schools identified as high-need by the black student achievement plan heet initiative. Hola's free visual arts programming includes classes, public art projects, field trips, access to professional artists, and wellness support services.hola's music department is comprised of the youth orchestra of los angeles (yola at hola), hola music studios (hms), and the eisner intergenerational music program (eimp), which itself contains an intergenerational choir, big band, and orchestra. The eisner intergenerational music program has 254 registered members, ages 13-76. Yola at hola, which consists of three orchestras (youth, symphony, and children's) had 192 members, while hms jazz and rock band students numbered 53. In fy 2024-25, all of hola's music programs participated in an array of performance opportunities at venues including hola's ezralow performance pavilion, the levit pavilion, bmo stadium, wilshire ebell theatre, the world famous whiskey a go go, and the walt disney concert hall.hola's science, technology, engineering, arts, and math (steam) programming provided 105 elementary, middle, and high school students with classes utilizing project-based learning, creative technology engagement, and fostering a supportive learning community. The program (aka hola sciarts) is grounded in maker-style education, a distinct movement that uses diy projects to help students learn 21st-century skills and solve their own design problems. The sciarts program helps youth boost their noncognitive abilities, analytical thinking, resilience, and self-motivation.

Operating model

Revenue model
Donor-supported. 90% of the money available for current operations came from contributions and gifts.
Distribution model
Direct operator. The filing allocates 87% 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

SUPPORTED - A large share of available resources goes toward mission work and the filed numbers largely add up. A relatively small share of total spending goes to programs and fundraising costs are high for each dollar raised.

Rating breakdown

  • Financial Efficiency: 72
  • Transparency & Controls: 79
  • Accountability: 95
  • Sustainability: 22
  • Growth: 100

Detailed rating inputs

Financial Efficiency

  • Mission deployment rate: 100%; rating input score 100
  • Program expense ratio: 40%; rating input score 40
  • Fundraising efficiency: $7.55 raised per $1 spent on fundraising; rating input score 28; 28th percentile among comparable filings

Transparency & Controls

  • Consistency checks: 100%; rating input score 100; 63rd 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: Missing
    • Written employment contract: Missing
    • Compensation survey or study: Pass
    • Board or committee approval: Pass
  • Foreign activity oversight: Limited
  • Grant itemization coverage: 100%; rating input score 100; 72nd percentile among comparable filings
  • 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: 7 of 9 controls in place; rating input score 88
    • Conflict-of-interest policy: Pass
    • Whistleblower policy: Pass
    • Document-retention policy: Pass
    • CEO compensation review process: Pass
    • Other executive compensation review process: Limited
    • Form 990 shared with the board: Pass
    • Board meeting minutes documented: Pass
    • Audit committee oversight: Fail
    • Independent financial-statement audit: Pass

Sustainability

  • Operating margin: -181.7%; rating input score 0; 0th percentile among comparable filings
  • Total-asset coverage ratio: 0.68; rating input score 25; 25th percentile among comparable filings
  • Liabilities to assets ratio: 0.1; rating input score 58; 58th percentile among comparable filings
  • Officer compensation ratio: 3.3%; rating input score 66; 66th percentile among comparable filings

Growth

  • Program expense growth: 10% per year; rating input score 100; 64th percentile among comparable filings
  • Revenue growth: 0.8% per year; rating input score 100; 14th percentile among comparable filings
  • Asset growth: 5.2% per year; rating input score 100; 36th percentile among comparable filings

Details

  • Where the money goes: 100% of revenue deployed · 40% of spending went to programs
  • Governance: 23 of 23 board members independent · 7 of 9 filing controls reported
  • Programs: 4 filed program accomplishments · $7.8M in reported program spending
  • Leadership: top reported pay $240K · 28 people listed · 2 of 6 pay-setting controls reported
  • Highest-paid contractors: 1 contractor listed · $267K reported
  • Consistency: 29 of 30 current checks pass · 1 finding to review
  • Schedules: 8 filed schedules · includes major donors, grants, and executive pay
  • Filing history: 11 filing years from 2014 to 2024
  • Contacts: How to reach this organization
  • Money network: 4 filed money-flow records
  • Related organizations: 1 filed related-organization link
  • 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 — Financial Efficiency: Program expense ratio scored 40/100.
  • High — Financial Efficiency: Fundraising efficiency scored 28/100.
  • High — Sustainability: Operating margin scored 0/100.
  • High — Sustainability: Total-asset coverage ratio scored 25/100.
  • Review — Accountability: Governance controls: Audit committee oversight not reported.
  • Moderate — Transparency & Controls: Schedule A contributions reconciliation did not reconcile in the filed values.
  • Review — Sustainability: Liabilities to assets ratio scored 58/100.