Hiawatha Academies

Nonprofit profile at a glance

EIN
204798683
IRS 990 coverage
2010–2024
Forms available
Form 990 2024
Location
Minneapolis, MN, USA
Phone
3147535073
Rating
77
Verdict
SUPPORTED
Rating confidence
Moderate
Sector
Elementary, Secondary Education, K - 12

Official website

Reported finances

Revenue
$32,403,099
Expenses
$33,975,966
Assets
$11,880,408
Liabilities
$21,143,487

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

Leadership & pay

16 people listed

Executive titles in this filing

  • LASHAWN RAY (EXECUTIVE DIRECTOR (END 12/2024))
  • KAREN KLINZING (EXECUTIVE DIRECTOR (BEG 1/2025))

Highest reported compensation

  • LASHAWN RAY (EXECUTIVE DIRECTOR (END 12/2024)): $233,005 total reported compensation
  • NOELLA O'ROURKE (SENIOR HR OFFICER): $159,104 total reported compensation
  • MARISA NATHAN (SENIOR ACADEMIC OFFICER): $157,603 total reported compensation

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

Overview

Mission

All hiawatha academies students will be empowered with the knowledge, character and leadership skills to graduate from college and serve the common good.

What it reported doing in 2024

At hiawatha academies, we strive to create inclusive learning communities that are rigorous and joyful and build student agency. At hiawatha academies, we believe a great school is one in which: 1. Students have consistent access to rigorous, high-quality curriculum2. Teachers utilize engaging and demanding instructional practices3. Authentic literacy practices are embedded in all subject areas4. Students are motivated through effective school culture practices5. Multi-tiered system of support reaches all learnersduring the school year ending in 2025, 1,549 students were served.

Operating model

Revenue model
Grant-funded. 97% 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.

The verdict

SUPPORTED - A large share of available resources goes toward mission work and the filed numbers largely add up. Expenses are high relative to revenue and some filing-based governance responses are negative or unanswered.

Rating breakdown

  • Financial Efficiency: 80
  • Transparency & Controls: 80
  • Accountability: 76
  • Sustainability: 18
  • Growth: 100

Detailed rating inputs

Financial Efficiency

  • Mission deployment rate: 90.8%; rating input score 91
  • Program expense ratio: 86.9%; rating input score 87
  • Fundraising efficiency: Limited

Transparency & Controls

  • Consistency checks: 100%; rating input score 100; 62nd 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: Limited
  • Major donor itemization: Yes; rating input score 100
  • Related-party transparency: Yes; rating input score 100

Accountability

  • Independent voting board: 75%; rating input score 75; 14th percentile among comparable filings
  • Governance controls: 7 of 9 controls in place; rating input score 78
    • 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: Fail
    • Board meeting minutes documented: Pass
    • Audit committee oversight: Pass
    • Independent financial-statement audit: Pass

Sustainability

  • Operating margin: -4.9%; rating input score 17; 17th percentile among comparable filings
  • Total-asset coverage ratio: 0.35; rating input score 9; 9th percentile among comparable filings
  • Liabilities to assets ratio: 1.78; rating input score 2; 2nd percentile among comparable filings
  • Officer compensation ratio: 4%; rating input score 60; 60th percentile among comparable filings

Growth

  • Program expense growth: 9.4% per year; rating input score 100; 68th percentile among comparable filings
  • Revenue growth: 10.6% per year; rating input score 100; 76th percentile among comparable filings
  • Asset growth: 7.5% per year; rating input score 100; 52nd percentile among comparable filings

Details

  • Where the money goes: 90.8% of revenue deployed · 86.9% of spending went to programs
  • Governance: 6 of 8 board members independent · 7 of 9 filing controls reported
  • Programs: 1 filed program accomplishment · $29.5M in reported program spending
  • Leadership: top reported pay $233K · 16 people listed · 2 of 6 pay-setting controls reported
  • Highest-paid contractors: 5 contractors listed · $4.1M reported
  • Consistency: 29 of 29 current checks pass
  • Schedules: 7 filed schedules · includes major donors, executive pay, and related organizations
  • Filing history: 14 filing years from 2010 to 2024
  • Contacts: How to reach this organization
  • Money network: 10 filed money-flow records
  • Related organizations: 2 filed related-organization links
  • 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.

  • High — Sustainability: Operating margin scored 17/100.
  • Review — Accountability: Governance controls: 2 of 9 not reported.
  • High — Sustainability: Total-asset coverage ratio scored 9/100.
  • High — Sustainability: Liabilities to assets ratio scored 2/100.