Hill & Valley Forum Foundation

Nonprofit profile at a glance

EIN
393666975
IRS 990 coverage
2025–2025
Forms available
Form 990 2025
Location
Newark, DE, USA
Phone
3179034929
Rating
63
Verdict
SUPPORTED
Rating confidence
Moderate
Sector
Alliance/Advocacy

Reported finances

Revenue
$1,852,926
Expenses
$249,876
Assets
$1,625,626
Liabilities
$22,576

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

Leadership & pay

3 people listed

Executive titles in this filing

  • ISAIAH MEARS (EXECUTIVE DIRECTOR)

Highest reported compensation

  • ISAIAH MEARS (EXECUTIVE DIRECTOR): $32,500 total reported compensation

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

Overview

Mission

Convene senior policymakers, technologists and investors through high level forums and dialogues

What it reported doing in 2025

The hill & valley forum foundation is an educational platform that convenes policymakers, technology leaders, and investors to examine issues at the intersection of innovation, economic competitiveness, and national security. In 2025, the organization hosted a public forum featuring discussions on emerging technologies, supply chain resilence, and industrial capacity to educate stakeholers and promote informed public discourse in the public interest.

Operating model

Revenue model
Donor-supported. 100% 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 - The filed numbers largely add up and most voting board members are independent. A relatively small share of available resources goes toward mission work and some filing-based governance responses are negative or unanswered.

Rating breakdown

  • Financial Efficiency: 47
  • Transparency & Controls: 92
  • Accountability: 63
  • Sustainability: 82
  • Growth: NotEnoughData

Detailed rating inputs

Financial Efficiency

  • Mission deployment rate: 12.5%; rating input score 12
  • Program expense ratio: 91.3%; rating input score 91
  • Fundraising efficiency: $170.77 raised per $1 spent on fundraising; rating input score 90; 90th percentile among comparable filings

Transparency & Controls

  • Consistency checks: 100%; rating input score 100; 63rd 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; 64th percentile among comparable filings
  • Governance controls: 1 of 8 controls in place; rating input score 12
    • Conflict-of-interest policy: Fail
    • Whistleblower policy: Fail
    • Document-retention policy: Fail
    • CEO compensation review process: Fail
    • Other executive compensation review process: NotApplicable
    • Form 990 shared with the board: Fail
    • Board meeting minutes documented: Pass
    • Audit committee oversight: Missing
    • Independent financial-statement audit: Fail

Sustainability

  • Operating margin: 86.5%; rating input score 98; 98th percentile among comparable filings
  • Total-asset coverage ratio: 6.51; rating input score 87; 87th percentile among comparable filings
  • Liabilities to assets ratio: 0.01; rating input score 57; 57th percentile among comparable filings
  • Officer compensation ratio: 13%; rating input score 29; 29th percentile among comparable filings

Growth

  • Program expense growth: Limited
  • Revenue growth: Limited
  • Asset growth: Limited

Details

  • Where the money goes: 12.5% of revenue deployed · 91.3% of spending went to programs
  • Governance: 2 of 2 board members independent · 1 of 8 filing controls reported
  • Programs: 1 filed program accomplishment · $228K in reported program spending
  • Leadership: top reported pay $32K · 3 people listed
  • Consistency: 22 of 22 current checks pass
  • Schedules: 4 filed schedules · includes major donors
  • Contacts: How to reach this organization
  • Money network: 1 filed money-flow record
  • 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 — Financial Efficiency: Mission deployment rate scored 12/100.
  • High — Accountability: Governance controls: 6 of 7 not reported.
  • High — Sustainability: Officer compensation ratio scored 29/100.
  • Review — Sustainability: Liabilities to assets ratio scored 57/100.