Hispanic National Bar Foundation

Nonprofit profile at a glance

EIN
592681611
IRS 990 coverage
2013–2024
Forms available
Form 990 2024, Form 990-EZ 2023
Location
Washington, DC, USA
Phone
2024967206
Rating
59
Verdict
MIXED
Rating confidence
Moderate

Reported finances

Revenue
$305,672
Expenses
$261,650
Assets
$39,605
Liabilities
$17,424

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

Leadership & pay

19 people listed

Executive titles in this filing

  • Justin Carlson (President)
  • Luis Llamas (Vice President)
  • Jorge Mestre (Immediate Past President)

People named in this filing

  • Justin Carlson (President)
  • Luis Llamas (Vice President)
  • John Arrastia (Treasurer)

Selected names, not a complete roster or a statement of current roles. Open leadership details for the complete filed list.

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

Overview

Mission

The Hispanic National Bar Foundation is an independent 501(c)(3) organization focused on transforming the legal profession by increasing representation through education, empowerment, and greater access to opportunities.

What it reported doing in 2024

The future latino leaders law camp provides high school students with the opportunity to spend a week in Washington DC, learning about the legal profession from leaders in the legal profession. Students gain skills competing in a mock trial with guidance from HNBF staff, board members, and law student camp counselors, among others. In the summer of 2025, 32 students succesfully completed the program. The HNBF monitors and provides support to each law camp graduate.

Operating model

Revenue model
Earned-program. 69% 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

MIXED - 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 few specific pay-setting methods are documented in the filing; unanswered boxes are not proof of absence.

Rating breakdown

  • Financial Efficiency: 56
  • Transparency & Controls: 65
  • Accountability: 64
  • Sustainability: 44
  • Growth: 40

Detailed rating inputs

Financial Efficiency

  • Mission deployment rate: 49.2%; rating input score 49
  • Program expense ratio: 57.5%; rating input score 58
  • Fundraising efficiency: $112.25 raised per $1 spent on fundraising; rating input score 86; 86th percentile among comparable filings

Transparency & Controls

  • Consistency checks: 100%; rating input score 100; 64th percentile among comparable filings
  • Pay-setting controls: 0 of 6 controls in place; rating input score 0
    • Compensation committee: Missing
    • Independent consultant: Missing
    • Other Form 990s reviewed: Missing
    • Written employment contract: Missing
    • Compensation survey or study: Missing
    • Board or committee approval: Missing
  • Foreign activity oversight: Limited
  • Grant itemization coverage: Limited
  • Major donor itemization: Yes; rating input score 100
  • Related-party transparency: Limited

Accountability

  • Independent voting board: 89.5%; rating input score 89; 24th percentile among comparable filings
  • Governance controls: 2 of 7 controls in place; rating input score 29
    • Conflict-of-interest policy: Fail
    • Whistleblower policy: Fail
    • Document-retention policy: Fail
    • CEO compensation review process: NotApplicable
    • Other executive compensation review process: NotApplicable
    • Form 990 shared with the board: Pass
    • Board meeting minutes documented: Pass
    • Audit committee oversight: Missing
    • Independent financial-statement audit: Fail

Sustainability

  • Operating margin: 14.4%; rating input score 67; 67th percentile among comparable filings
  • Total-asset coverage ratio: 0.15; rating input score 9; 9th percentile among comparable filings
  • Liabilities to assets ratio: 0.44; rating input score 12; 12th percentile among comparable filings
  • Officer compensation ratio: 0%; rating input score 69; 69th percentile among comparable filings

Growth

  • Program expense growth: 4.2% per year; rating input score 100; 50th percentile among comparable filings
  • Revenue growth: -0.6% per year; rating input score 0; 21st percentile among comparable filings
  • Asset growth: -14.2% per year; rating input score 0; 4th percentile among comparable filings

Details

  • Where the money goes: 49.2% of revenue deployed · 57.5% of spending went to programs
  • Governance: 17 of 19 board members independent · 2 of 7 filing controls reported
  • Programs: 1 filed program accomplishment · $150K in reported program spending
  • Leadership: top reported pay $0 · 19 people listed · 0 of 6 pay-setting controls reported
  • Consistency: 22 of 22 current checks pass
  • Schedules: 4 filed schedules · includes major donors and executive pay
  • Filing history: 3 filing years from 2013 to 2024
  • Contacts: How to reach this organization
  • 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: Mission deployment rate scored 49/100.
  • High — Transparency & Controls: Pay-setting controls scored 0/100.
  • Review — Financial Efficiency: Program expense ratio scored 58/100.
  • High — Accountability: Governance controls: 4 of 6 not reported.
  • High — Growth: Revenue growth scored 0/100.
  • High — Sustainability: Total-asset coverage ratio scored 9/100.
  • High — Growth: Asset growth scored 0/100.
  • High — Sustainability: Liabilities to assets ratio scored 12/100.