Hopeful Journeys Educational Center Inc

Nonprofit profile at a glance

EIN
800457637
IRS 990 coverage
2011–2024
Forms available
Form 990 2024
Location
Beverly, MA, USA
Phone
9789938096
Rating
77
Verdict
SUPPORTED
Rating confidence
Moderate
Sector
Specialized Education Institutions

Official website

Reported finances

Revenue
$17,466,729
Expenses
$14,863,180
Assets
$28,186,226
Liabilities
$10,002,091

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

Leadership & pay

16 people listed

Executive titles in this filing

  • JILL LARSEN (PRESIDENT/CEO/DIRECTOR)
  • DARA PEARSOL (EXECUTIVE DIRECTOR)

Highest reported compensation

  • JILL LARSEN (PRESIDENT/CEO/DIRECTOR): $438,422 total reported compensation
  • DARA PEARSOL (EXECUTIVE DIRECTOR): $291,780 total reported compensation
  • MARK SILBERMAN (CLINICAL DIRECTOR): $174,084 total reported compensation

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

Overview

Mission

The mission of the organization is to provide quality and individualized treatment and education to children with autism spectrum disorders and other developmental disabilities. The organization strives to build better futures for the children and families by helping them reach their fullest potential and enabling them to live more productive and independent lives.

What it reported doing in 2024

Hopeful journeys educational center school - a school designed to meet the academic, social and behavioral needs of children ages 3 to 22. Students who attend the school program require an individualized and highly structured environment throughout their day and across all activities that utilizes a teaching methodology based on the principles of applied behavior analysis (aba). The school provides a consistent and continuous 216 day academic school year, and had an average enrollment of 102 students during fy2025.

Operating model

Revenue model
Earned-program. 98% 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 the filed numbers largely add up. A relatively small share of voting board members are independent and some filing-based governance responses are negative or unanswered.

Rating breakdown

  • Financial Efficiency: 75
  • Transparency & Controls: 88
  • Accountability: 61
  • Sustainability: 60
  • Growth: 100

Detailed rating inputs

Financial Efficiency

  • Mission deployment rate: 79.6%; rating input score 80
  • Program expense ratio: 90.9%; rating input score 91
  • Fundraising efficiency: Limited

Transparency & Controls

  • Consistency checks: 100%; rating input score 100; 62nd percentile among comparable filings
  • Pay-setting controls: 5 of 6 controls in place; rating input score 83
    • Compensation committee: Missing
    • Independent consultant: Pass
    • Other Form 990s reviewed: Pass
    • Written employment contract: Pass
    • Compensation survey or study: Pass
    • Board or committee approval: Pass
  • Foreign activity oversight: Limited
  • Grant itemization coverage: Limited
  • Major donor itemization: Limited
  • Related-party transparency: Limited

Accountability

  • Independent voting board: 57.1%; rating input score 57; 9th percentile among comparable filings
  • Governance controls: 6 of 9 controls in place; rating input score 67
    • Conflict-of-interest policy: Pass
    • Whistleblower policy: Fail
    • Document-retention policy: Fail
    • CEO compensation review process: Pass
    • Other executive compensation review process: Fail
    • Form 990 shared with the board: Pass
    • Board meeting minutes documented: Pass
    • Audit committee oversight: Pass
    • Independent financial-statement audit: Pass

Sustainability

  • Operating margin: 14.9%; rating input score 76; 76th percentile among comparable filings
  • Total-asset coverage ratio: 1.9; rating input score 60; 60th percentile among comparable filings
  • Liabilities to assets ratio: 0.35; rating input score 41; 41st percentile among comparable filings
  • Officer compensation ratio: 13.3%; rating input score 11; 11th percentile among comparable filings

Growth

  • Program expense growth: 10.3% per year; rating input score 100; 71st percentile among comparable filings
  • Revenue growth: 12.4% per year; rating input score 100; 81st percentile among comparable filings
  • Asset growth: 22.2% per year; rating input score 100; 91st percentile among comparable filings

Details

  • Where the money goes: 79.6% of revenue deployed · 90.9% of spending went to programs
  • Governance: 4 of 7 board members independent · 6 of 9 filing controls reported
  • Programs: 2 filed program accomplishments · $13.5M in reported program spending
  • Leadership: top reported pay $438K · 16 people listed · 5 of 6 pay-setting controls reported
  • Highest-paid contractors: 1 contractor listed · $141K reported
  • Consistency: 28 of 28 current checks pass
  • Schedules: 6 filed schedules · includes executive pay
  • Filing history: 13 filing years from 2011 to 2024
  • Contacts: How to reach this organization
  • Money network: 11 filed money-flow records
  • 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.

  • Review — Accountability: Independent voting board scored 57/100.
  • Review — Accountability: Governance controls: 3 of 9 not reported.
  • High — Sustainability: Officer compensation ratio scored 11/100.
  • Moderate — Sustainability: Liabilities to assets ratio scored 41/100.