Horizon Education Alliance Inc

Nonprofit profile at a glance

EIN
460803293
IRS 990 coverage
2013–2024
Forms available
Form 990 2024
Location
Goshen, IN, USA
Phone
5749705820
Rating
83
Verdict
STRONG
Rating confidence
Moderate
Sector
Educational Services and Schools - Other

Official website

Reported finances

Revenue
$3,405,172
Expenses
$3,239,659
Assets
$812,325
Liabilities
$0

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

Leadership & pay

23 people listed

Executive titles in this filing

  • SARAH METZLER (PRESIDENT/CEO)
  • BRIAN WIEBE (PRESIDENT/CEO)

Highest reported compensation

  • BRIAN WIEBE (PRESIDENT/CEO): $150,983 total reported compensation
  • SARAH METZLER (PRESIDENT/CEO): $126,265 total reported compensation
  • ALIAH CAROLAN-SILVA (VP OF RESEARCH): $120,845 total reported compensation

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

Overview

Mission

Horizon education alliance connects schools, businesses, and the community to increase educational attainment, strengthen the workforce, and ensure every individual succeeds.

What it reported doing in 2024

Student pathways: hea's core focus has been on increasing career-connected learning opportunities for middle and high school youth. Our services in this area include career exploration programs, career coaching, and modern youth apprenticeships. Career quest was launched in april 2019 to provide all 7th graders with the opportunity to explore careers in four high-demand industries: advanced manufacturing, construction, health sciences and information technology. Manufacturing day is provided to 8th graders each year, with opportunities for students to tour local manufacturing sites and learn about the careers available in the local community. All seven school districts, ivy tech, and local businesses collaborated to launch careerwise youth apprenticeships in 2019. Youth apprenticeships utilize an 'earn and learn' model in which high school students earn a wage as they do meaningful work alongside supportive adult mentors. Youth apprenticeships prepare students for careers, diversify the talent pipeline and deliver outcomes for businesses. All of the careerwise elkhart county youth apprenticeships are registered with the us department of labor, meaning students earn a portable, nationally-recognized credential upon completion. Since its launch, youth apprenticeships have engaged over 40 employers and 200 high school students across seven school districts, with students hired into nine different pathways. Our team continues to work closely with careerwise USA for technical assistance and support, and hea is also part of the national partnership to advance youth apprenticeship (paya) network and the state efforts to support the expansion of youth apprenticeships.

Operating model

Revenue model
Mixed. Its operating money came from several sources; no one source provided a clear majority.
Distribution model
Direct operator. The filing allocates 92% 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

STRONG - A large share of available resources goes toward mission work and the filed numbers largely add up. Total assets are small relative to annual expenses; liquid coverage is unknown and expenses are high relative to revenue.

Rating breakdown

  • Financial Efficiency: 87
  • Transparency & Controls: 70
  • Accountability: 100
  • Sustainability: 39
  • Growth: 100

Detailed rating inputs

Financial Efficiency

  • Mission deployment rate: 85.5%; rating input score 85
  • Program expense ratio: 89.9%; rating input score 90
  • Fundraising efficiency: $89.62 raised per $1 spent on fundraising; rating input score 85; 85th percentile among comparable filings

Transparency & Controls

  • Consistency checks: 92.3%; rating input score 92; 10th percentile among comparable filings
  • Pay-setting controls: 1 of 6 controls in place; rating input score 17
    • Compensation committee: Missing
    • Independent consultant: Missing
    • Other Form 990s reviewed: Missing
    • Written employment contract: Missing
    • Compensation survey or study: Missing
    • Board or committee approval: Pass
  • Foreign activity oversight: Limited
  • Grant itemization coverage: 88%; rating input score 88; 25th 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: 9 of 9 controls in place; rating input score 100
    • Conflict-of-interest policy: Pass
    • Whistleblower policy: Pass
    • Document-retention policy: Pass
    • CEO compensation review process: Pass
    • Other executive compensation review process: Pass
    • Form 990 shared with the board: Pass
    • Board meeting minutes documented: Pass
    • Audit committee oversight: Pass
    • Independent financial-statement audit: Pass

Sustainability

  • Operating margin: 4.9%; rating input score 50; 50th percentile among comparable filings
  • Total-asset coverage ratio: 0.25; rating input score 8; 8th percentile among comparable filings
  • Liabilities to assets ratio: 0; rating input score 97; 97th percentile among comparable filings
  • Officer compensation ratio: 15.8%; rating input score 17; 17th percentile among comparable filings

Growth

  • Program expense growth: 13.9% per year; rating input score 100; 75th percentile among comparable filings
  • Revenue growth: 11% per year; rating input score 100; 72nd percentile among comparable filings
  • Asset growth: 9.1% per year; rating input score 100; 55th percentile among comparable filings

Details

  • Where the money goes: 85.5% of revenue deployed · 89.9% of spending went to programs
  • Governance: 7 of 7 board members independent · 9 of 9 filing controls reported
  • Programs: 3 filed program accomplishments · $2.9M in reported program spending
  • Leadership: top reported pay $151K · 23 people listed · 1 of 6 pay-setting controls reported
  • Highest-paid contractors: 2 contractors listed · $268K reported
  • Consistency: 29 of 30 current checks pass · 1 finding to review
  • Schedules: 6 filed schedules · includes major donors, grants, and executive pay
  • Filing history: 12 filing years from 2013 to 2024
  • Contacts: How to reach this organization
  • Money network: 13 filed money-flow records
  • Related organizations: 9 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.

Grant-readiness screening is separate from the live rating, not a measure of program quality. Review the source records before making a grant decision.

  • High — Sustainability: Total-asset coverage ratio scored 8/100.
  • Review — Sustainability: Operating margin scored 50/100.
  • High — Sustainability: Officer compensation ratio scored 17/100.
  • Review — Transparency & Controls: Domestic grant itemization did not reconcile in the filed values.
  • High — Grant Readiness: Federal audit findings: this organization reported findings in its latest federal Single Audit.