Institute for African Women in Law

Nonprofit profile at a glance

EIN
811200789
IRS 990 coverage
2021–2025
Forms available
Form 990 2025, Form 990-N 2020
Location
Lewes, DE, USA
Phone
2027908062
Rating
70
Verdict
SUPPORTED
Rating confidence
Moderate
Sector
Administration of Justice, Courts

Official website

Reported finances

Revenue
$99,059
Expenses
$247,146
Assets
$1,094,123
Liabilities
$7,712

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

Leadership & pay

13 people listed

Highest reported compensation

  • J JARPA DAWUNI PHD (EXECUTIVE DI): $75,000 total reported compensation

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

Overview

Mission

Enhancing the capacity of women in law for social change and development.

What it reported doing in 2025

A: research and resources database: 1: released following flagship reports; unveiling subalternity? Women and the legal professions in africa: high- level meeting global judicial integrity network, gender and judging in pluralistic societies international courts, women judges gender parity in u.n. Human rights bodies: a regional consultative meeting mentoring and career development. 2: series and archival projects: launched number series and archival projects: pioneer african women in law, women chief justices, international court judges, the amandla women in law speaker series, 3: blogs: after the start of the pandemic we started to look at its intersectional implications through our women, justice, and law: covid-19 blog series. Published 55 blogs. B: training: webinars: organized a 3-day webinar series in collaboration with deutsche gesellschaft fur international zusammenarbeit (giz) gmbh. The theme was 'unveiling subalternity: women and the legal professions across africa'. Another webinar was held in october on mentorship and career growth opportunities in law. Total attendees: over 1000. Celebration: continued to celebrate and support african women in law through our research training and other initiatives. Celebrated our executive director, and global advisory council and other members for their contribution for the cause.

Operating model

Revenue model
Donor-supported. 81% 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 - A large share of available resources goes toward mission work and most voting board members are independent. The filing reports few safeguards for money sent abroad and the filing does not identify recipients for some grant dollars.

Rating breakdown

  • Financial Efficiency: 76
  • Transparency & Controls: 55
  • Accountability: 94
  • Sustainability: 25
  • Growth: 60

Detailed rating inputs

Financial Efficiency

  • Mission deployment rate: 100%; rating input score 100
  • Program expense ratio: 59.6%; rating input score 60
  • Fundraising efficiency: Limited

Transparency & Controls

  • Consistency checks: 100%; rating input score 100; 63rd percentile among comparable filings
  • Pay-setting controls: Limited
  • Foreign activity oversight: Scored; rating input score 0
  • Grant itemization coverage: Scored; rating input score 0
  • 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: 6 of 9 controls in place; rating input score 86
    • Conflict-of-interest policy: Pass
    • Whistleblower policy: Fail
    • Document-retention policy: Pass
    • CEO compensation review process: Limited
    • Other executive compensation review process: Limited
    • Form 990 shared with the board: Pass
    • Board meeting minutes documented: Pass
    • Audit committee oversight: Pass
    • Independent financial-statement audit: Pass

Sustainability

  • Operating margin: -149.5%; rating input score 14; 14th percentile among comparable filings
  • Total-asset coverage ratio: 4.43; rating input score 50; 50th percentile among comparable filings
  • Liabilities to assets ratio: 0.01; rating input score 23; 23rd percentile among comparable filings
  • Officer compensation ratio: 30.3%; rating input score 7; 7th percentile among comparable filings

Growth

  • Program expense growth: 28.8% per year; rating input score 100; 88th percentile among comparable filings
  • Revenue growth: -48.1% per year; rating input score 0; 9th percentile among comparable filings
  • Asset growth: 8.7% per year; rating input score 100; 74th percentile among comparable filings

Details

  • Where the money goes: 100% of revenue deployed · 59.6% of spending went to programs
  • Governance: 12 of 12 board members independent · 6 of 9 filing controls reported
  • Programs: 1 filed program accomplishment · $147K in reported program spending
  • Leadership: top reported pay $75K · 13 people listed
  • Consistency: 24 of 24 current checks pass
  • Schedules: 5 filed schedules · includes major donors and foreign activity
  • Filing history: 5 filing years from 2021 to 2025
  • Contacts: How to reach this organization
  • Money network: 1 filed money-flow record
  • Related organizations: Filed and resolved organization relationships.
  • 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 — Transparency & Controls: Foreign activity oversight scored 0/100.
  • High — Transparency & Controls: Grant itemization coverage scored 0/100.
  • High — Sustainability: Operating margin scored 14/100.
  • High — Growth: Revenue growth scored 0/100.
  • Review — Accountability: Governance controls: Whistleblower policy not reported.
  • Review — Sustainability: Total-asset coverage ratio scored 50/100.
  • High — Sustainability: Officer compensation ratio scored 7/100.
  • High — Sustainability: Liabilities to assets ratio scored 23/100.