Institute for Human Centered Design Inc
Nonprofit profile at a glance
- EIN
- 042785256
- IRS 990 coverage
- 2009–2024
- Forms available
- Form 990 2024
- Location
- Boston, MA, USA
- Phone
- 6176951225
- Rating
- 80
- Verdict
- STRONG
- Rating confidence
- Moderate
Reported finances
- Revenue
- $2,928,968
- Expenses
- $2,864,658
- Assets
- $2,162,926
- Liabilities
- $539,833
Source: IRS Form 990. Selected filing: tax year 2024. Amounts in USD.
Leadership & pay
23 people listed
Executive titles in this filing
- JENNIFER OTITIGBE (PRESIDENT)
- RICARDO GOMES (VICE PRESIDENT)
- VALERIE FLETCHER (EXECUTIVE DIRECTOR)
Highest reported compensation
- VALERIE FLETCHER (EXECUTIVE DIRECTOR): $148,300 total reported compensation
- GABRIELA SIMS (DIRECTOR OF ADMINISTRATION): $141,052 total reported compensation
- TACIANA RIBIERO SAAB (DIRECTOR): $116,244 total reported compensation
Source: IRS Form 990. Selected filing: tax year 2024. Names and roles reflect this filing, not necessarily current officeholders.
Overview
Mission
Institute for human centered design (ihcd) is an international non-profit committed to advancing the role of design in expanding opportunity and enhancing experience for people of all ages, abilities, and culture through excellence in design. Ihcd's work balances expertise in legally required accessility with promotion of best practices in human-centered or universal design.
What it reported doing in 2024
The organization is a 40-year-old educational non-profit organization committed to advancing the role of design in expanding opportunity and enhancing experience for people of all ages, abilities and cultures through excellence in design. The organization's work balances expertise in legally required accessibility with promotion of best practices in human centered or universal design. Projects vary from local to international. All are characterized by collaboration and user participation. The organization promotes design that works for everyone across the spectrum of ability, age and culture. The organization provides easy access to information and guidance about the civil rights law and codes that provide a bedrock of accessibility in the u.s., and education and consultation about strategies, precedents and best practices that go beyond legal requirements to design places, things, communication and policy that integrate solutions to the reality of human diversity. Distinguishing characteristics:- first u.s. Non-profit focused on the role of design in relation to disability & aging founded in 1978 in boston as adaptive environments.- balances expertise and guidance on all facets of u.s. Legal compliance for accessibility with promotion of best practices in universal/inclusive design.- multi-disciplinary and diverse team in terms of age, ability and cultural background, all with strong educational and experiential credentials.- scope of work is a balance of publicly funded projects with an expanding proportion of earned-income work including consulting, design, retail, publications and exhibits.- knowledge transfer between projects ensures that each project is informed by standards, practice experience, best precedents globally and research.- local to international projects and initiatives including education, consulting and design. The work of the organization includes: education - trainings and presentations - conferences (hosted, co-hosted, convened) - programmatic education - distance learning - design and consulting services - architecture and interior design -plan review - existing conditions (survey evaluations) - consumer (service) consulting - web and jct (information communication technology) - policies and procedures - product research and development - specifications and standards technical assistance - new england ada center education - trainings and presentations - programmatic educationuser/expert lab - contextual inquiry research at the organizations headquarters or in the field on physical, sensory, brain-based conditions goods and services - publications -exhibits - library - membership/sponsorship research - quantitative -qualitative
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 94% 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. Expenses are high relative to revenue and total assets are small relative to annual expenses; liquid coverage is unknown.
Rating breakdown
- Financial Efficiency: 70
- Transparency & Controls: 88
- Accountability: 95
- Sustainability: 34
- Growth: 100
Detailed rating inputs
Financial Efficiency
- Mission deployment rate: 70%; rating input score 70
- Program expense ratio: 71.5%; rating input score 72
- Fundraising efficiency: $26.12 raised per $1 spent on fundraising; rating input score 66; 66th percentile among comparable filings
Transparency & Controls
- Consistency checks: 92.9%; rating input score 93; 13th percentile among comparable filings
- Pay-setting controls: Limited
- Foreign activity oversight: Limited
- Grant itemization coverage: 100%; rating input score 100; 72nd percentile among comparable filings
- Major donor itemization: Limited
- Related-party transparency: Limited
Accountability
- Independent voting board: 100%; rating input score 100; 63rd percentile among comparable filings
- Governance controls: 7 of 8 controls in place; rating input score 88
- Conflict-of-interest policy: Pass
- Whistleblower policy: Pass
- Document-retention policy: Fail
- CEO compensation review process: Pass
- Other executive compensation review process: NotApplicable
- Form 990 shared with the board: Pass
- Board meeting minutes documented: Pass
- Audit committee oversight: Pass
- Independent financial-statement audit: Pass
Sustainability
- Operating margin: 2.2%; rating input score 42; 42nd percentile among comparable filings
- Total-asset coverage ratio: 0.76; rating input score 28; 28th percentile among comparable filings
- Liabilities to assets ratio: 0.25; rating input score 39; 39th percentile among comparable filings
- Officer compensation ratio: 17.8%; rating input score 15; 15th percentile among comparable filings
Growth
- Program expense growth: 1.9% per year; rating input score 100; 21st percentile among comparable filings
- Revenue growth: 3% per year; rating input score 100; 27th percentile among comparable filings
- Asset growth: 9.1% per year; rating input score 100; 55th percentile among comparable filings
Details
- Where the money goes: 70% of revenue deployed · 71.5% of spending went to programs
- Governance: 19 of 19 board members independent · 7 of 8 filing controls reported
- Programs: 1 filed program accomplishment · $2M in reported program spending
- Leadership: top reported pay $148K · 23 people listed
- Consistency: 28 of 29 current checks pass · 1 finding to review
- Schedules: 4 filed schedules · includes grants
- Filing history: 16 filing years from 2009 to 2024
- Contacts: How to reach this organization
- Money network: 10 filed money-flow records
- Related organizations: 6 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.
- Moderate — Sustainability: Operating margin scored 42/100.
- High — Sustainability: Total-asset coverage ratio scored 28/100.
- Review — Accountability: Governance controls: Document-retention policy not reported.
- Moderate — Transparency & Controls: Schedule A contributions reconciliation did not reconcile in the filed values.
- High — Sustainability: Officer compensation ratio scored 15/100.
- Moderate — Sustainability: Liabilities to assets ratio scored 39/100.