Jewish LearningWorks
Nonprofit profile at a glance
- EIN
- 941167406
- IRS 990 coverage
- 2009–2024
- Official website data refreshed
- Jun 2026
- Forms available
- Form 990 2024
- Location
- San Francisco, CA, USA
- Phone
- 4157516983
- Rating
- 75
- Verdict
- SUPPORTED
- Rating confidence
- Moderate
- Sector
- Judaism
- Affiliation
- Judaism
Reported finances
- Revenue
- $2,243,538
- Expenses
- $2,081,711
- Assets
- $6,881,557
- Liabilities
- $61,231
Source: IRS Form 990. Selected filing: tax year 2024. Amounts in USD.
Leadership & pay
20 people listed
Executive titles in this filing
- DANA SHEANIN (CEO)
- CINDY SCHLESINGER (CO-PRESIDENT)
- JOEL ABRAMOVITZ (CO-PRESIDENT)
Highest reported compensation
- DANA SHEANIN (CEO): $266,930 total reported compensation
- ALISHA PEDOWITZ (SR. EDUCATOR): $136,936 total reported compensation
- ELLEN LEFKOWITZ (SR. EDUCATOR): $136,463 total reported compensation
Source: IRS Form 990. Selected filing: tax year 2024. Names and roles reflect this filing, not necessarily current officeholders.
Overview
Mission
Our mission is to improve and extend Jewish learning because learning is fundamental to Jewish life, identity, community and continuity.
What it reported doing in 2024
Marketing/Community Outreach: Our marketing and outreach work makes connections between those seeking places to engage with Jewish life and learning to existing opportunities in the community, both at Jewish LearningWorks and in partner institutions all over the Bay Area.
Operating model
- Revenue model
- Other-operating. 62% of the money available for current operations came from other operating revenue.
- 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.
- Includes noncash contributions: Reported contributions include donated property or goods.
The verdict
SUPPORTED - A large share of available resources goes toward mission work and the filed numbers largely add up. Fundraising costs are high for each dollar raised and program spending has declined or grown slowly.
Rating breakdown
- Financial Efficiency: 70
- Transparency & Controls: 77
- Accountability: 100
- Sustainability: 59
- Growth: 20
Detailed rating inputs
Financial Efficiency
- Mission deployment rate: 76.5%; rating input score 77
- Program expense ratio: 79.7%; rating input score 80
- Fundraising efficiency: $2.11 raised per $1 spent on fundraising; rating input score 5; 5th percentile among comparable filings
Transparency & Controls
- Consistency checks: 92.9%; rating input score 93; 13th percentile among comparable filings
- Pay-setting controls: 3 of 6 controls in place; rating input score 50
- Compensation committee: Missing
- Independent consultant: Missing
- Other Form 990s reviewed: Pass
- Written employment contract: Pass
- Compensation survey or study: Missing
- Board or committee approval: Pass
- Foreign activity oversight: Limited
- Grant itemization coverage: 81.8%; rating input score 82; 22nd 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: 8 of 8 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: 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: 7.2%; rating input score 56; 56th percentile among comparable filings
- Total-asset coverage ratio: 3.31; rating input score 76; 76th percentile among comparable filings
- Liabilities to assets ratio: 0.01; rating input score 86; 86th percentile among comparable filings
- Officer compensation ratio: 37.2%; rating input score 3; 3rd percentile among comparable filings
Growth
- Program expense growth: -0.4% per year; rating input score 0; 12th percentile among comparable filings
- Revenue growth: -6.8% per year; rating input score 0; 3rd percentile among comparable filings
- Asset growth: 6.6% per year; rating input score 100; 43rd percentile among comparable filings
Details
- What they do: Mission, programs, and operating context captured from the official website.
- Where the money goes: 76.5% of revenue deployed · 79.7% of spending went to programs
- Governance: 15 of 15 board members independent · 8 of 8 filing controls reported
- Programs: 5 filed program accomplishments · $1.7M in reported program spending
- Leadership: top reported pay $267K · 20 people listed · 3 of 6 pay-setting controls reported
- Highest-paid contractors: 1 contractor listed · $130K reported
- Consistency: 32 of 33 current checks pass · 1 finding to review
- Schedules: 6 filed schedules · includes major donors, grants, and executive pay
- Filing history: 13 filing years from 2009 to 2024
- Contacts: How to reach this organization
- Money network: 8 filed money-flow records
- Related organizations: 3 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.
- Staff and benefit plans: Retirement and health plans the organization files with the Department of Labor, and the people in them.
Key Signals
Signals prioritize questions for review. They are not findings of misconduct.
- High — Financial Efficiency: Fundraising efficiency scored 5/100.
- High — Growth: Program expense growth scored 0/100.
- High — Growth: Revenue growth scored 0/100.
- Review — Sustainability: Operating margin scored 56/100.
- High — Sustainability: Officer compensation ratio scored 3/100.
- Review — Transparency & Controls: Domestic grant itemization did not reconcile in the filed values.