Joy Kitchen

Nonprofit profile at a glance

EIN
335012881
IRS 990 coverage
2025–2025
Forms available
Form 990 2025
Location
Nashville, TN, USA
Phone
9176053683
Rating
60
Verdict
SUPPORTED
Rating confidence
Moderate
Sector
Job Training

Reported finances

Revenue
$288,880
Expenses
$61,403
Assets
$235,906
Liabilities
$0

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

Leadership & pay

5 people listed

Executive titles in this filing

  • Bryan Bennett (President and CEO)

Highest reported compensation

  • Sterling Wright (Program Director): $13,156 total reported compensation

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

Overview

Mission

Joy Kitchen transforms the lives of overlooked and underestimated youth in Nashville through culinary workforce development and whole-human support. We equip young people from historically under-resourced neighborhoods - particularly the Napier neighborhood - with culinary skills character development mentorship and economic opportunity through structured culinary training paid program experiences and a holistic approach that addresses participants broader needs beyond cooking.

What it reported doing in 2025

Cooking the Wright Way CWW is Joy Kitchens culinary training and youth employment program for young people from Nashvilles Napier neighborhood. During 2025 Sterling Wright continued weekly CWW training sessions refined curriculum for both Advanced and Junior cohorts and provided paid program experiences through three community pop-up dinners and four concept-testing dinners. Nine youth participants earned stipends or wages through participation in cooking instruction and pop-up events gaining real culinary skills and professional kitchen experience alongside trusted adult mentors.

Operating model

Revenue model
Donor-supported. 99% of the money available for current operations came from contributions and gifts.
Distribution model
Hybrid. The nonprofit split its reported program spending across 79% for direct work, and 21% for grants.
  • Includes noncash contributions: Reported contributions include donated property or goods.

The verdict

SUPPORTED - The filed numbers largely add up and revenue comfortably covers expenses. A relatively small share of available resources goes toward mission work and some filing-based governance responses are negative or unanswered.

Rating breakdown

  • Financial Efficiency: 43
  • Transparency & Controls: 100
  • Accountability: 45
  • Sustainability: 78
  • Growth: NotEnoughData

Detailed rating inputs

Financial Efficiency

  • Mission deployment rate: 16.5%; rating input score 16
  • Program expense ratio: 77.6%; rating input score 78
  • Fundraising efficiency: $40.27 raised per $1 spent on fundraising; rating input score 70; 70th percentile among comparable filings

Transparency & Controls

  • Consistency checks: 100%; rating input score 100; 64th percentile among comparable filings
  • Pay-setting controls: Limited
  • Foreign activity oversight: Limited
  • Grant itemization coverage: 100%; rating input score 100; 81st percentile among comparable filings
  • Major donor itemization: Yes; rating input score 100
  • Related-party transparency: Limited

Accountability

  • Independent voting board: 60%; rating input score 60; 20th percentile among comparable filings
  • Governance controls: 2 of 8 controls in place; rating input score 25
    • Conflict-of-interest policy: Pass
    • Whistleblower policy: Fail
    • Document-retention policy: Fail
    • CEO compensation review process: NotApplicable
    • Other executive compensation review process: Fail
    • Form 990 shared with the board: Fail
    • Board meeting minutes documented: Pass
    • Audit committee oversight: Missing
    • Independent financial-statement audit: Fail

Sustainability

  • Operating margin: 78.7%; rating input score 97; 97th percentile among comparable filings
  • Total-asset coverage ratio: 3.84; rating input score 74; 74th percentile among comparable filings
  • Liabilities to assets ratio: 0; rating input score 77; 77th percentile among comparable filings
  • Officer compensation ratio: 21.4%; rating input score 17; 17th percentile among comparable filings

Growth

  • Program expense growth: Limited
  • Revenue growth: Limited
  • Asset growth: Limited

Details

  • Where the money goes: 16.5% of revenue deployed · 77.6% of spending went to programs
  • Governance: 3 of 5 board members independent · 2 of 8 filing controls reported
  • Programs: 3 filed program accomplishments · $48K in reported program spending
  • Leadership: top reported pay $13K · 5 people listed
  • Consistency: 41 of 41 current checks pass
  • Schedules: 5 filed schedules · includes major donors and grants
  • Contacts: How to reach this organization
  • Money network: 1 filed money-flow record
  • 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 — Financial Efficiency: Mission deployment rate scored 16/100.
  • High — Accountability: Governance controls: 5 of 7 not reported.
  • High — Sustainability: Officer compensation ratio scored 17/100.