Just the Beginning

Nonprofit profile at a glance

EIN
264802076
IRS 990 coverage
2023–2025
Official website data refreshed
Sep 2026
Forms available
Form 990 2025, Form 990-EZ 2022, Form 990-N 2020
Location
Tulsa, OK, USA
Phone
9186910519
Rating
76
Verdict
SUPPORTED
Rating confidence
Moderate
Sector
Religion Related N.E.C.
Affiliation
Religious (unspecified)

Official website

Reported finances

Revenue
$291,743
Expenses
$300,360
Assets
$83,872
Liabilities
$0

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

Leadership & pay

10 people listed

Executive titles in this filing

  • JENICE JONES (PRESIDENT & CEO)

Highest reported compensation

  • JENICE JONES (PRESIDENT & CEO): $67,055 total reported compensation

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

Overview

Mission

Empowering justice-involved women to break cycles while promoting health equity and strengthening our community.

What it reported doing in 2025

Empowerment Programs Serving Justice-Involved Individuals Our Empowerment Programs are designed to address the underlying causes of justice involvement while providing participants with the tools, accountability, and support needed to achieve lasting transformation. Empowerment Diversion Program (24 Months) The Empowerment Diversion Program is a minimum 24-month intensive program for justice-involved women who are facing incarceration and have been given the opportunity to remain in the community through diversion. Participants receive trauma-informed behavioral health case management, individualized service planning, life skills education, workforce readiness, substance use recovery support, court advocacy, healthy relationship education, financial literacy, and employment preparation. The program emphasizes personal accountability while helping women develop sustainable lifestyle changes that reduce recidivism and strengthen family stability. Empowerment Reentry Program (6 Months) The Empowerment Reentry Program provides a structured six-month transition for women returning to the community following incarceration. Participants receive individualized support focused on employment, housing stability, behavioral health, family reunification, life skills, transportation, community resource navigation, and long-term self-sufficiency. The program equips women with the confidence and resources necessary to successfully rebuild their lives. Prison Training Program (8 Weeks) The Prison Training Program is an eight-week trauma-informed curriculum delivered within correctional facilities prior to release. Participants engage in classes focused on trauma recovery, emotional wellness, healthy decision-making, communication, financial literacy, workforce readiness, goal setting, resilience, and successful community reintegration, preparing them for a smoother transition upon release. Leadership Development Program (6 Months) The Leadership Development Program is a six-month program designed to cultivate leadership, confidence, and civic engagement among program graduates and participants. Through leadership training, professional development, public speaking, mentoring, volunteerism, and community engagement, participants develop the skills necessary to become positive leaders within their families, workplaces, and communities.

Operating model

Revenue model
Donor-supported. 99% of the money available for current operations came from contributions and gifts.
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

SUPPORTED - The filed numbers largely add up and a large share of available resources goes toward mission work. Fundraising costs are high for each dollar raised and some filing-based governance responses are negative or unanswered.

Rating breakdown

  • Financial Efficiency: 65
  • Transparency & Controls: 94
  • Accountability: 84
  • Sustainability: 29
  • Growth: 80

Detailed rating inputs

Financial Efficiency

  • Mission deployment rate: 68.5%; rating input score 69
  • Program expense ratio: 66.6%; rating input score 67
  • Fundraising efficiency: $9.65 raised per $1 spent on fundraising; rating input score 37; 37th 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: 100%; rating input score 100; 64th percentile among comparable filings
  • Governance controls: 5 of 8 controls in place; rating input score 62
    • Conflict-of-interest policy: Pass
    • Whistleblower policy: Pass
    • Document-retention policy: Pass
    • CEO compensation review process: Fail
    • Other executive compensation review process: NotApplicable
    • Form 990 shared with the board: Pass
    • Board meeting minutes documented: Pass
    • Audit committee oversight: Missing
    • Independent financial-statement audit: Fail

Sustainability

  • Operating margin: -3%; rating input score 29; 29th percentile among comparable filings
  • Total-asset coverage ratio: 0.28; rating input score 16; 16th percentile among comparable filings
  • Liabilities to assets ratio: 0; rating input score 77; 77th percentile among comparable filings
  • Officer compensation ratio: 22.3%; rating input score 16; 16th percentile among comparable filings

Growth

  • Program expense growth: 36.4% per year; rating input score 100; 92nd percentile among comparable filings
  • Revenue growth: 17% per year; rating input score 100; 83rd percentile among comparable filings
  • Asset growth: -8.6% per year; rating input score 0; 7th percentile among comparable filings

Details

  • What they do: Mission, programs, and operating context captured from the official website.
  • Where the money goes: 68.5% of revenue deployed · 66.6% of spending went to programs
  • Governance: 9 of 9 board members independent · 5 of 8 filing controls reported
  • Programs: 4 filed program accomplishments · $200K in reported program spending
  • Leadership: top reported pay $67K · 10 people listed
  • Consistency: 42 of 42 current checks pass
  • Schedules: 5 filed schedules · includes major donors and grants
  • Filing history: 3 filing years from 2023 to 2025
  • Contacts: How to reach this organization
  • Money network: 2 filed money-flow records
  • 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.

  • Moderate — Financial Efficiency: Fundraising efficiency scored 37/100.
  • Review — Accountability: Governance controls: 2 of 7 not reported.
  • High — Sustainability: Operating margin scored 29/100.
  • High — Sustainability: Total-asset coverage ratio scored 16/100.
  • High — Growth: Asset growth scored 0/100.
  • High — Sustainability: Officer compensation ratio scored 16/100.