Kaizen Education Foundation
Nonprofit profile at a glance
- EIN
- 800197489
- IRS 990 coverage
- 2019–2024
- Official website data refreshed
- Sep 2026
- Forms available
- Form 990 2024
- Location
- Phoenix, AZ, US
- Phone
- 6029532933
- Rating
- 82
- Verdict
- STRONG
- Rating confidence
- Moderate
- Sector
- Fund Raising and/or Fund Distribution
Reported finances
- Revenue
- $50,189,257
- Expenses
- $49,059,892
- Assets
- $65,865,400
- Liabilities
- $48,538,913
Source: IRS Form 990. Selected filing: tax year 2024. Amounts in USD.
Leadership & pay
6 people listed
Executive titles in this filing
- GARY BAE (PRESIDENT)
Highest reported compensation
- THEODORE FREDERICK (SECRETARY): $136,080 total reported compensation
- GARY BAE (PRESIDENT): $69,576 total reported compensation
Source: IRS Form 990. Selected filing: tax year 2024. Names and roles reflect this filing, not necessarily current officeholders.
Overview
Mission
The mission of the Kaizen Education Foundation (KEF) is to promote the charter school movement in the United States with the goal of improving the public school system by creating a more competitive environment, providing parents and students with freedom of choice, and striving for higher academic standards.
What it reported doing in 2024
Emphasize academic course work designed to address each student's individual needs and involvement in a learning environment that encourages respect, responsibility, choice, service and high expectations.
Operating model
- Revenue model
- Grant-funded. 96% of the money available for current operations came from government grants.
- 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
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 some filing-based governance responses are negative or unanswered.
Rating breakdown
- Financial Efficiency: 70
- Transparency & Controls: 92
- Accountability: 95
- Sustainability: 49
- Growth: 100
Detailed rating inputs
Financial Efficiency
- Mission deployment rate: 77.7%; rating input score 78
- Program expense ratio: 79.3%; rating input score 79
- Fundraising efficiency: Limited
Transparency & Controls
- Consistency checks: 100%; rating input score 100; 68th percentile among comparable filings
- Pay-setting controls: Limited
- Foreign activity oversight: Limited
- Grant itemization coverage: Limited
- Major donor itemization: Yes; rating input score 100
- Related-party transparency: Limited
Accountability
- Independent voting board: 100%; rating input score 100; 77th percentile among comparable filings
- Governance controls: 8 of 9 controls in place; rating input score 89
- Conflict-of-interest policy: Pass
- Whistleblower policy: Pass
- Document-retention policy: Pass
- CEO compensation review process: Pass
- Other executive compensation review process: Pass
- Form 990 shared with the board: Pass
- Board meeting minutes documented: Pass
- Audit committee oversight: Fail
- Independent financial-statement audit: Pass
Sustainability
- Operating margin: 2.3%; rating input score 44; 44th percentile among comparable filings
- Total-asset coverage ratio: 1.34; rating input score 50; 50th percentile among comparable filings
- Liabilities to assets ratio: 0.74; rating input score 20; 20th percentile among comparable filings
- Officer compensation ratio: 0.1%; rating input score 93; 93rd percentile among comparable filings
Growth
- Program expense growth: 7.5% per year; rating input score 100; 61st percentile among comparable filings
- Revenue growth: 8.2% per year; rating input score 100; 68th percentile among comparable filings
- Asset growth: 6.9% per year; rating input score 100; 50th percentile among comparable filings
Details
- What they do: 1 operating location identified
- Where the money goes: 77.7% of revenue deployed · 79.3% of spending went to programs
- Governance: 6 of 6 board members independent · 8 of 9 filing controls reported
- Programs: 1 filed program accomplishment · $38.9M in reported program spending
- Leadership: top reported pay $136K · 6 people listed
- Highest-paid contractors: 5 contractors listed · $34.2M reported
- Consistency: 21 of 21 current checks pass
- Schedules: 6 filed schedules · includes major donors
- Filing history: 6 filing years from 2019 to 2024
- Contacts: How to reach this organization
- Money network: 1 filed money-flow record
- Related organizations: 1 filed related-organization link
- 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 44/100.
- Review — Accountability: Governance controls: Audit committee oversight not reported.
- Review — Sustainability: Total-asset coverage ratio scored 50/100.
- High — Sustainability: Liabilities to assets ratio scored 20/100.