Latin American Leadership Foundation Inc

Nonprofit profile at a glance

EIN
833823621
IRS 990 coverage
2020–2024
Forms available
Form 990 2024, Form 990-N 2019
Location
Orlando, FL, USA
Rating
65
Verdict
SUPPORTED
Rating confidence
Moderate
Sector
Leadership Development

Reported finances

Revenue
$1,873,893
Expenses
$1,148,275
Assets
$2,613,458
Liabilities
$114,961

Source: IRS Form 990. Selected filing: tax year 2024. Amounts in USD.

Leadership & pay

9 people listed

Executive titles in this filing

  • Molly Efrusy (Vice President)

Highest reported compensation

  • David Baptista (Director): $109,996 total reported compensation

Source: IRS Form 990. Selected filing: tax year 2024. Names and roles reflect this filing, not necessarily current officeholders.

Overview

Mission

To promote sustainable economic development and strengthen democratic governance in Latin America by developing and connecting a new generation of principled and socially innovative leaders.

What it reported doing in 2024

In 2024, LALA's core programs continued to perform well, engaging a total of 544 participants across key initiatives. The leadership bootcamp, serving as the gateway into LALA's lifelong ecosystem, delivered ten virtual camps focused on self-leadership, storytelling, and community building. Though participant numbers were slightly lower than during the pandemic peak, this approach strengthened operations in preparation for in-person relaunch in 2025. Bootcamp participants reported significant gains in self-confidence (from 49 to 86) and mental health (from 47 to 87), highlighting the program's impact on personal resilience and social impact identity. The University Placement program selected 32 students from 254 applicants across Brazil, Ecuador, El Salvador, and Peru 60% first-generation, BIPOC, and gap year students resulting in 18 students securing full scholarships totaling nearly $2.5 million for the first year and an estimated $10.2 million over four years. In 2024, 23 students received acceptance letters, with 15 fully funded offers and three external scholarships; notably, 27.78% of fully funded acceptances were awarded to Peruvian students. The Mentorship Program provided tailored support to 122 LALideres through 370 mentoring sessions and five collective trainings, with 95% of mentees progressing toward their goals, 20% fully achieving them, and high satisfaction rates, emphasizing the program's effectiveness in skills development and network expansion.

Operating model

Revenue model
Donor-supported. 96% of the money available for current operations came from contributions and gifts.
Distribution model
Direct operator. The filing allocates 99% 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 most voting board members are independent. A relatively small share of available resources goes toward mission work and the filing reports few safeguards for money sent abroad.

Rating breakdown

  • Financial Efficiency: 51
  • Transparency & Controls: 75
  • Accountability: 66
  • Sustainability: 73
  • Growth: 100

Detailed rating inputs

Financial Efficiency

  • Mission deployment rate: 47.4%; rating input score 47
  • Program expense ratio: 63.7%; rating input score 64
  • Fundraising efficiency: $8.44 raised per $1 spent on fundraising; rating input score 32; 32nd percentile among comparable filings

Transparency & Controls

  • Consistency checks: 100%; rating input score 100; 63rd percentile among comparable filings
  • Pay-setting controls: Limited
  • Foreign activity oversight: 0 of 8 controls in place; rating input score 0
    • Claims monitoring procedures: Limited
    • Requires narrative reports: Limited
    • Conducts field audits: Limited
    • May suspend future funding: Limited
    • Requires financial reports: Limited
    • Conducts site visits: Limited
    • Requires grant agreements: Limited
    • May require repayment: Limited
  • Grant itemization coverage: 100%; rating input score 100; 76th percentile among comparable filings
  • Major donor itemization: Yes; rating input score 100
  • Related-party transparency: Limited

Accountability

  • Independent voting board: 77.8%; rating input score 78; 17th percentile among comparable filings
  • Governance controls: 4 of 8 controls in place; rating input score 50
    • Conflict-of-interest policy: Pass
    • Whistleblower policy: Pass
    • 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: Pass

Sustainability

  • Operating margin: 38.7%; rating input score 89; 89th percentile among comparable filings
  • Total-asset coverage ratio: 2.28; rating input score 68; 68th percentile among comparable filings
  • Liabilities to assets ratio: 0.04; rating input score 54; 54th percentile among comparable filings
  • Officer compensation ratio: 9.6%; rating input score 38; 38th percentile among comparable filings

Growth

  • Program expense growth: 18.1% per year; rating input score 100; 80th percentile among comparable filings
  • Revenue growth: 18.5% per year; rating input score 100; 84th percentile among comparable filings
  • Asset growth: 35.4% per year; rating input score 100; 93rd percentile among comparable filings

Details

  • Where the money goes: 47.4% of revenue deployed · 63.7% of spending went to programs
  • Governance: 7 of 9 board members independent · 4 of 8 filing controls reported
  • Programs: 1 filed program accomplishment · $731K in reported program spending
  • Leadership: top reported pay $110K · 9 people listed
  • Consistency: 28 of 28 current checks pass
  • Schedules: 5 filed schedules · includes major donors and foreign activity
  • Filing history: 5 filing years from 2020 to 2024
  • 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.

  • Moderate — Financial Efficiency: Mission deployment rate scored 47/100.
  • High — Transparency & Controls: Foreign activity oversight scored 0/100.
  • Review — Accountability: Governance controls: 3 of 7 not reported.
  • Moderate — Financial Efficiency: Fundraising efficiency scored 32/100.
  • Moderate — Sustainability: Officer compensation ratio scored 38/100.
  • Review — Sustainability: Liabilities to assets ratio scored 54/100.