Lead the Way Learning Academy

Nonprofit profile at a glance

EIN
465061452
IRS 990 coverage
2019–2025
Forms available
Form 990 2025, Form 990-N 2014
Location
Columbus, OH, USA
Phone
6149150434
Rating
76
Verdict
SUPPORTED
Rating confidence
Moderate
Sector
Educational Services and Schools - Other

Official website

Reported finances

Revenue
$3,022,091
Expenses
$2,969,361
Assets
$1,007,167
Liabilities
$197,998

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

Leadership & pay

6 people listed

Highest reported compensation

  • ANTHONY MURPHY (EXECUTIVE DI): $162,138 total reported compensation

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

Overview

Mission

Lead the way learning academy's mission is to empower the youth with clarity, inspiration, drive, and opportunities for growth. Lead the way learning academy achieves this through cutting-edge, researched-backed programs and services designed to provide a profound sense of purpose in every individual we serve. Lead the way learning academy's vision is to become the foremost partner and resource for parents, students, educators, employers and the community at large, universally recognized and chosen for our innovative and impactful contributions to workforce development.

What it reported doing in 2025

In 2025, lead the way learning academy helped equip over 800 youth participants with the skills and confidence needed to thrive in their futures. Thanks to our dedicated programs in youth development and workforce readiness, more than 200 high school seniors proudly graduated, while over 60 students advanced to the next grade level. Additionally, more than 70 participants earned industry-recognized credentials, opening doors to meaningful career opportunities that they showed interest in. We believe in incentivizing success our measurable skills gain tracking kept students engaged and rewarded their achievements, resulting in over 400 incentives paid to youth for their continued commitment to their in- school education. Beyond academics, we provided crucial supportive services to over 90 students. This ensured they had access to driver's education, college visits (including transportation), work essentials, enrollment fees, and even laptops for their continued educaiton or career field. All at no cost to the youth or their families.

Operating model

Revenue model
Grant-funded. 93% 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

SUPPORTED - A large share of available resources goes toward mission work and the filed numbers largely add up. Few specific pay-setting methods are documented in the filing; unanswered boxes are not proof of absence and some filing-based governance responses are negative or unanswered.

Rating breakdown

  • Financial Efficiency: 80
  • Transparency & Controls: 65
  • Accountability: 90
  • Sustainability: 28
  • Growth: 100

Detailed rating inputs

Financial Efficiency

  • Mission deployment rate: 89.8%; rating input score 90
  • Program expense ratio: 91.4%; rating input score 91
  • Fundraising efficiency: Limited

Transparency & Controls

  • Consistency checks: 100%; rating input score 100; 63rd percentile among comparable filings
  • Pay-setting controls: 0 of 6 controls in place; rating input score 0
    • Compensation committee: Missing
    • Independent consultant: Missing
    • Other Form 990s reviewed: Missing
    • Written employment contract: Missing
    • Compensation survey or study: Missing
    • Board or committee approval: Missing
  • 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; 63rd percentile among comparable filings
  • Governance controls: 6 of 8 controls in place; rating input score 75
    • Conflict-of-interest policy: Pass
    • Whistleblower policy: Fail
    • Document-retention policy: Pass
    • CEO compensation review process: NotApplicable
    • Other executive compensation review process: Fail
    • Form 990 shared with the board: Pass
    • Board meeting minutes documented: Pass
    • Audit committee oversight: Pass
    • Independent financial-statement audit: Pass

Sustainability

  • Operating margin: 1.7%; rating input score 32; 32nd percentile among comparable filings
  • Total-asset coverage ratio: 0.34; rating input score 10; 10th percentile among comparable filings
  • Liabilities to assets ratio: 0.2; rating input score 35; 35th percentile among comparable filings
  • Officer compensation ratio: 5.5%; rating input score 53; 53rd percentile among comparable filings

Growth

  • Program expense growth: 15.3% per year; rating input score 100; 76th percentile among comparable filings
  • Revenue growth: 17.1% per year; rating input score 100; 83rd percentile among comparable filings
  • Asset growth: 23.5% per year; rating input score 100; 88th percentile among comparable filings

Details

  • Where the money goes: 89.8% of revenue deployed · 91.4% of spending went to programs
  • Governance: 5 of 5 board members independent · 6 of 8 filing controls reported
  • Programs: 1 filed program accomplishment · $2.7M in reported program spending
  • Leadership: top reported pay $162K · 6 people listed · 0 of 6 pay-setting controls reported
  • Consistency: 27 of 27 current checks pass
  • Schedules: 5 filed schedules · includes major donors and executive pay
  • Filing history: 6 filing years from 2019 to 2025
  • Contacts: How to reach this organization
  • Money network: 1 filed money-flow record
  • 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.

  • High — Transparency & Controls: Pay-setting controls scored 0/100.
  • Review — Accountability: Governance controls: 2 of 8 not reported.
  • Moderate — Sustainability: Operating margin scored 32/100.
  • High — Sustainability: Total-asset coverage ratio scored 10/100.
  • Moderate — Sustainability: Liabilities to assets ratio scored 35/100.
  • Review — Sustainability: Officer compensation ratio scored 53/100.