Lead Training

Nonprofit profile at a glance

EIN
830909806
IRS 990 coverage
2022–2025
Forms available
Form 990 2025, Form 990-EZ 2021, Form 990-N 2020
Location
Cincinnati, OH, USA
Phone
5135061444
Rating
81
Verdict
STRONG
Rating confidence
Moderate
Sector
Youth Development Programs

Official website

Reported finances

Revenue
$865,448
Expenses
$611,088
Assets
$661,615
Liabilities
$47,242

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

Leadership & pay

7 people listed

Executive titles in this filing

  • JAMES BIRO (BOARD PRESIDENT)
  • RILEY O'GRADY (EXECUTIVE DIRECTOR)

Highest reported compensation

  • RILEY O'GRADY (EXECUTIVE DIRECTOR): $150,446 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 training is a 501(c)(3) non-profit that equips students in grades k - 12 with career readiness, life skills, and social-emotional tools they need to succeed. Through hands-on learning and real-world exposure, lead training empowers young people to confidently navigate their future by providing the skills, confidence, and opportunities needed to thrive in life and in the workplace, regardless of background or circumstance. Lead training focuses especially on those students who feel stuck, unsupported, or uncertain about their future, nurturing them into engaged, empowered, and forward-thinking leaders with a clear sense of purpose and direction.

What it reported doing in 2025

Lead training's high school workforce initiative (hswi) prepares the next generation of professionals through career exploration, experiential learning, individualized coaching, and employability skills training, especially for students not pursuing a traditional four-year college path. It connects students to local companies through tours, presentations, job shadowing, and hands-on workshops, helping them build confidence about their future. In the 2024-2025 school year, the initiative served over 2,500 students, up from 1,700 in the prior year. Over 400 students received individualized guidance with one-on-one support. The initiative began offering a medical pathway program in the 2024-2025 school year, including stna certification, driver's education, and connection to hospital-based roles. The future leaders program focuses on teaching students 21st-century skills and solcial -emotional learning (sel) that support their academic, personal, and professional success.

Operating model

Revenue model
Mixed. Its operating money came from several sources; no one source provided a clear majority.
Distribution model
Direct operator. The filing allocates 97% 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. Some filing-based governance responses are negative or unanswered and total assets are small relative to annual expenses; liquid coverage is unknown.

Rating breakdown

  • Financial Efficiency: 72
  • Transparency & Controls: 94
  • Accountability: 79
  • Sustainability: 57
  • Growth: 100

Detailed rating inputs

Financial Efficiency

  • Mission deployment rate: 62.1%; rating input score 62
  • Program expense ratio: 87.9%; rating input score 88
  • Fundraising efficiency: $54.76 raised per $1 spent on fundraising; rating input score 77; 77th 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: Limited
  • Grant itemization coverage: 100%; rating input score 100; 78th 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: 4 of 8 controls in place; rating input score 50
    • Conflict-of-interest policy: Pass
    • Whistleblower policy: Fail
    • Document-retention policy: Pass
    • CEO compensation review process: Pass
    • Other executive compensation review process: NotApplicable
    • Form 990 shared with the board: Fail
    • Board meeting minutes documented: Pass
    • Audit committee oversight: Missing
    • Independent financial-statement audit: Fail

Sustainability

  • Operating margin: 29.4%; rating input score 81; 81st percentile among comparable filings
  • Total-asset coverage ratio: 1.08; rating input score 45; 45th percentile among comparable filings
  • Liabilities to assets ratio: 0.07; rating input score 39; 39th percentile among comparable filings
  • Officer compensation ratio: 24.6%; rating input score 11; 11th percentile among comparable filings

Growth

  • Program expense growth: 59.4% per year; rating input score 100; 96th percentile among comparable filings
  • Revenue growth: 54.4% per year; rating input score 100; 96th percentile among comparable filings
  • Asset growth: 57.6% per year; rating input score 100; 96th percentile among comparable filings

Details

  • Where the money goes: 62.1% of revenue deployed · 87.9% of spending went to programs
  • Governance: 6 of 6 board members independent · 4 of 8 filing controls reported
  • Programs: 1 filed program accomplishment · $537K in reported program spending
  • Leadership: top reported pay $150K · 7 people listed
  • Consistency: 26 of 26 current checks pass
  • Schedules: 4 filed schedules · includes major donors and grants
  • Filing history: 4 filing years from 2022 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.

  • Review — Accountability: Governance controls: 3 of 7 not reported.
  • Moderate — Sustainability: Total-asset coverage ratio scored 45/100.
  • High — Sustainability: Officer compensation ratio scored 11/100.
  • Moderate — Sustainability: Liabilities to assets ratio scored 39/100.