Legal Aid of Western Ohio Inc

Nonprofit profile at a glance

EIN
341485732
IRS 990 coverage
2011–2024
Forms available
Form 990 2024
Location
Toledo, OH, USA
Phone
4199302511
Rating
88
Verdict
STRONG
Rating confidence
Moderate
Sector
Legal Services

Official website

Reported finances

Revenue
$8,974,773
Expenses
$9,015,767
Assets
$1,392,227
Liabilities
$1,921,284

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

Leadership & pay

31 people listed

Executive titles in this filing

  • CASSANDRA ANDRES RICE (PRESIDENT)
  • KHADIJAH H ALI (VICE PRESIDENT)
  • ROBERT TUCKER (VICE PRESIDENT)
  • KEVIN MULDER (EXECUTIVE DIRECTOR (LEFT OCT. 2025))

Highest reported compensation

  • KEVIN MULDER (EXECUTIVE DIRECTOR (LEFT OCT. 2025)): $197,470 total reported compensation
  • PATRICIA Y HERNANDEZ (DIRECTOR OF ADVOCACY): $147,900 total reported compensation
  • VERONICA L MARTINEZ (MANAGING ATTORNEY): $142,939 total reported compensation

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

Overview

Mission

Legal aid of western Ohio, inc. (lawo) is a non-profit law firm that champions equity and justice through client-centered community collaboration and transformative legal advocacy.

What it reported doing in 2024

Lawo represents clients in several areas of law, including domestic violence and other family-law related issues; housing, including issues surrounding public housing and housing conditions; access to government benefits; debt collection defense and bankruptcy; consumer fraud issues; education and employment; and the legal problems that agricultural workers, veterans, the homeless, and older adults face.each year lawo's experienced staff of attorneys, paralegals, and support personnel provide high quality legal assistance to thousands of individuals and groups living in poverty throughout 32 counties in northwest and west central Ohio and agricultural workers throughout the state. We have offices located in dayton, defiance, findlay, lima, sandusky, springfield, and toledo.in 2024 we met the legal needs of our clients working in conjunction with our partner law firm, advocates for basic legal equality, inc. (able). The services we provided benefited children, older adults, veterans, immigrants, persons with disabilities, survivors of domestic violence, persons without health insurance, families facing eviction and foreclosure, homeless children and families, children struggling to secure appropriate education services, and agricultural workers, among others. Our attorneys and advocates work in areas that private attorneys usually do not, including representation of tenants, low-income homeowners, immigrants, veterans, people with disabilities, and people seeking government assistance.what we do is important to all members of the community. We provide powerful solutions to critical societal issues. Through our efforts, millions of dollars are returned to the community or saved for our clients. We conserve valuable community resources by addressing issues before they become a crisis and work with other non-profit service providers to provide a holistic approach to advocacy for low-income individuals and families.together lawo and able constitute the largest providers of free, comprehensive civil legal assistance to low-income persons in Ohio. Over 23% of Ohio's poverty population lives in our 32 county service area. Lawo also serves agricultural workers throughout the state. Ouradministrative offices and headquarters are located in toledo at the center for equal justice. In 2024, lawo received 15,721 requests for assistance and closed 5,198 cases. Our advocacy in 2024 benefited 15,721 individuals. Lawo also secured $6,656,240 in total monetary awards for its clients.

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 95% 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 total assets are small relative to annual expenses; liquid coverage is unknown.

Rating breakdown

  • Financial Efficiency: 97
  • Transparency & Controls: 79
  • Accountability: 100
  • Sustainability: 20
  • Growth: 100

Detailed rating inputs

Financial Efficiency

  • Mission deployment rate: 96.8%; rating input score 97
  • Program expense ratio: 96.4%; rating input score 96
  • Fundraising efficiency: $1,053.1 raised per $1 spent on fundraising; rating input score 98; 98th percentile among comparable filings

Transparency & Controls

  • Consistency checks: 100%; rating input score 100; 63rd percentile among comparable filings
  • Pay-setting controls: 2 of 6 controls in place; rating input score 33
    • Compensation committee: Missing
    • Independent consultant: Missing
    • Other Form 990s reviewed: Missing
    • Written employment contract: Missing
    • Compensation survey or study: Pass
    • Board or committee approval: Pass
  • Foreign activity oversight: Limited
  • Grant itemization coverage: 100%; rating input score 100; 72nd 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; 63rd percentile among comparable filings
  • Governance controls: 8 of 8 controls in place; rating input score 100
    • Conflict-of-interest policy: Pass
    • Whistleblower policy: Pass
    • Document-retention policy: Pass
    • CEO compensation review process: Pass
    • Other executive compensation review process: NotApplicable
    • Form 990 shared with the board: Pass
    • Board meeting minutes documented: Pass
    • Audit committee oversight: Pass
    • Independent financial-statement audit: Pass

Sustainability

  • Operating margin: -0.5%; rating input score 31; 31st percentile among comparable filings
  • Total-asset coverage ratio: 0.15; rating input score 4; 4th percentile among comparable filings
  • Liabilities to assets ratio: 1.38; rating input score 2; 2nd percentile among comparable filings
  • Officer compensation ratio: 10%; rating input score 30; 30th percentile among comparable filings

Growth

  • Program expense growth: 4.2% per year; rating input score 100; 35th percentile among comparable filings
  • Revenue growth: 2.5% per year; rating input score 100; 23rd percentile among comparable filings
  • Asset growth: 2.6% per year; rating input score 100; 22nd percentile among comparable filings

Details

  • Where the money goes: 96.8% of revenue deployed · 96.4% of spending went to programs
  • Governance: 25 of 25 board members independent · 8 of 8 filing controls reported
  • Programs: 1 filed program accomplishment · $8.7M in reported program spending
  • Leadership: top reported pay $197K · 31 people listed · 2 of 6 pay-setting controls reported
  • Consistency: 33 of 33 current checks pass
  • Schedules: 7 filed schedules · includes major donors, grants, and executive pay
  • Filing history: 13 filing years from 2011 to 2024
  • Contacts: How to reach this organization
  • Money network: 12 filed money-flow records
  • Related organizations: 8 filed related-organization links
  • 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.

Grant-readiness screening is separate from the live rating, not a measure of program quality. Review the source records before making a grant decision.

  • Moderate — Sustainability: Operating margin scored 31/100.
  • High — Sustainability: Total-asset coverage ratio scored 4/100.
  • High — Sustainability: Liabilities to assets ratio scored 2/100.
  • Moderate — Sustainability: Officer compensation ratio scored 30/100.
  • High — Grant Readiness: Federal audit findings: this organization reported findings in its latest federal Single Audit.