Legal Education Access Pipeline Inc

Nonprofit profile at a glance

EIN
852490247
IRS 990 coverage
2021–2024
Forms available
Form 990 2024, Form 990-N 2020
Location
Pasadena, CA, USA
Phone
8183894279
Rating
74
Verdict
SUPPORTED
Rating confidence
Moderate
Sector
Crime, Legal Related N.E.C.

Reported finances

Revenue
$412,521
Expenses
$304,388
Assets
$393,471
Liabilities
$2,901

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

Leadership & pay

12 people listed

Highest reported compensation

  • CINDY LOPEZ (Executive Dir.): $22,650 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 LEAP is to diversify the legal profession by preparing underrepresented students to become successful law school applicants, lawyers, and agents of social change.

What it reported doing in 2024

For the year ended December 31, 2024 the organization operated the following programs: MentoringFellows in the LEAP program are paired with a current law student and a practicing attorney for the duration of the fellowship. Fellows connect with their mentors at least once a month. Mentors offer valuable insights from their own experiences, connect Fellows with resources and opportunities, and provide encouragement throughout the fellowship. Attorney mentors illuminate what it is like to work in the field, while student mentors shed light on the law school application process and law school experience.Workshops and Skills-development: Eight monthly, all day Saturday Academies include a comprehensive curriculum to prepare Fellows to excel in their law school applications, in law school, and as lawyers. These workshops are hosted at Loyola Law School and the curriculum includes:*Understanding and successfully completing each element of a law school application*Professionalism and excelling in law school*Building core lawyering skills*Panels and talks from law professionals from diverse professional settingsSocial Justice ProgrammingThe curriculum for the LEAP Fellowship was designed through a social justice lens. Each monthly Saturday Academy includes a program on the social justice applications of a law degree. LEAP targets changemakers who see the law as a tool for social justice and aims to provide our Fellows with the necessary skills to do this critically needed work.

Operating model

Revenue model
Donor-supported. 99% of the money available for current operations came from contributions and gifts.
Distribution model
Direct operator. The filing allocates 90% 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 a large share of total spending goes to programs. A relatively small share of available resources goes toward mission work and some filing-based governance responses are negative or unanswered.

Rating breakdown

  • Financial Efficiency: 62
  • Transparency & Controls: 90
  • Accountability: 69
  • Sustainability: 60
  • Growth: 100

Detailed rating inputs

Financial Efficiency

  • Mission deployment rate: 56.6%; rating input score 57
  • Program expense ratio: 76.6%; rating input score 77
  • Fundraising efficiency: $9.72 raised per $1 spent on fundraising; rating input score 38; 38th percentile among comparable filings

Transparency & Controls

  • Consistency checks: 92.9%; rating input score 93; 25th percentile among comparable filings
  • Pay-setting controls: Limited
  • Foreign activity oversight: Limited
  • Grant itemization coverage: 100%; rating input score 100; 80th 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: 2 of 8 controls in place; rating input score 25
    • Conflict-of-interest policy: Fail
    • Whistleblower policy: Fail
    • Document-retention policy: Fail
    • 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: Missing
    • Independent financial-statement audit: Fail

Sustainability

  • Operating margin: 26.2%; rating input score 79; 79th percentile among comparable filings
  • Total-asset coverage ratio: 1.29; rating input score 48; 48th percentile among comparable filings
  • Liabilities to assets ratio: 0.01; rating input score 47; 47th percentile among comparable filings
  • Officer compensation ratio: 7.4%; rating input score 31; 31st percentile among comparable filings

Growth

  • Program expense growth: 47.9% per year; rating input score 100; 95th percentile among comparable filings
  • Revenue growth: 24% per year; rating input score 100; 90th percentile among comparable filings
  • Asset growth: 33.2% per year; rating input score 100; 93rd percentile among comparable filings

Details

  • Where the money goes: 56.6% of revenue deployed · 76.6% of spending went to programs
  • Governance: 11 of 11 board members independent · 2 of 8 filing controls reported
  • Programs: 1 filed program accomplishment · $233K in reported program spending
  • Leadership: top reported pay $23K · 12 people listed
  • Consistency: 27 of 28 current checks pass · 1 finding to review
  • Schedules: 6 filed schedules · includes major donors and grants
  • Filing history: 4 filing years from 2021 to 2024
  • 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.

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

  • Review — Financial Efficiency: Mission deployment rate scored 57/100.
  • High — Accountability: Governance controls: 5 of 7 not reported.
  • Moderate — Financial Efficiency: Fundraising efficiency scored 38/100.
  • Moderate — Sustainability: Total-asset coverage ratio scored 48/100.
  • Moderate — Transparency & Controls: Schedule A contributions reconciliation did not reconcile in the filed values.
  • Moderate — Sustainability: Officer compensation ratio scored 31/100.
  • Moderate — Sustainability: Liabilities to assets ratio scored 47/100.
  • Review — Grant Readiness: California registration: this organization could not be resolved against the register, so the check is unfinished.