Life Pieces to Masterpieces

What it reported doing in 2024

Color me community workshops advance our strategy for dismantling structural racism and other barriers to equity. Informed by lptm's nearly 30 years of experience in human development and co-led by lptm graduates, the highly interactive workshops provide a safe, non-judgmental environment for people of all backgrounds and identities to explore the implications of race, gender, sexual orientation, cultural background and identity, and how we see ourselves, each other, and the world. At the end of the workshop, participants collaborate to create artwork in the life pieces art style, communicating an action they will take to inspire positive change and a vision of shared humanity in their own lives and the world. Color me community has developed from a program into a life pieces enterprise whose clients include the u.s. State department, national and local nonprofit organizations, and local government agencies. Lptm's color me community workshops have reached over 1,000 professionals including artists, educators, politicians, and community leaders from over 55 countries. Art by life pieces - "creating art . . . Changing lives" - life pieces to masterpieces takes its name from the unique style of art that our apprentices collectively create. Youth collaborate to decide on a life experience to make the topic of their painting and then make their masterpiece together by painting, cutting, arranging, and sewing pieces of canvas. Each colorful, sewn, acrylic-on-sewn-canvas collage illustrates a shared story and reflects our young artists' courage to create their own destiny - to turn their "life pieces" into "masterpieces". Lptm apprentices have created over 2,000 artistic masterpieces, and their artwork has been displayed in such venues as children's national medical center, the world bank, nbc's today show, chicago museum of science and industry, the dc mayor's office, and private foundations throughout the district of columbia. Art by life pieces creates a source of earned revenue by making many of these masterpieces available for purchase, rental, and display. Parent/family engagement - lptm supports parent/family engagement via quarterly events including program orientations, "family nights," "family art days, and youth performance/presentations during which parents and families are actively engaged and honored. During the 2022-23 school year, nearly 100% of lptm families attended at least one of these events, speaking to parents' positive feelings about lptm family engagement opportunities. All lptm parents have the phone number of no less than four lptm staff members. Parents/families receive routine updates about their child(ren)'s progress throughout the year, in addition to monthly program updates newsletters, event invitation flyers, and daily logistical updates on an as-needed basis. Outreach and public engagement - the participants and alumni of lptm engage in events including public speaking opportunities, musical and spoken word performances, and art exhibitions that spread lptm's mission and change narrative ("lptm changes how black and brown boys and young men see themselves; changes how the world sees our black and brown boys and young men; and lptm young men change the world's understanding of shared humanity"). Through their storytelling, arts, and advocacy, lptm's boys and young men are thought leaders as share their visions for a more just and equitable world and change the world's understanding of shared humanity. Four lptm youth moderated and/or spoke on panels at the "youth at the center" conference hosted by mentor md/dc and fair schance; one alumnus spoke at the national mentoring summit; another alumnus was on a local pbs station speaking about the importance of mental health support in black communties. Lptm youth and alumni were featured in a short film sharing their stories, as well as in local news media.

Financial Efficiency

• Mission deployment rate: 29.1%; rating input score 29
• Program expense ratio: 65.7%; rating input score 66
• Fundraising efficiency: $8.58 raised per $1 spent on fundraising; rating input score 33; 33rd percentile among comparable filings

Transparency & Controls

• Consistency checks: 100%; rating input score 100; 63rd percentile among comparable filings
• Pay-setting controls: 1 of 6 controls in place; rating input score 17
  • Compensation committee: Missing
  • Independent consultant: Missing
  • Other Form 990s reviewed: Missing
  • Written employment contract: Missing
  • Compensation survey or study: Missing
  • Board or committee approval: Pass
• Foreign activity oversight: Limited
• Grant itemization coverage: Limited
• Major donor itemization: Yes; rating input score 100
• Related-party transparency: Limited

Accountability

• Independent voting board: 90.9%; rating input score 91; 21st 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: 56.3%; rating input score 94; 94th percentile among comparable filings
• Total-asset coverage ratio: 2.44; rating input score 68; 68th percentile among comparable filings
• Liabilities to assets ratio: 0.01; rating input score 85; 85th percentile among comparable filings
• Officer compensation ratio: 10.2%; rating input score 29; 29th percentile among comparable filings

Growth

• Program expense growth: 11.5% per year; rating input score 100; 69th percentile among comparable filings
• Revenue growth: 17.6% per year; rating input score 100; 86th percentile among comparable filings
• Asset growth: 25.5% per year; rating input score 100; 90th percentile among comparable filings