Lifting Up Westchester Inc
Nonprofit profile at a glance
- EIN
- 133121606
- IRS 990 coverage
- 2010–2025
- Forms available
- Form 990 2025
- Location
- White Plains, NY, USA
- Phone
- 9149493098
- Rating
- 81
- Verdict
- STRONG
- Rating confidence
- Standard
- Sector
- Homeless Shelters
Reported finances
- Revenue
- $13,912,346
- Expenses
- $9,886,602
- Assets
- $18,101,127
- Liabilities
- $1,650,818
Source: IRS Form 990. Selected filing: tax year 2025. Amounts in USD.
Leadership & pay
24 people listed
Executive titles in this filing
- ANAHAITA KOTVAL (CEO)
- DESPINA KARTSON (Vice President)
- GEORGE KONTOGIANNIS (PAST PRESIDENT)
- JANINE DAUGHTRY (President)
Highest reported compensation
- ANAHAITA KOTVAL (CEO): $250,989 total reported compensation
- JESSICA TIMMS (CDO): $135,877 total reported compensation
- CARL WILLIAMS (CFO): $127,738 total reported compensation
Source: IRS Form 990. Selected filing: tax year 2025. Names and roles reflect this filing, not necessarily current officeholders.
Overview
Mission
Lifting Up Westchester, Inc. provides life-changing support to people who have lost their housing or are struggling to meet other basic needs. They partner with those they serve to build a more secure future for themselves and their families.
What it reported doing in 2025
YOUTH SERVICES: LUW helps young people succeed regardless of their background or circumstances. A suite of educational programming gives students the tools needed to break the cycle of poverty and achieve a more secure future. Through our programs, students can overcome learning challenges; improve their core reading, writing, and STEM skills; and receive mentorship from kindergarten through college.KidzLit provides opportunities for elementary and middle school students residing at the Coachman Family Center to receive homework help and participate in fun, collaborative literacy activities that will help narrow reading gaps. After-School Mentoring offers an array of tutoring, enrichment, and college prep activities with the goal of empowering high school students in Yonkers to graduate on time and attend college or other post-secondary training.College & Career Success guides our high school graduates as they navigate post-secondary paths. LUW offers support through College Success Coaches, Job Central Career Specialists, and partial scholarships. Summer Camp provides a recreational and academically enriching summer camp experience for children who are homeless or extremely low-income. Camp is a safe, nurturing place to learn and practice important life skills like swimming but also provides unique experience that fosters both educational and personal growth.In 2025, the program was able to serve 493 youth in our after-school, summer camp, and college success program.
Operating model
- Revenue model
- Grant-funded. 81% of the money available for current operations came from government grants.
- Distribution model
- Hybrid. The nonprofit split its reported program spending across 61% for direct work, and 39% for grants.
- Includes noncash contributions: Reported contributions include donated property or goods.
The verdict
STRONG - A large share of available resources goes toward mission work and the filed numbers largely add up. Program spending has declined or grown slowly and some filing-based governance responses are negative or unanswered.
Rating breakdown
- Financial Efficiency: 73
- Transparency & Controls: 91
- Accountability: 92
- Sustainability: 68
- Growth: 60
Detailed rating inputs
Financial Efficiency
- Mission deployment rate: 64.2%; rating input score 64
- Program expense ratio: 89.5%; rating input score 89
- Fundraising efficiency: $32.61 raised per $1 spent on fundraising; rating input score 67; 67th percentile among comparable filings
Transparency & Controls
- Consistency checks: 100%; rating input score 100; 64th percentile among comparable filings
- Pay-setting controls: 4 of 6 controls in place; rating input score 67
- Compensation committee: Pass
- Independent consultant: Missing
- Other Form 990s reviewed: Pass
- Written employment contract: Pass
- Compensation survey or study: Missing
- Board or committee approval: Pass
- Foreign activity oversight: Limited
- Grant itemization coverage: 100%; rating input score 100; 76th percentile among comparable filings
- Major donor itemization: Limited
- Related-party transparency: Yes; rating input score 100
Accountability
- Independent voting board: 95.2%; rating input score 95; 25th percentile among comparable filings
- Governance controls: 8 of 9 controls in place; rating input score 89
- Conflict-of-interest policy: Pass
- Whistleblower policy: Pass
- Document-retention policy: Pass
- CEO compensation review process: Pass
- 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: 28.9%; rating input score 83; 83rd percentile among comparable filings
- Total-asset coverage ratio: 1.83; rating input score 49; 49th percentile among comparable filings
- Liabilities to assets ratio: 0.09; rating input score 68; 68th percentile among comparable filings
- Officer compensation ratio: 5.2%; rating input score 56; 56th percentile among comparable filings
Growth
- Program expense growth: -1.3% per year; rating input score 0; 7th percentile among comparable filings
- Revenue growth: 1.5% per year; rating input score 100; 11th percentile among comparable filings
- Asset growth: 8.4% per year; rating input score 100; 59th percentile among comparable filings
Details
- Where the money goes: 64.2% of revenue deployed · 89.5% of spending went to programs
- Governance: 20 of 21 board members independent · 8 of 9 filing controls reported
- Programs: 4 filed program accomplishments · $8.8M in reported program spending
- Leadership: top reported pay $251K · 24 people listed · 4 of 6 pay-setting controls reported
- Highest-paid contractors: 5 contractors listed · $2.4M reported
- Consistency: 34 of 34 current checks pass
- Schedules: 8 filed schedules · includes grants, executive pay, and related organizations
- Filing history: 15 filing years from 2010 to 2025
- Contacts: How to reach this organization
- Money network: 3 filed money-flow records
- Related organizations: 3 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.
- Staff and benefit plans: Retirement and health plans the organization files with the Department of Labor, and the people in them.
Key Signals
Signals prioritize questions for review. They are not findings of misconduct.
- High — Growth: Program expense growth scored 0/100.
- Review — Accountability: Governance controls: Other executive compensation review process not reported.
- Moderate — Sustainability: Total-asset coverage ratio scored 49/100.
- Review — Sustainability: Officer compensation ratio scored 56/100.