Los Angeles Urban League

Nonprofit profile at a glance

EIN
951691288
IRS 990 coverage
2009–2024
Forms available
Form 990 2024
Location
Los Angeles, CA, USA
Phone
3232999660
Rating
69
Verdict
SUPPORTED
Rating confidence
Moderate

Official website

Reported finances

Revenue
$3,280,363
Expenses
$4,168,753
Assets
$1,121,908
Liabilities
$904,667

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

Leadership & pay

33 people listed

Executive titles in this filing

  • CYNTHIA MITCHELL-HEARD (PRESIDENT & CEO)

Highest reported compensation

  • CYNTHIA MITCHELL-HEARD (PRESIDENT & CEO): $258,911 total reported compensation
  • DAVID ANDERSON (COO): $178,754 total reported compensation
  • DEIDREA SHERMAN (VP OF FINANCE): $137,152 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 los angeles urban league (laul) is an independent affiliate of the national urban league. The laul was founded in 1921 to help african americans and others in underserved communities achieve their highest true social parity, economic self-reliance, power, and civil rights. The league promotes economic empowerment through education and job training, housing and community development, workforce development, entrepreneurship, health, and quality of life.

What it reported doing in 2024

Entrepreneurship: intuit ideas: the intuit invest, develop, empower, accelerate, scale (ideas) supports locally owned small businesses representing a geographically diverse cross-section of los angeles.the program graduated 26 businesses with 190 hours of business counseling support.hospitality counseling by pepsi: hospitality counseling provides support to existing restaurant and food service businesses to improve and professionalize their operations through basic and advanced skills training. The program serviced 7 businesses with 53 hours of business counseling support.elevate together by office depot: elevate together provides support to small businesses who have five employees or less. It is designed to support business growth and profitability, and companies are assessed if they have potential to scale. $5,000 awards are provided to participants. The program serviced 7 businesses with 109 hours of business counseling.business counseling: the los angeles urban league business counselors provide small business counseling working with entrepreneurs and emerging business enterprises to help them scale and achieve success in their market. The program serviced 343 businesses with 774 hours of business counseling.urban capital readiness program: the minority business development agency (mbda) urban capital readiness program provides entrepreneurs and businesses with business training, networking, and access to capital to assist them in starting and growing their business. The program serviced 82 businesses with 300 hours of business counseling.

Operating model

Revenue model
Donor-supported. 95% of the money available for current operations came from contributions and gifts.
Distribution model
Direct operator. The filing allocates 99% 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 - A large share of available resources goes toward mission work and the filed numbers largely add up. Expenses are high relative to revenue and some filing-based governance responses are negative or unanswered.

Rating breakdown

  • Financial Efficiency: 65
  • Transparency & Controls: 86
  • Accountability: 86
  • Sustainability: 8
  • Growth: 0

Detailed rating inputs

Financial Efficiency

  • Mission deployment rate: 80.3%; rating input score 80
  • Program expense ratio: 63.2%; rating input score 63
  • Fundraising efficiency: Limited

Transparency & Controls

  • Consistency checks: 94.1%; rating input score 94; 23rd percentile among comparable filings
  • Pay-setting controls: 5 of 6 controls in place; rating input score 83
    • Compensation committee: Pass
    • Independent consultant: Missing
    • Other Form 990s reviewed: Pass
    • Written employment contract: Pass
    • Compensation survey or study: Pass
    • Board or committee approval: Pass
  • Foreign activity oversight: Limited
  • Grant itemization coverage: 84.4%; rating input score 84; 23rd 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: 6 of 9 controls in place; rating input score 67
    • Conflict-of-interest policy: Pass
    • Whistleblower policy: Pass
    • Document-retention policy: Pass
    • CEO compensation review process: Pass
    • Other executive compensation review process: Pass
    • Form 990 shared with the board: Fail
    • Board meeting minutes documented: Pass
    • Audit committee oversight: Missing
    • Independent financial-statement audit: Fail

Sustainability

  • Operating margin: -27.1%; rating input score 5; 5th percentile among comparable filings
  • Total-asset coverage ratio: 0.27; rating input score 8; 8th percentile among comparable filings
  • Liabilities to assets ratio: 0.81; rating input score 10; 10th percentile among comparable filings
  • Officer compensation ratio: 14.7%; rating input score 19; 19th percentile among comparable filings

Growth

  • Program expense growth: -10.5% per year; rating input score 0; 3rd percentile among comparable filings
  • Revenue growth: -15.4% per year; rating input score 0; 1st percentile among comparable filings
  • Asset growth: -14.3% per year; rating input score 0; 1st percentile among comparable filings

Details

  • Where the money goes: 80.3% of revenue deployed · 63.2% of spending went to programs
  • Governance: 28 of 28 board members independent · 6 of 9 filing controls reported
  • Programs: 4 filed program accomplishments · $2.6M in reported program spending
  • Leadership: top reported pay $259K · 33 people listed · 5 of 6 pay-setting controls reported
  • Consistency: 34 of 35 current checks pass · 1 finding to review
  • Schedules: 7 filed schedules · includes major donors, grants, and executive pay
  • Filing history: 16 filing years from 2009 to 2024
  • Contacts: How to reach this organization
  • Money network: 4 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.

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

  • High — Sustainability: Operating margin scored 5/100.
  • Review — Accountability: Governance controls: 2 of 8 not reported.
  • High — Growth: Program expense growth scored 0/100.
  • High — Growth: Revenue growth scored 0/100.
  • High — Sustainability: Total-asset coverage ratio scored 8/100.
  • High — Growth: Asset growth scored 0/100.
  • High — Sustainability: Liabilities to assets ratio scored 10/100.
  • High — Sustainability: Officer compensation ratio scored 19/100.
  • Review — Transparency & Controls: Domestic grant itemization did not reconcile in the filed values.
  • High — Grant Readiness: Federal audit findings: this organization reported findings in its latest federal Single Audit.