Medicine Bear

Nonprofit profile at a glance

EIN
264104545
IRS 990-EZ coverage
2024–2025
Official website data refreshed
Sep 2026
Forms available
Form 990-EZ 2025, Form 990-N 2023
Location
Portland, OR, USA
Phone
5038309791
Rating
38
Verdict
REVIEW
Rating confidence
Moderate
Sector
Religion Related N.E.C.
Affiliation
Religious (unspecified)

Official website

Reported finances

Revenue
$158,715
Expenses
$147,939
Assets
$15,684
Liabilities
$0

Source: IRS Form 990-EZ. Selected filing: tax year 2025. Amounts in USD.

Leadership & pay

5 people listed

Executive titles in this filing

  • Rodolfo Serna (Executive Director)
  • Yolanda Gonzales (President)
  • Kristen Bell (Vice President)

People named in this filing

  • Rodolfo Serna (Executive Director)
  • Yolanda Gonzales (President)
  • Kristen Bell (Vice President)

Selected names, not a complete roster or a statement of current roles. Open leadership details for the complete filed list.

Source: IRS Form 990-EZ. Selected filing: tax year 2025. Names and roles reflect this filing, not necessarily current officeholders.

Overview

Mission

Medicine Bear is a nonprofit arts organization using creativity to inspire belonging, healing, and transformation; we believe healing begins with creativity and culture, and through murals, mentorship, and Indigenous practices we create pathways for community members to rediscover identity, purpose, and belonging.

What it reported doing in 2025

In 2025 Medicine Bear delivered culturally grounded arts programming serving youth across schools community spaces and juvenile justice settings Programs included mural projects artist apprenticeship training and workshops integrating traditional Indigenous and cultural practices Youth participants engaged in hands-on artmaking mentorship and storytelling culminating in public art installations and community events The organization collaborated with local partners to provide safe creative spaces that support identity development healing and positive community engagement

Operating model

Revenue model
Earned-program. 98% of the money available for current operations came from fees and other program revenue.
Distribution model
No current program activity. The filing reports no program spending for the current year.

The verdict

REVIEW - The filed numbers largely add up and revenue has grown recently. A relatively small share of available resources goes toward mission work and a relatively small share of total spending goes to programs.

Rating breakdown

  • Financial Efficiency: 0
  • Transparency & Controls: 82
  • Sustainability: 36
  • Growth: 60

Detailed rating inputs

Financial Efficiency

  • Mission deployment rate: 0%; rating input score 0
  • Program expense ratio: 0%; rating input score 0

Transparency & Controls

  • Consistency checks: 100%; rating input score 100; 52nd percentile among comparable filings
  • Major donor itemization: Limited

Sustainability

  • Operating margin: 6.8%; rating input score 48; 48th percentile among comparable filings
  • Total-asset coverage ratio: 0.11; rating input score 12; 12th percentile among comparable filings
  • Liabilities to assets ratio: 0; rating input score 74; 74th percentile among comparable filings
  • Officer compensation ratio: 47.2%; rating input score 6; 6th percentile among comparable filings

Growth

  • Program expense growth: Limited
  • Revenue growth: 23.5% per year; rating input score 100; 85th percentile among comparable filings
  • Asset growth: 193.7% per year; rating input score 100; 100th percentile among comparable filings

Details

  • What they do: 1 programs and campaigns described on the official site · 1 operating location identified
  • Where the money goes: 0% of revenue deployed · 0% of spending went to programs
  • Governance: Filed governance answers
  • Accomplishments: 1 filed program accomplishment
  • Leadership: top reported pay $0 · 5 people listed
  • Consistency: 9 of 9 current checks pass
  • Schedules: 2 filed schedules
  • Filing history: 2 filing years from 2024 to 2025
  • Contacts: How to reach this organization
  • Money network: 1 filed money-flow record
  • 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.

  • High — Financial Efficiency: Mission deployment rate scored 0/100.
  • High — Financial Efficiency: Program expense ratio scored 0/100.
  • High — Sustainability: Total-asset coverage ratio scored 12/100.
  • Moderate — Sustainability: Operating margin scored 48/100.
  • High — Sustainability: Officer compensation ratio scored 6/100.