Mississippi First Inc

What it reported doing in 2024

Pre-k:- Mississippi first published a blended pre-k toolkit. This toolkit is now being used to recruit school districts and head start grantees.- Mississippi first updated and published an early learning collaborative (elc) toolkit. This toolkit is used to support our ongoing elc recruitment efforts.- Mississippi first finalized the research process for the fourth iteration of the state of pre-k series, which examines the number, type, and quality of pre-k programs in each community in the state. The briefs and dashboard are slated for publication in fy 26.- Mississippi first provided ongoing technical assistance to the Mississippi department of education (mde) to support the implementation of the early learning collaborative (elc) pre-k program.- Mississippi first published a birth-to-five policy agenda for future work.- Mississippi first advocated for increasing the elc program appropriation if the appropriate number of personnel identification numbers (pins) would be allocated by the legislature. The legislature level-funded the elc program, a move supported by Mississippi first because the number of pins was not increased.charter schools:- Mississippi first published charter parent focus groups report.- Mississippi first convened charter parent advisory group to provide feedback on draft of focus group report.- Mississippi first advocated for legislation to improve charter school law.- Mississippi first solidified cohort 2 of the operations residency to train operations leaders in charter schools.- Mississippi first created a parent engagement and advocacy curriculum for parent initiative work and trained charter school leadership for curriculum implementation beginning sy2026.- Mississippi first conducted focus groups and a parent advisory committee to provide insight into the charter polling findings.- Mississippi first supported improvement of charter schools through quality technical assistance. This ta resulted in impactful improvements in ela in school grades for charter schools at the end of the 2024-2025 school year.- Mississippi first launched discover ms charter schools, a digital campaign to promote more charter school awareness within the state.- Mississippi first provided school launch support for clarksdale collegiate high school, the state's first charter high school that opens fall 2025.- Mississippi first engaged parents in training and other organizing activities.- Mississippi first continued the district-charter community of practice (cop), and their projects.teachers and leaders:- Mississippi first conducted 2025 teacher survey of public school teachers across Mississippi.- Mississippi first drafted teacher pipeline reported with new recommendations for legislators, slated for publication in fy26.future of schools:- Mississippi first published evidence-based interventions to leverage msff funds.- Mississippi first advocated for legislation to fix errors in msff law.- Mississippi first continued to support public schools by providing advice and expertise to policymakers.- Mississippi first began the process of gathering data for an analysis of how school districts have responded to transition to the msff.

Financial Efficiency

• Mission deployment rate: 100%; rating input score 100
• Program expense ratio: 90.8%; rating input score 91
• Fundraising efficiency: $100.25 raised per $1 spent on fundraising; rating input score 86; 86th percentile among comparable filings

Transparency & Controls

• Consistency checks: 92.9%; rating input score 93; 19th percentile among comparable filings
• Pay-setting controls: 0 of 6 controls in place; rating input score 0
  • Compensation committee: Missing
  • Independent consultant: Missing
  • Other Form 990s reviewed: Missing
  • Written employment contract: Missing
  • Compensation survey or study: Missing
  • Board or committee approval: Missing
• Foreign activity oversight: Limited
• Grant itemization coverage: 96.9%; rating input score 97; 44th 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: 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: -165.4%; rating input score 1; 1st percentile among comparable filings
• Total-asset coverage ratio: 0.53; rating input score 25; 25th percentile among comparable filings
• Liabilities to assets ratio: 0.21; rating input score 31; 31st percentile among comparable filings
• Officer compensation ratio: 9.1%; rating input score 40; 40th percentile among comparable filings

Growth

• Program expense growth: 16.2% per year; rating input score 100; 77th percentile among comparable filings
• Revenue growth: 4.4% per year; rating input score 100; 40th percentile among comparable filings
• Asset growth: 22.2% per year; rating input score 100; 84th percentile among comparable filings