New York African Chorus Ensemble Inc

Nonprofit profile at a glance

EIN
201090906
IRS 990 coverage
2024–2025
Forms available
Form 990 2025, Form 990-EZ 2023, Form 990-N 2015
Location
New York, NY, USA
Rating
83
Verdict
STRONG
Rating confidence
Moderate
Sector
Singing, Choral

Reported finances

Revenue
$189,163
Expenses
$194,552
Assets
$32,315
Liabilities
$937

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

Leadership & pay

5 people listed

People named in this filing

  • Prof Bode Omojola (Board Chair)
  • Josanna McCaskill (Secretary)
  • Daisy Rosario (Treasurer)

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

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

Overview

Mission

The New York African Chorus Ensemble, Inc. (NYACE) strengthens New York Citys cultural life by using the arts to build bridges of understanding among diverse communities. Through performances, cultural programs, and community initiatives, NYACE provides accessible arts experiences for low-income populations, supports artists and small cultural vendors, and uses culture as a tool to reduce stereotypes that can lead to hate crimes and social division.

What it reported doing in 2025

NYC Multicultural Festival and Preview Concerts - The NYC Multicultural Festival and its preview concerts served as NYACEs flagship cultural engagement program, providing free and accessible arts programming that brought together thousands of residents from diverse cultural backgrounds across Harlem and New York City. The program featured live music, dance, and cultural presentations representing African, Caribbean, Latin American, and global traditions, creating a shared space for dialogue, cultural exchange, and community connection. In addition to cultural impact, the festival created economic opportunities by providing paid performance opportunities for artists and a marketplace platform for small cultural vendors. By fostering cross-cultural understanding and shared experiences, the program directly supports NYACEs mission to reduce stereotypes, strengthen community cohesion, and contribute to safer, more connected neighborhoods. The program prioritizes accessibility by offering free or low-cost participation, ensuring that financial barriers do not limit community engagement.

Operating model

Revenue model
Donor-supported. 96% of the money available for current operations came from contributions and gifts.
Distribution model
Direct operator. The filing allocates 100% 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.
  • 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. Some filing-based governance responses are negative or unanswered and program spending has declined or grown slowly.

Rating breakdown

  • Financial Efficiency: 86
  • Transparency & Controls: 90
  • Accountability: 88
  • Sustainability: 28
  • Growth: 60

Detailed rating inputs

Financial Efficiency

  • Mission deployment rate: 98.1%; rating input score 98
  • Program expense ratio: 95.4%; rating input score 95
  • Fundraising efficiency: Limited

Transparency & Controls

  • Consistency checks: 90%; rating input score 90; 10th percentile among comparable filings
  • Pay-setting controls: Limited
  • Foreign activity oversight: Limited
  • Grant itemization coverage: Limited
  • Major donor itemization: Limited
  • Related-party transparency: Limited

Accountability

  • Independent voting board: 100%; rating input score 100; 64th percentile among comparable filings
  • Governance controls: 5 of 7 controls in place; rating input score 71
    • Conflict-of-interest policy: Pass
    • Whistleblower policy: Pass
    • Document-retention policy: Pass
    • CEO compensation review process: NotApplicable
    • Other executive compensation review process: NotApplicable
    • Form 990 shared with the board: Pass
    • Board meeting minutes documented: Pass
    • Audit committee oversight: Fail
    • Independent financial-statement audit: Fail

Sustainability

  • Operating margin: -2.8%; rating input score 29; 29th percentile among comparable filings
  • Total-asset coverage ratio: 0.17; rating input score 10; 10th percentile among comparable filings
  • Liabilities to assets ratio: 0.03; rating input score 31; 31st percentile among comparable filings
  • Officer compensation ratio: 0%; rating input score 67; 67th percentile among comparable filings

Growth

  • Program expense growth: -1.1% per year; rating input score 0; 25th percentile among comparable filings
  • Revenue growth: 8.2% per year; rating input score 100; 63rd percentile among comparable filings
  • Asset growth: 7.6% per year; rating input score 100; 55th percentile among comparable filings

Details

  • Where the money goes: 98.1% of revenue deployed · 95.4% of spending went to programs
  • Governance: 5 of 5 board members independent · 5 of 7 filing controls reported
  • Programs: 3 filed program accomplishments · $186K in reported program spending
  • Leadership: top reported pay $0 · 5 people listed
  • Consistency: 19 of 20 current checks pass · 1 finding to review
  • 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
  • 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.

  • Review — Accountability: Governance controls: 2 of 7 not reported.
  • High — Growth: Program expense growth scored 0/100.
  • High — Sustainability: Operating margin scored 29/100.
  • Moderate — Transparency & Controls: Schedule A contributions reconciliation did not reconcile in the filed values.
  • High — Sustainability: Total-asset coverage ratio scored 10/100.
  • Moderate — Sustainability: Liabilities to assets ratio scored 31/100.