Nextup Inc

Nonprofit profile at a glance

EIN: 760677933
IRS 990 coverage: 2010–2025
Forms available: Form 990 2025
Location: Lutherville, MD, USA
Phone: 4434642460
Rating: 69
Verdict: SUPPORTED
Rating confidence: Moderate
Sector: Adult, Continuing Education

Official website

Reported finances

Revenue: $8,882,009
Expenses: $9,746,881
Assets: $1,268,075
Liabilities: $1,782,806

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

Leadership & pay

25 people listed

Executive titles in this filing

LISA BAIRD (PRESIDENT AND CEO)

Highest reported compensation

LISA BAIRD (PRESIDENT AND CEO): $275,159 total reported compensation
KAREN A JONES (VP OF LEARNING AND DEVELOPMENT): $262,845 total reported compensation
KRISTI LEANN ALLEN (VP FINANCE & ADMINISTRATION): $232,747 total reported compensation

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

Overview

Mission

Open to all genders, nextup provides leadership development, resources, and programming designed to create equitable opportunities for everyone, while acknowledging the unique barriers women continue to face.

What it reported doing in 2025

At nextup, we conduct all programs and employment practices in full compliance with federal, state, and local laws. Decisions regarding training, hiring, promotion, and compensation are made without regard to protected characteristics and are based solely on merit and qualifications. In 2025, nextup continued to build momentum in its mission to develop the next generation of leaders and foster inclusive workplace cultures that advance all people, including women, in business. Open to all genders, nextup delivers leadership development, resources, and programming designed to create equal opportunities for everyone, while acknowledging the unique barriers women continue to face. Highlights included hosting the nextup leadership summit--our largest annual gathering--which continued to bring together more than 1,000 attendees for immersive leadership development, networking, and career advancement opportunities. Nextup also advanced its executive engagement through the 2025 executive forum, convening senior leaders for a three-day experience focused on "vision + velocity" --a call for leaders to move boldly and inclusively to create lasting impact in a rapidly evolving business landscape. Across its national and regional programming, nextup continued to activate a powerful and growing community of thousands of members and 300+ corporate partners and regional sponsors, strengthening leadership pipelines and expanding access to high-impact development opportunities. Engagement remained strong across this expanding membership, supported by a robust calendar of nearly 400 events that fostered connection, skill-building, and collaboration among leaders at every career stage. In december, nextup and paradigm for parity merged to unite two leading nonprofit communities, expanding collective reach, resources, and impact to accelerate inclusive leadership across industries at scale. Through these efforts, nextup reaffirmed its commitment to cultivating inclusive leadership pipelines, accelerating career growth, and equipping leaders to navigate the future of work with purpose and impact. As we approach our 25th anniversary in 2026, nextup remains focused on empowering leaders of all genders to build inclusive, thriving workplace cultures. The future is bright for nextup and for our mission: advancing all people, including women, in business.

Operating model

Revenue model: Earned-program. 91% of the money available for current operations came from fees and other program revenue.
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

SUPPORTED - A large share of available resources goes toward mission work and most voting board members are independent. The filing reports few safeguards for money sent abroad and the filing does not identify recipients for some grant dollars.

Rating breakdown

Financial Efficiency: 72
Transparency & Controls: 54
Accountability: 100
Sustainability: 9
Growth: 80

Detailed rating inputs

Financial Efficiency

Mission deployment rate: 83.8%; rating input score 84
Program expense ratio: 76.5%; rating input score 76
Fundraising efficiency: $1.59 raised per $1 spent on fundraising; rating input score 4; 4th percentile among comparable filings

Transparency & Controls

Consistency checks: 100%; rating input score 100; 63rd percentile among comparable filings
Pay-setting controls: 3 of 6 controls in place; rating input score 50
- Compensation committee: Pass
- Independent consultant: Missing
- Other Form 990s reviewed: Missing
- Written employment contract: Missing
- Compensation survey or study: Pass
- Board or committee approval: Pass
Foreign activity oversight: Scored; rating input score 0
Grant itemization coverage: Scored; rating input score 0
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: 9 of 9 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: Pass
- Form 990 shared with the board: Pass
- Board meeting minutes documented: Pass
- Audit committee oversight: Pass
- Independent financial-statement audit: Pass

Sustainability

Operating margin: -9.7%; rating input score 10; 10th percentile among comparable filings
Total-asset coverage ratio: 0.13; rating input score 4; 4th percentile among comparable filings
Liabilities to assets ratio: 1.41; rating input score 1; 1st percentile among comparable filings
Officer compensation ratio: 15.2%; rating input score 22; 22nd percentile among comparable filings

Growth

Program expense growth: 7.5% per year; rating input score 100; 50th percentile among comparable filings
Revenue growth: 6.4% per year; rating input score 100; 47th percentile among comparable filings
Asset growth: -1.2% per year; rating input score 0; 8th percentile among comparable filings

Details

Where the money goes: 83.8% of revenue deployed · 76.5% of spending went to programs
Governance: 18 of 18 board members independent · 9 of 9 filing controls reported
Programs: 1 filed program accomplishment · $7.5M in reported program spending
Leadership: top reported pay $275K · 25 people listed · 3 of 6 pay-setting controls reported
Highest-paid contractors: 5 contractors listed · $2.1M reported
Consistency: 31 of 31 current checks pass
Schedules: 7 filed schedules · includes major donors, foreign activity, and executive pay
Filing history: 15 filing years from 2010 to 2025
Contacts: How to reach this organization
Money network: 7 filed money-flow records
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 — Transparency & Controls: Foreign activity oversight scored 0/100.
High — Transparency & Controls: Grant itemization coverage scored 0/100.
High — Financial Efficiency: Fundraising efficiency scored 4/100.
High — Sustainability: Operating margin scored 10/100.
High — Sustainability: Total-asset coverage ratio scored 4/100.
High — Growth: Asset growth scored 0/100.
High — Sustainability: Liabilities to assets ratio scored 1/100.
High — Sustainability: Officer compensation ratio scored 22/100.