Owamniyomni Okhodayapi

Nonprofit profile at a glance

EIN
811716095
IRS 990 coverage
2016–2025
Forms available
Form 990 2025
Location
Minneapolis, MN, USA
Phone
6122083159
Rating
66
Verdict
SUPPORTED
Rating confidence
Moderate
Sector
Water Resource, Wetlands Conservation and Management

Official website

Reported finances

Revenue
$6,512,575
Expenses
$1,739,542
Assets
$24,352,945
Liabilities
$1,130,600

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

Leadership & pay

17 people listed

Executive titles in this filing

  • SHELLEY BUCK (PRESIDENT)

Highest reported compensation

  • SHELLEY BUCK (PRESIDENT): $160,000 total reported compensation
  • BARRY HAND (PROGRAM DIRECTOR): $118,300 total reported compensation

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

Overview

Mission

Owamniyomni okhodayapi is a dakota-led nonprofit creating a future where dakota culture has a vital presence and dakota values-such as mni wiconi, or water is life-are embedded into our communal existence. We are currently working to transform five acres of land at owamniyomni (st. Anthony falls) into a place of restoration, education, healing and connection.

What it reported doing in 2025

Project: the owmniyomni project (op) is the first phase of site design completed in 2025. We finalized a plan fulfilling terms set forth in oo's exclusive rights agreement with the city of minneapolis, coordinated our design with adjacent minneapolis park & recreation board land, and partnered with the Mississippi watershed management organization to test water quality in the stagnant mill race. Project work is multi-jurisdictional, rooted in regular coordination meetings with the city, mprb, mwmo, the us army corps of engineers, the oo design team and representatives of mnsota's four dakota nations. Additional 2025 activities include surveying, re-platting, hiring a construction manager, and starting the construction bidding process. Programming: oo's lifeways programming elevates dakota values and combats cultural erasure through education and storytelling. Lifeways includes dugout canoe carving (~200 participants), interpretive site tours (~1200 participants), instructional videos with 35,000+ views, dakota cultural celebrations, and recording and installing 9 bilingual dakota-english audio tour signs along the stone arch bridge. Oo advances storytelling work through our newsletter and interactive website; a multi-media kiosk in oo's engagement space; 25 speaking engagements; and oo's presence at 3 public festivals. All programming is governed by awayakapi (all-encompassing care), which ties site maintenance to cultural maintenance.

Operating model

Revenue model
Donor-supported. 90% 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.

The verdict

SUPPORTED - The filed numbers largely add up and most voting board members are independent. 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: 36
  • Transparency & Controls: 74
  • Accountability: 100
  • Sustainability: 82
  • Growth: 100

Detailed rating inputs

Financial Efficiency

  • Mission deployment rate: 22%; rating input score 22
  • Program expense ratio: 56.5%; rating input score 57
  • Fundraising efficiency: $13.73 raised per $1 spent on fundraising; rating input score 47; 47th percentile among comparable filings

Transparency & Controls

  • Consistency checks: 100%; rating input score 100; 63rd percentile among comparable filings
  • Pay-setting controls: 2 of 6 controls in place; rating input score 33
    • Compensation committee: Missing
    • Independent consultant: Missing
    • Other Form 990s reviewed: Missing
    • Written employment contract: Pass
    • Compensation survey or study: Missing
    • Board or committee approval: Pass
  • Foreign activity oversight: Limited
  • Grant itemization coverage: Limited
  • 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: 73.3%; rating input score 96; 96th percentile among comparable filings
  • Total-asset coverage ratio: 14; rating input score 91; 91st percentile among comparable filings
  • Liabilities to assets ratio: 0.05; rating input score 61; 61st percentile among comparable filings
  • Officer compensation ratio: 16%; rating input score 21; 21st percentile among comparable filings

Growth

  • Program expense growth: 15% per year; rating input score 100; 75th percentile among comparable filings
  • Revenue growth: 32.2% per year; rating input score 100; 94th percentile among comparable filings
  • Asset growth: 23.6% per year; rating input score 100; 88th percentile among comparable filings

Details

  • Where the money goes: 22% of revenue deployed · 56.5% of spending went to programs
  • Governance: 15 of 15 board members independent · 8 of 8 filing controls reported
  • Programs: 1 filed program accomplishment · $983K in reported program spending
  • Leadership: top reported pay $160K · 17 people listed · 2 of 6 pay-setting controls reported
  • Highest-paid contractors: 2 contractors listed · $328K reported
  • Consistency: 31 of 31 current checks pass
  • Schedules: 7 filed schedules · includes major donors and executive pay
  • Filing history: 9 filing years from 2016 to 2025
  • Contacts: How to reach this organization
  • Money network: 2 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.

  • High — Financial Efficiency: Mission deployment rate scored 22/100.
  • Review — Financial Efficiency: Program expense ratio scored 57/100.
  • Moderate — Financial Efficiency: Fundraising efficiency scored 47/100.
  • High — Sustainability: Officer compensation ratio scored 21/100.