Parallax Futures

Nonprofit profile at a glance

EIN
871988727
IRS 990 coverage
2021–2022
Forms available
Form 990 2022
Location
Berkeley, CA, USA
Phone
5109266434
Rating
68
Verdict
SUPPORTED
Rating confidence
Standard
Sector
Graduate, Professional Schools (Separate Entities)

Official website

Reported finances

Revenue
$4,635,385
Expenses
$3,913,361
Assets
$1,338,063
Liabilities
$539,404

Source: IRS Form 990. Selected filing: tax year 2022. Amounts in USD.

Leadership & pay

7 people listed

Executive titles in this filing

  • Tobias Rees (President/CEO)

Highest reported compensation

  • Tobias Rees (President/CEO): $384,071 total reported compensation
  • Kim Carson (COO/Sect/Treas): $336,834 total reported compensation

Source: IRS Form 990. Selected filing: tax year 2022. Names and roles reflect this filing, not necessarily current officeholders.

Overview

Mission

Transformations of the human is a platform for DOING philosophy. We provide philosophical insight, aesthetically rendered, in an effort to build products practitioners and companies with philosophical agency.

What it reported doing in 2022

The ToftH School addresses an opportunity that previously did not exist: Fields like artificial intelligence, biogeochemistry and robotics disrupt the concepts we live by what it is to be human, what nature and machines and truth are, how to live together. Because of these disruptions, it has become possible to practice technology in terms of philosophy.ToftH is designed to address this exciting new opportunity.Our nine-month curriculum is focused on bringing together philosophy, art and technology in a practice we call PArT. PArT equips students to practice the concrete in terms of the abstract. Through playful engagement, students come to terms with the unexpected and learn how to conduct experiments with philosophies and technologies. Cohort 1 graduated in June 2022. Cohort 2 will double the size, admitting up to 25 students. Nearly half of the cohort is international.

Operating model

Revenue model
Donor-supported. 85% of the money available for current operations came from contributions and gifts.
Distribution model
Hybrid. The nonprofit split its reported program spending across 73% for direct work, and 27% for grants.

The verdict

SUPPORTED - A large share of total spending goes to programs and the filed numbers largely add up. A relatively small share of available resources goes toward mission work and the filing reports few safeguards for money sent abroad.

Rating breakdown

  • Financial Efficiency: 60
  • Transparency & Controls: 74
  • Accountability: 72
  • Sustainability: 42
  • Growth: 100

Detailed rating inputs

Financial Efficiency

  • Mission deployment rate: 58.3%; rating input score 58
  • Program expense ratio: 69.1%; rating input score 69
  • Fundraising efficiency: $11.75 raised per $1 spent on fundraising; rating input score 42; 42nd 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: Missing
    • Independent consultant: Missing
    • Other Form 990s reviewed: Missing
    • Written employment contract: Pass
    • Compensation survey or study: Pass
    • Board or committee approval: Pass
  • Foreign activity oversight: 0 of 8 controls in place; rating input score 0
    • Claims monitoring procedures: Fail
    • Requires narrative reports: Fail
    • Conducts field audits: Fail
    • May suspend future funding: Fail
    • Requires financial reports: Fail
    • Conducts site visits: Fail
    • Requires grant agreements: Fail
    • May require repayment: Fail
  • Grant itemization coverage: 100%; rating input score 100; 72nd percentile among comparable filings
  • Major donor itemization: Yes; rating input score 100
  • Related-party transparency: Yes; rating input score 100

Accountability

  • Independent voting board: 60%; rating input score 60; 9th percentile among comparable filings
  • Governance controls: 8 of 9 controls in place; rating input score 89
    • Conflict-of-interest policy: Fail
    • 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: 15.6%; rating input score 72; 72nd percentile among comparable filings
  • Total-asset coverage ratio: 0.34; rating input score 10; 10th percentile among comparable filings
  • Liabilities to assets ratio: 0.4; rating input score 28; 28th percentile among comparable filings
  • Officer compensation ratio: 18.4%; rating input score 12; 12th percentile among comparable filings

Growth

  • Program expense growth: 152.1% per year; rating input score 100; 100th percentile among comparable filings
  • Revenue growth: 149.1% per year; rating input score 100; 100th percentile among comparable filings
  • Asset growth: 158.5% per year; rating input score 100; 100th percentile among comparable filings

Details

  • Where the money goes: 58.3% of revenue deployed · 69.1% of spending went to programs
  • Governance: 3 of 5 board members independent · 8 of 9 filing controls reported
  • Programs: 3 filed program accomplishments · $2.7M in reported program spending
  • Leadership: top reported pay $384K · 7 people listed · 3 of 6 pay-setting controls reported
  • Highest-paid contractors: 1 contractor listed · $190K reported
  • Consistency: 38 of 38 current checks pass
  • Schedules: 9 filed schedules · includes major donors, foreign activity, grants, executive pay, and related organizations
  • Filing history: 2 filing years from 2021 to 2022
  • Contacts: How to reach this organization
  • Money network: 2 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.

Grant-readiness screening is separate from the live rating, not a measure of program quality. Review the source records before making a grant decision.

  • Review — Financial Efficiency: Mission deployment rate scored 58/100.
  • High — Transparency & Controls: Foreign activity oversight: 8 of 8 not reported.
  • Moderate — Financial Efficiency: Fundraising efficiency scored 42/100.
  • High — Sustainability: Total-asset coverage ratio scored 10/100.
  • Review — Accountability: Governance controls: Conflict-of-interest policy not reported.
  • High — Sustainability: Officer compensation ratio scored 12/100.
  • High — Sustainability: Liabilities to assets ratio scored 28/100.
  • High — Grant Readiness: Automatic revocation: this organization had its federal tax-exempt status automatically revoked.