PEACE, Inc.

Legal name: People's Equal Action and Community Effort Inc

Nonprofit profile at a glance

EIN
166095039
IRS 990 coverage
2010–2025
Official website data refreshed
Sep 2026
Forms available
Form 990 2025
Location
Syracuse, NY, USA
Phone
(315) 470-3300
Rating
89
Verdict
STRONG
Rating confidence
Moderate
Sector
Human Service Organizations

Official website

Reported finances

Revenue
$26,575,031
Expenses
$27,191,063
Assets
$9,642,494
Liabilities
$4,476,592

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

Leadership & pay

22 people listed

Executive titles in this filing

  • JUDGE JAMES H CECILE (PRESIDENT)
  • SHIRLEY COPES (2ND VICE PRESIDENT)
  • PAULA FREEDMAN (1ST VICE PRESIDENT)
  • CAROLYN D BROWN (EXECUTIVE DIRECTOR)

Highest reported compensation

  • CAROLYN D BROWN (EXECUTIVE DIRECTOR): $191,595 total reported compensation
  • NANCY SPECHT TURO (CFO): $153,584 total reported compensation
  • ARMANDA KING (DIRECTOR OF HR): $148,421 total reported compensation

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

Overview

Mission

Help people in the community realize their potential for becoming self-sufficient

What it reported doing in 2025

Children and family services - strengthens families and communities through a network of neighborhood-based sites including five family resource centers, eastwood community center, big brothers big sisters, and free tax prep. The department serves onondaga and portions of oswego county, providing a continuum of support services such as emergency assistance, crisis intervention, advocacy, early childhood career pathways, employment support, reentry services, free tax preparation and financial education, youth enrichment and mentoring, peer support groups, whole-family and intergenerational programming. These programs service 7,453 individuals and families annually.

Operating model

Revenue model
Grant-funded. 87% of the money available for current operations came from government grants.
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. Expenses are high relative to revenue and total assets are small relative to annual expenses; liquid coverage is unknown.

Rating breakdown

  • Financial Efficiency: 90
  • Transparency & Controls: 89
  • Accountability: 100
  • Sustainability: 21
  • Growth: 100

Detailed rating inputs

Financial Efficiency

  • Mission deployment rate: 90.3%; rating input score 90
  • Program expense ratio: 88.2%; rating input score 88
  • Fundraising efficiency: $6,949.93 raised per $1 spent on fundraising; rating input score 99; 99th percentile among comparable filings

Transparency & Controls

  • Consistency checks: 100%; rating input score 100; 64th percentile among comparable filings
  • Pay-setting controls: 5 of 6 controls in place; rating input score 83
    • Compensation committee: Missing
    • Independent consultant: Pass
    • Other Form 990s reviewed: Pass
    • Written employment contract: Pass
    • Compensation survey or study: Pass
    • 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; 64th 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: -2.3%; rating input score 14; 14th percentile among comparable filings
  • Total-asset coverage ratio: 0.35; rating input score 8; 8th percentile among comparable filings
  • Liabilities to assets ratio: 0.46; rating input score 28; 28th percentile among comparable filings
  • Officer compensation ratio: 3.3%; rating input score 71; 71st percentile among comparable filings

Growth

  • Program expense growth: 2.1% per year; rating input score 100; 18th percentile among comparable filings
  • Revenue growth: 0.3% per year; rating input score 100; 7th percentile among comparable filings
  • Asset growth: 4.5% per year; rating input score 100; 30th percentile among comparable filings

Details

  • What they do: 9 programs and campaigns described on the official site · 1 operating location identified
  • Where the money goes: 90.3% of revenue deployed · 88.2% of spending went to programs
  • Governance: 14 of 14 board members independent · 9 of 9 filing controls reported
  • Programs: 4 filed program accomplishments · $24M in reported program spending
  • Leadership: top reported pay $192K · 22 people listed · 5 of 6 pay-setting controls reported
  • Highest-paid contractors: 4 contractors listed · $702K reported
  • Consistency: 34 of 34 current checks pass
  • Schedules: 7 filed schedules · includes major donors and executive pay
  • Filing history: 16 filing years from 2010 to 2025
  • Contacts: How to reach this organization
  • Money network: 6 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.
  • Staff and benefit plans: Retirement and health plans the organization files with the Department of Labor, and the people in them.

Key Signals

Signals prioritize questions for review. They are not findings of misconduct.

  • High — Sustainability: Operating margin scored 14/100.
  • High — Sustainability: Total-asset coverage ratio scored 8/100.
  • High — Sustainability: Liabilities to assets ratio scored 28/100.