Porter-Leath

Nonprofit profile at a glance

EIN
581409385
IRS 990 coverage
2009–2024
Official website data refreshed
Sep 2026
Forms available
Form 990 2024
Location
Memphis, TN, US
Phone
901.577.2500
Rating
88
Verdict
STRONG
Rating confidence
Moderate

Official website

Reported finances

Revenue
$29,561,467
Expenses
$31,602,782
Assets
$47,970,545
Liabilities
$2,430,022

Source: IRS Form 990. Selected filing: tax year 2024. Amounts in USD.

Leadership & pay

29 people listed

Executive titles in this filing

  • SEAN LEE (PRESIDENT)
  • KAREN HARRELL (SENIOR VICE PRESIDENT)
  • ROBERT HUGHES (VICE PRESIDENT)
  • DR KELLEY L CORBIN (VICE PRESIDENT)
  • DENNIS FLEMING (VICE PRESIDENT)

Highest reported compensation

  • SEAN LEE (PRESIDENT): $275,307 total reported compensation
  • KAREN HARRELL (SENIOR VICE PRESIDENT): $173,581 total reported compensation
  • PAUL MAKRIS (CHIEF FINANCIAL OFFICER): $170,860 total reported compensation

Source: IRS Form 990. Selected filing: tax year 2024. Names and roles reflect this filing, not necessarily current officeholders.

Overview

Mission

Empower children and families to achieve a healthy, optimal and independent lifestyle.

What it reported doing in 2024

Cornerstone - provides certified parent educators to equip moms and dads with the prenatal and postnatal tools to have healthy babies and to promote positive development to give their children the best start in life. As pregnant and parenting families reach their potential, they promote stronger families in their own communities.generations - recruits, trains and places senior citizen mentors in community-based sites which builds relationships between children, adults and the seniors who make a positive difference in each other's lives encouraging healthy, productive and responsible communities.books from birth - provides a book each month by mail to over 36,000 children in shelby county from birth to five years of age which creates literacy connections for families, inspires nurturing bonds between caregivers and children and lasting, positive outcomes that extend beyond early childhood.next memphis - a shared service program model that helps independent childcare providers reduce costs and improve outcomes, so that they can direct more of their attention and resources to the classroom and families.

Operating model

Revenue model
Mixed. Its operating money came from several sources; no one source provided a clear majority.
Distribution model
Direct operator. The filing allocates 94% 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 some filing-based governance responses are negative or unanswered.

Rating breakdown

  • Financial Efficiency: 87
  • Transparency & Controls: 91
  • Accountability: 95
  • Sustainability: 39
  • Growth: 100

Detailed rating inputs

Financial Efficiency

  • Mission deployment rate: 91.5%; rating input score 92
  • Program expense ratio: 85.5%; rating input score 86
  • Fundraising efficiency: $27.87 raised per $1 spent on fundraising; rating input score 65; 65th percentile among comparable filings

Transparency & Controls

  • Consistency checks: 100%; rating input score 100; 62nd percentile among comparable filings
  • Pay-setting controls: 5 of 6 controls in place; rating input score 83
    • Compensation committee: Pass
    • Independent consultant: Pass
    • Other Form 990s reviewed: Pass
    • Written employment contract: Missing
    • Compensation survey or study: Pass
    • Board or committee approval: Pass
  • Foreign activity oversight: Limited
  • Grant itemization coverage: 100%; rating input score 100; 72nd percentile among comparable filings
  • Major donor itemization: Yes; rating input score 100
  • Related-party transparency: Limited

Accountability

  • Independent voting board: 100%; rating input score 100; 66th percentile among comparable filings
  • Governance controls: 8 of 9 controls in place; rating input score 89
    • Conflict-of-interest policy: Pass
    • Whistleblower policy: Pass
    • Document-retention policy: Pass
    • CEO compensation review process: Pass
    • Other executive compensation review process: Fail
    • Form 990 shared with the board: Pass
    • Board meeting minutes documented: Pass
    • Audit committee oversight: Pass
    • Independent financial-statement audit: Pass

Sustainability

  • Operating margin: -6.9%; rating input score 14; 14th percentile among comparable filings
  • Total-asset coverage ratio: 1.52; rating input score 51; 51st percentile among comparable filings
  • Liabilities to assets ratio: 0.05; rating input score 83; 83rd percentile among comparable filings
  • Officer compensation ratio: 3.5%; rating input score 64; 64th percentile among comparable filings

Growth

  • Program expense growth: 1.5% per year; rating input score 100; 17th percentile among comparable filings
  • Revenue growth: 5.9% per year; rating input score 100; 51st percentile among comparable filings
  • Asset growth: 15.2% per year; rating input score 100; 81st percentile among comparable filings

Details

  • What they do: 3 programs and campaigns described on the official site · 1 operating location identified
  • Where the money goes: 91.5% of revenue deployed · 85.5% of spending went to programs
  • Governance: 22 of 22 board members independent · 8 of 9 filing controls reported
  • Programs: 4 filed program accomplishments · $27M in reported program spending
  • Leadership: top reported pay $275K · 29 people listed · 5 of 6 pay-setting controls reported
  • Highest-paid contractors: 5 contractors listed · $1.6M reported
  • Consistency: 36 of 36 current checks pass
  • Schedules: 8 filed schedules · includes major donors, grants, and executive pay
  • Filing history: 15 filing years from 2009 to 2024
  • Contacts: How to reach this organization
  • Money network: 7 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.
  • 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.

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

  • High — Sustainability: Operating margin scored 14/100.
  • Review — Accountability: Governance controls: Other executive compensation review process not reported.
  • Review — Sustainability: Total-asset coverage ratio scored 51/100.
  • High — Grant Readiness: Federal audit findings: this organization reported findings in its latest federal Single Audit.