Portland Workforce Alliance

Nonprofit profile at a glance

EIN
272964874
IRS 990 coverage
2020–2024
Forms available
Form 990 2024
Location
Portland, OR, USA
Phone
5035776177
Rating
80
Verdict
STRONG
Rating confidence
Moderate
Sector
Alliance/Advocacy Organizations

Official website

Reported finances

Revenue
$817,841
Expenses
$681,427
Assets
$1,202,453
Liabilities
$12,206

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

Leadership & pay

28 people listed

Executive titles in this filing

  • Susan Nielsen (Executive Director)
  • Matt Hanson (President)
  • Cole Whitehurst (Vice President)

Highest reported compensation

  • Susan Nielsen (Executive Director): $110,858 total reported compensation

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

Overview

Mission

PWA builds enduring partnerships between businesses and Portland-metro high schools. By providing students with career-learning opportunities, we enrich their academic knowledge, inspire them to graduate and help them make informed choices after high school. PWA helps young people find good careers and support the regions economic vitality.

What it reported doing in 2024

NW Youth Careers Expo-The NW Youth Careers Expo is the Northwests largest career-learning opportunity for high school students. It features approximately 200 booths hosted by employers and postsecondary partners in all industry sectors and attracts thousands of students from area high schools. Its purpose is to 1 educate students about the amazing range of career opportunities in our region and the skills/education needed to pursue those jobs, and 2 help Oregon employers build an educated, skilled and diverse workforce. Sponsors cover event costs and suppport our year-round work with students and employers. The March 2025 Expo attracted 230 exhibitor booths hosted by 182 different vendors, engaged 710 volunteers and drew 5,370 students and educators from 85 high schools.

Operating model

Revenue model
Donor-supported. 66% 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

STRONG - A large share of available resources goes toward mission work and the filed numbers largely add up. Some filing-based governance responses are negative or unanswered and fundraising costs are high for each dollar raised.

Rating breakdown

  • Financial Efficiency: 74
  • Transparency & Controls: 92
  • Accountability: 74
  • Sustainability: 62
  • Growth: 100

Detailed rating inputs

Financial Efficiency

  • Mission deployment rate: 72.5%; rating input score 73
  • Program expense ratio: 85.7%; rating input score 86
  • Fundraising efficiency: $12.06 raised per $1 spent on fundraising; rating input score 44; 44th percentile among comparable filings

Transparency & Controls

  • Consistency checks: 100%; rating input score 100; 63rd percentile among comparable filings
  • Pay-setting controls: Limited
  • 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: 3 of 8 controls in place; rating input score 38
    • Conflict-of-interest policy: Fail
    • Whistleblower policy: Fail
    • Document-retention policy: Fail
    • 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: Missing
    • Independent financial-statement audit: Fail

Sustainability

  • Operating margin: 16.7%; rating input score 72; 72nd percentile among comparable filings
  • Total-asset coverage ratio: 1.76; rating input score 61; 61st percentile among comparable filings
  • Liabilities to assets ratio: 0.01; rating input score 69; 69th percentile among comparable filings
  • Officer compensation ratio: 16.3%; rating input score 20; 20th percentile among comparable filings

Growth

  • Program expense growth: 18.1% per year; rating input score 100; 80th percentile among comparable filings
  • Revenue growth: 17.7% per year; rating input score 100; 83rd percentile among comparable filings
  • Asset growth: 12.5% per year; rating input score 100; 66th percentile among comparable filings

Details

  • Where the money goes: 72.5% of revenue deployed · 85.7% of spending went to programs
  • Governance: 28 of 28 board members independent · 3 of 8 filing controls reported
  • Programs: 2 filed program accomplishments · $584K in reported program spending
  • Leadership: top reported pay $111K · 28 people listed
  • Consistency: 27 of 27 current checks pass
  • Schedules: 5 filed schedules · includes major donors
  • Filing history: 4 filing years from 2020 to 2024
  • Contacts: How to reach this organization
  • Money network: 1 filed money-flow record
  • 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.

  • Moderate — Accountability: Governance controls: 4 of 7 not reported.
  • Moderate — Financial Efficiency: Fundraising efficiency scored 44/100.
  • High — Sustainability: Officer compensation ratio scored 20/100.