Propel Education

Nonprofit profile at a glance

EIN
474045034
IRS 990 coverage
2019–2024
Forms available
Form 990 2024, Form 990-N 2018
Location
Birmingham, AL, USA
Phone
2055471800
Rating
84
Verdict
STRONG
Rating confidence
Moderate
Sector
Employment Procurement Assistance

Reported finances

Revenue
$8,533,384
Expenses
$12,948,086
Assets
$26,412,888
Liabilities
$10,346,047

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

Leadership & pay

21 people listed

Executive titles in this filing

  • Lisa Herring (President, Propel Center)
  • Waymond Jackson (President, Ed Farm)

Highest reported compensation

  • Lisa Herring (President, Propel Center): $328,427 total reported compensation
  • Camesha Whittaker (Chief Innovation & Design Offi): $228,115 total reported compensation
  • Waymond Jackson (President, Ed Farm): $193,077 total reported compensation

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

Overview

Mission

Propel education (d/b/a "ed farm") equips educators in schools and commmunities with innovative tools and strategies that support active learning for all students. Propel has a mission to provide hbcu students with the knowledge, skills, tools and resources necessary to transform our nation's talent pipeline and workforce. Ed farm provides place-based and virtual instructional services, resources, technology and workforce readiness training to individuals of all ages. Programs are intended for k-12 educators & students, college students, faculty & staff, un- or under-employed adult learners, as well as education technology innovators and entrepreneurs. Propel connects hbcu students with industry partners.

What it reported doing in 2024

K-12 educational support: teacher fellows program: school district leaders and administrators partner with ed farm to identify educators who are passionate about innovative teaching and learning. These educators form an annual cohort known as "teacher fellowsed farm equips them with innovative resources and teaching strategies that support active learning for all students. Teacher fellows also collaborate with one another and provide professional learning experiences for other teachers in their schools and districts. Student fellows program: middle and high school students participate in year-long, challenge-based learning experiences designed to solve real community problems. At the beginning of each experience, community leaders identify a challenge and invite student fellows to solve it during the school year. Students work together to investigate the challenge, build digital skills and create actionable solutions. Student fellows present their solutions to the community at the end of the year. Spaces: transform traditional educational environments into technological hubs for the education and exploration of k-12 students.

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 99% 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. Fundraising costs are high for each dollar raised and expenses are high relative to revenue.

Rating breakdown

  • Financial Efficiency: 86
  • Transparency & Controls: 79
  • Accountability: 100
  • Sustainability: 24
  • Growth: 100

Detailed rating inputs

Financial Efficiency

  • Mission deployment rate: 100%; rating input score 100
  • Program expense ratio: 79.9%; rating input score 80
  • Fundraising efficiency: $10.12 raised per $1 spent on fundraising; rating input score 38; 38th 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: 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; 63rd 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: -51.7%; rating input score 2; 2nd percentile among comparable filings
  • Total-asset coverage ratio: 2.04; rating input score 62; 62nd percentile among comparable filings
  • Liabilities to assets ratio: 0.39; rating input score 27; 27th percentile among comparable filings
  • Officer compensation ratio: 19.1%; rating input score 13; 13th percentile among comparable filings

Growth

  • Program expense growth: 31.3% per year; rating input score 100; 93rd percentile among comparable filings
  • Revenue growth: 4.3% per year; rating input score 100; 36th percentile among comparable filings
  • Asset growth: 24.2% per year; rating input score 100; 89th percentile among comparable filings

Details

  • Where the money goes: 100% of revenue deployed · 79.9% of spending went to programs
  • Governance: 6 of 6 board members independent · 9 of 9 filing controls reported
  • Programs: 3 filed program accomplishments · $10.4M in reported program spending
  • Leadership: top reported pay $328K · 21 people listed · 2 of 6 pay-setting controls reported
  • Highest-paid contractors: 5 contractors listed · $1.9M reported
  • Consistency: 31 of 31 current checks pass
  • Schedules: 8 filed schedules · includes major donors, grants, and executive pay
  • Filing history: 6 filing years from 2019 to 2024
  • Contacts: How to reach this organization
  • Money network: 15 filed money-flow records
  • Related organizations: 7 filed related-organization links
  • 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.

  • Moderate — Financial Efficiency: Fundraising efficiency scored 38/100.
  • High — Sustainability: Operating margin scored 2/100.
  • High — Sustainability: Officer compensation ratio scored 13/100.
  • High — Sustainability: Liabilities to assets ratio scored 27/100.