Public Assistants Inc
Nonprofit profile at a glance
- EIN
- 852645291
- IRS 990 coverage
- 2022–2023
- Forms available
- Form 990 2023, Form 990-EZ 2021
- Location
- Brooklyn, NY, USA
- Phone
- 2153411272
- Rating
- 59
- Verdict
- MIXED
- Rating confidence
- Moderate
- Sector
- Arts, Cultural Organizations - Multipurpose
Reported finances
- Revenue
- $62,154
- Expenses
- $119,114
- Assets
- $81,074
- Liabilities
- $18,289
Source: IRS Form 990. Selected filing: tax year 2023. Amounts in USD.
Leadership & pay
3 people listed
Executive titles in this filing
- India Karavackis (Board President)
Highest reported compensation
- DonChristian Jones (Founder): $31,500 total reported compensation
Source: IRS Form 990. Selected filing: tax year 2023. Names and roles reflect this filing, not necessarily current officeholders.
Overview
Mission
Public Assistants (PA) is a community design lab, and media production studio working to counter systemic inequity and neglect with solutions guided by creativity and collaborative, community based artmaking. PA works to create and support an ecosystem of Black and POC LGBTQi+ artists from New York City and social practice art forms that strengthen disenfranchised communities and reconsider traditional systems and practices of art and art making
What it reported doing in 2023
Public Assistants provided printing, publishing, and production services for QTBIPOC artists working at the intersections of community storytelling, cultural memory, and social imagination. The program offered access to fabrication tools, mentorship, and collaborative studio space to support the creation and distribution of new artistic works. These services expanded equitable access to cultural production and advanced the organization's mission to serve as a hub for community-rooted artistic practice. These services were provided with volunteer assistance.
Operating model
- Revenue model
- Other-operating. 74% of the money available for current operations came from other operating revenue.
- 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
MIXED - A large share of available resources goes toward mission work and the filed numbers largely add up. A relatively small share of voting board members are independent and a relatively small share of total spending goes to programs.
Rating breakdown
- Financial Efficiency: 75
- Transparency & Controls: 83
- Accountability: 12
- Sustainability: 19
- Growth: 20
Detailed rating inputs
Financial Efficiency
- Mission deployment rate: 100%; rating input score 100
- Program expense ratio: 59.4%; rating input score 59
- Fundraising efficiency: Limited
Transparency & Controls
- Consistency checks: 91.7%; rating input score 92; 22nd percentile among comparable filings
- Pay-setting controls: Limited
- Foreign activity oversight: Limited
- Grant itemization coverage: Limited
- Major donor itemization: Limited
- Related-party transparency: Limited
Accountability
- Independent voting board: 0%; rating input score 0; 9th percentile among comparable filings
- Governance controls: 2 of 7 controls in place; rating input score 29
- Conflict-of-interest policy: Pass
- Whistleblower policy: Fail
- Document-retention policy: Fail
- CEO compensation review process: NotApplicable
- Other executive compensation review process: NotApplicable
- Form 990 shared with the board: Fail
- Board meeting minutes documented: Pass
- Audit committee oversight: Missing
- Independent financial-statement audit: Fail
Sustainability
- Operating margin: -91.6%; rating input score 23; 23rd percentile among comparable filings
- Total-asset coverage ratio: 0.68; rating input score 19; 19th percentile among comparable filings
- Liabilities to assets ratio: 0.23; rating input score 14; 14th percentile among comparable filings
- Officer compensation ratio: 26.4%; rating input score 11; 11th percentile among comparable filings
Growth
- Program expense growth: -16.9% per year; rating input score 0; 21st percentile among comparable filings
- Revenue growth: -5% per year; rating input score 0; 45th percentile among comparable filings
- Asset growth: 19% per year; rating input score 100; 90th percentile among comparable filings
Details
- Where the money goes: 100% of revenue deployed · 59.4% of spending went to programs
- Governance: 0 of 7 board members independent · 2 of 7 filing controls reported
- Programs: 4 filed program accomplishments · $71K in reported program spending
- Leadership: top reported pay $32K · 3 people listed
- Consistency: 39 of 39 current checks pass
- Schedules: 3 filed schedules
- Filing history: 2 filing years from 2022 to 2023
- Contacts: How to reach this organization
- Money network: 2 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.
Key Signals
Signals prioritize questions for review. They are not findings of misconduct.
- High — Accountability: Independent voting board scored 0/100.
- Review — Financial Efficiency: Program expense ratio scored 59/100.
- High — Accountability: Governance controls: 4 of 6 not reported.
- High — Growth: Program expense growth scored 0/100.
- High — Growth: Revenue growth scored 0/100.
- High — Sustainability: Operating margin scored 23/100.
- High — Sustainability: Total-asset coverage ratio scored 19/100.
- High — Sustainability: Officer compensation ratio scored 11/100.
- High — Sustainability: Liabilities to assets ratio scored 14/100.