Safer Foundation
Nonprofit profile at a glance
- EIN
- 362762168
- IRS 990 coverage
- 2009–2024
- Official website data refreshed
- Sep 2026
- Forms available
- Form 990 2024
- Location
- Chicago, IL, US
- Phone
- (312) 922-2200
- Rating
- 82
- Verdict
- STRONG
- Rating confidence
- Standard
- Sector
- Rehabilitation Services for Offenders
Reported finances
- Revenue
- $33,380,571
- Expenses
- $36,084,731
- Assets
- $26,683,281
- Liabilities
- $24,742,310
Source: IRS Form 990. Selected filing: tax year 2024. Amounts in USD.
Leadership & pay
27 people listed
Executive titles in this filing
- VICTOR DICKSON (PRESIDENT & CEO)
Highest reported compensation
- VICTOR DICKSON (PRESIDENT & CEO): $458,806 total reported compensation
- MARK YATES (INTERIM CFO): $401,688 total reported compensation
- SODIQA WILLIAMS (VP-SUPPORTIVE REENTRY): $279,125 total reported compensation
Source: IRS Form 990. Selected filing: tax year 2024. Names and roles reflect this filing, not necessarily current officeholders.
Overview
Mission
To support individuals with a history in the criminal justice system in becoming law-abiding members of their communities.
What it reported doing in 2024
Employment services in Illinois and Iowa - provides individualized intake assessments, job readiness training, and industry-specific skills development for adults with arrest or conviction records. Participants are supported in securing employment in high-demand sectors such as technology, construction, solar energy, transportation and distribution, warehousing and logistics, finance and banking, healthcare, food service and hospitality, and advanced manufacturing. Safer's approach to building sustainable talent pipelines includes work-based learning opportunities, including pre-apprenticeship and apprenticeship models that expand access to skilled trades careers for justice-impacted individuals. With the support of over 200 employer partners, safer helps participants obtain and retain permanent employment. In addition to participant services, safer provides dedicated support to employers. These services include tailored job matching, pre-screened candidate referrals, and ongoing post-placement follow-up to promote long-term retention and workplace success. Partnering with safer gives employers access to a diverse, job-ready talent pool along with coaching and technical assistance. Services are delivered through the ascend service model, a holistic, evidence-based framework that addresses participants' comprehensive needs. In addition to employment services, participants receive case management, skills training, financial literacy, housing assistance, transportation support, and behavioral health services. These efforts empower individuals to build stronger futures while supporting employers in meeting their workforce needs. Services are made possible through collaboration with key stakeholders and funders, including wioa titles i-iv, Illinois department of economic opportunity (idceo), Illinois department of healthcare and family services, Illinois criminal justice information authority (icjia), local workforce innovation boards (lwibs), the u.s. Department of justice, the u.s. Department of labor, cook county department of corrections (ccdoc), Illinois and Iowa departments of corrections, and various municipalities, community foundations, and other community-based partners.
Operating model
- Revenue model
- Grant-funded. 81% 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.
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: 83
- Transparency & Controls: 81
- Accountability: 91
- Sustainability: 18
- Growth: 100
Detailed rating inputs
Financial Efficiency
- Mission deployment rate: 87.5%; rating input score 87
- Program expense ratio: 80.9%; rating input score 81
- Fundraising efficiency: $36.54 raised per $1 spent on fundraising; rating input score 70; 70th percentile among comparable filings
Transparency & Controls
- Consistency checks: 93.8%; rating input score 94; 17th percentile among comparable filings
- Pay-setting controls: 3 of 6 controls in place; rating input score 50
- Compensation committee: Pass
- Independent consultant: Missing
- Other Form 990s reviewed: Missing
- Written employment contract: Missing
- 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; 66th percentile among comparable filings
- Governance controls: 7 of 9 controls in place; rating input score 78
- 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: Missing
- Independent financial-statement audit: Fail
Sustainability
- Operating margin: -8.1%; rating input score 12; 12th percentile among comparable filings
- Total-asset coverage ratio: 0.74; rating input score 26; 26th percentile among comparable filings
- Liabilities to assets ratio: 0.93; rating input score 8; 8th percentile among comparable filings
- Officer compensation ratio: 7.2%; rating input score 35; 35th percentile among comparable filings
Growth
- Program expense growth: 4.5% per year; rating input score 100; 38th percentile among comparable filings
- Revenue growth: 3.1% per year; rating input score 100; 26th percentile among comparable filings
- Asset growth: 2.9% per year; rating input score 100; 22nd percentile among comparable filings
Details
- What they do: 3 programs and campaigns described on the official site · 7 operating locations identified
- Where the money goes: 87.5% of revenue deployed · 80.9% of spending went to programs
- Governance: 16 of 16 board members independent · 7 of 9 filing controls reported
- Programs: 7 filed program accomplishments · $29.2M in reported program spending
- Leadership: top reported pay $459K · 27 people listed · 3 of 6 pay-setting controls reported
- Consistency: 32 of 33 current checks pass · 1 finding to review
- Schedules: 7 filed schedules · includes major donors and executive pay
- Filing history: 16 filing years from 2009 to 2024
- Contacts: How to reach this organization
- Money network: 11 filed money-flow records
- Related organizations: 9 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.
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 12/100.
- High — Sustainability: Total-asset coverage ratio scored 26/100.
- Review — Accountability: Governance controls: Independent financial-statement audit not reported.
- High — Sustainability: Liabilities to assets ratio scored 8/100.
- Review — Transparency & Controls: Schedule R controlled transactions itemized did not reconcile in the filed values.
- Moderate — Sustainability: Officer compensation ratio scored 35/100.
- High — Grant Readiness: Federal audit findings: this organization reported findings in its latest federal Single Audit.