School Leader Lab

Nonprofit profile at a glance

EIN
821581985
IRS 990 coverage
2017–2024
Forms available
Form 990 2024, Form 990-N 2016
Location
Washington, DC, USA
Phone
2028102750
Rating
77
Verdict
SUPPORTED
Rating confidence
Moderate
Sector
Human Service Organizations

Official website

Reported finances

Revenue
$1,327,528
Expenses
$1,803,514
Assets
$3,493,176
Liabilities
$383,823

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

Leadership & pay

10 people listed

Executive titles in this filing

  • ERICA BEAL (EXECUTIVE DIRECTOR)

Highest reported compensation

  • ERICA BEAL (EXECUTIVE DIRECTOR): $242,503 total reported compensation
  • DAVID AYALA (LEAD PARTNER): $215,349 total reported compensation
  • AKOSUA KELLY (PARTNER): $172,758 total reported compensation

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

Overview

Mission

School leader lab supports schools and their networks in sustaining and growing high-quality schools through one of their most important assets: leaders. School leader lab partners with schools to strengthen their instructional leadership bench by developing exceptional teams made up of diverse leaders reflective of its community's students and by building organizational capacity for leader development.

What it reported doing in 2024

School leader cohort (slc): school leader cohort is our 18-month cohort for dc-based principals, vice principals, assistant principals, deans, instructional coaches, or an equivalent role. Slc develops exceptional principals and assistant principals so that they inspire staff, disrupt racism, and champion rigorous learning. Executive leader cohort (edex): executive leader cohort (edex) is our nine-month, cross-school program for leaders in managing, director, head, and chief-level roles and accomplished principals who have the potential to transition into executive-level leadership in the next 1-3 years. Edex develops high-performing and diverse systems leaders with the key skills and competencies needed to lead strong teams in chief-level executive roles. Teacher leader cohort (tlc): teacher leader cohort is our nine-month, cross-school program that develops transformational classroom-based leaders so that they exercise leadership on the teams they lead while remaining impactful with their immediate groups of 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

SUPPORTED - 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: 76
  • Transparency & Controls: 74
  • Accountability: 91
  • Sustainability: 26
  • Growth: 100

Detailed rating inputs

Financial Efficiency

  • Mission deployment rate: 92.5%; rating input score 93
  • Program expense ratio: 67.7%; rating input score 68
  • Fundraising efficiency: $4.84 raised per $1 spent on fundraising; rating input score 17; 17th 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: Pass
    • Written employment contract: Missing
    • Compensation survey or study: Missing
    • 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; 63rd 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: Fail
    • 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: -35.9%; rating input score 5; 5th percentile among comparable filings
  • Total-asset coverage ratio: 1.94; rating input score 64; 64th percentile among comparable filings
  • Liabilities to assets ratio: 0.11; rating input score 41; 41st percentile among comparable filings
  • Officer compensation ratio: 41.7%; rating input score 3; 3rd percentile among comparable filings

Growth

  • Program expense growth: 0.2% per year; rating input score 100; 18th percentile among comparable filings
  • Revenue growth: 5.1% per year; rating input score 100; 44th percentile among comparable filings
  • Asset growth: 21.6% per year; rating input score 100; 84th percentile among comparable filings

Details

  • Where the money goes: 92.5% of revenue deployed · 67.7% of spending went to programs
  • Governance: 6 of 6 board members independent · 7 of 9 filing controls reported
  • Programs: 8 filed program accomplishments · $1.2M in reported program spending
  • Leadership: top reported pay $243K · 10 people listed · 2 of 6 pay-setting controls reported
  • Consistency: 31 of 31 current checks pass
  • Schedules: 6 filed schedules · includes major donors and executive pay
  • Filing history: 7 filing years from 2017 to 2024
  • Contacts: How to reach this organization
  • Money network: 4 filed money-flow records
  • 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.

  • High — Financial Efficiency: Fundraising efficiency scored 17/100.
  • High — Sustainability: Operating margin scored 5/100.
  • Review — Accountability: Governance controls: 2 of 9 not reported.
  • High — Sustainability: Officer compensation ratio scored 3/100.
  • Moderate — Sustainability: Liabilities to assets ratio scored 41/100.