School of Leadership-afghanistan Inc
Nonprofit profile at a glance
- EIN
- 800967564
- IRS 990 coverage
- 2016–2024
- Forms available
- Form 990 2024
- Location
- Boston, MA, USA
- Phone
- 6172130425
- Rating
- 85
- Verdict
- STRONG
- Rating confidence
- Standard
Reported finances
- Revenue
- $16,606,520
- Expenses
- $19,135,253
- Assets
- $47,838,217
- Liabilities
- $887,747
Source: IRS Form 990. Selected filing: tax year 2024. Amounts in USD.
Leadership & pay
15 people listed
Executive titles in this filing
- SHABANA BASIJ-RASIKH (PRESIDENT & CO-FOUNDER)
Highest reported compensation
- SHABANA BASIJ-RASIKH (PRESIDENT & CO-FOUNDER): $402,082 total reported compensation
- KEVIN JONES (DIRECTOR OF COMMUNICATIONS): $126,770 total reported compensation
- JANEL VERTZ (FINANCE DIRECTOR): $122,456 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 provide afghan girls a rigorous education that promotes critical thinking, a sense of purpose, and respect for self and others.
What it reported doing in 2024
Solax is sola inc.'s digital whatsapp-based programming. Students need only a smartphone and a basic cellular connection to take part and access free, daily, asynchronous classwork in three languages (english, dari, and pashto). While open to any student anywhere in the world, solax was specifically designed for afghan learners in general and afghan girls in particular, and is a key component of sola's response to the taliban's education ban that forbids girls from attending school beyond 6th grade in afghanistan.
Operating model
- Revenue model
- Donor-supported. 92% of the money available for current operations came from contributions and gifts.
- Distribution model
- Grant intermediary. The nonprofit sent 95% of its reported program spending out as grants.
- Includes noncash contributions: Reported contributions include donated property or goods.
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: 90
- Transparency & Controls: 76
- Accountability: 95
- Sustainability: 42
- Growth: 100
Detailed rating inputs
Financial Efficiency
- Mission deployment rate: 100%; rating input score 100
- Program expense ratio: 87.8%; rating input score 88
- Fundraising efficiency: $13 raised per $1 spent on fundraising; rating input score 46; 46th percentile among comparable filings
Transparency & Controls
- Consistency checks: 100%; rating input score 100; 62nd 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: Pass
- Written employment contract: Missing
- Compensation survey or study: Missing
- Board or committee approval: Pass
- Foreign activity oversight: 1 of 8 controls in place; rating input score 12
- Claims monitoring procedures: Pass
- Requires narrative reports: Limited
- Conducts field audits: Limited
- May suspend future funding: Limited
- Requires financial reports: Limited
- Conducts site visits: Limited
- Requires grant agreements: Limited
- May require repayment: 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: Yes; rating input score 100
Accountability
- Independent voting board: 92.3%; rating input score 92; 25th 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: -15.2%; rating input score 7; 7th percentile among comparable filings
- Total-asset coverage ratio: 2.5; rating input score 69; 69th percentile among comparable filings
- Liabilities to assets ratio: 0.02; rating input score 90; 90th percentile among comparable filings
- Officer compensation ratio: 3.4%; rating input score 65; 65th percentile among comparable filings
Growth
- Program expense growth: 38.7% per year; rating input score 100; 97th percentile among comparable filings
- Revenue growth: 28.5% per year; rating input score 100; 96th percentile among comparable filings
- Asset growth: 32% per year; rating input score 100; 96th percentile among comparable filings
Details
- Where the money goes: 100% of revenue deployed · 87.8% of spending went to programs
- Governance: 12 of 13 board members independent · 9 of 9 filing controls reported
- Programs: 3 filed program accomplishments · $16.8M in reported program spending
- Leadership: top reported pay $402K · 15 people listed · 3 of 6 pay-setting controls reported
- Highest-paid contractors: 2 contractors listed · $530K reported
- Consistency: 42 of 42 current checks pass
- Schedules: 10 filed schedules · includes major donors, foreign activity, grants, executive pay, and related organizations
- Filing history: 8 filing years from 2016 to 2024
- Contacts: How to reach this organization
- Money network: 3 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.
- Moderate — Financial Efficiency: Fundraising efficiency scored 46/100.
- High — Sustainability: Operating margin scored 7/100.