Schooltalk Inc

Nonprofit profile at a glance

EIN
753193473
IRS 990 coverage
2013–2024
Forms available
Form 990 2024, Form 990-EZ 2012
Location
Washington, DC, USA
Phone
2029076887
Rating
76
Verdict
SUPPORTED
Rating confidence
Moderate
Sector
Management & Technical Assistance

Official website

Reported finances

Revenue
$2,607,333
Expenses
$2,481,662
Assets
$1,066,513
Liabilities
$151,359

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

Leadership & pay

14 people listed

Executive titles in this filing

  • LEILA PETERSON (EXECUTIVE DIRECTOR)

Highest reported compensation

  • LEILA PETERSON (EXECUTIVE DIRECTOR): $139,911 total reported compensation
  • YAZID JACKSON (RESTORATIVEDC DIRECTOR): $113,360 total reported compensation
  • JESSICA GONZALES (DIRECTOR, INCLUSIVEDC): $109,934 total reported compensation

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

Overview

Mission

Schooltalk supports youth with disabilities and their peers to thrive in school and achieve fulfilling postsecondary outcomes by creating spaces that emphasize self-determination, community-building, and inclusion.

What it reported doing in 2024

Technical assistance - schooltalk provides technical assistance to schools, government and community organizations, youth, and families to identify and address the complex needs of youth with disabilites and their peers. Specific initiatives include youth leadership and employment-related programs for dc youth with disabilites, including summer employment, internships, employer development, video resumes, and self-determination activites. Schooltalk provides workshops and professional development in related topics and sponsors collaborative opportunities for stakeholders to network and problem-solve together, such as working groups and communities of practice. Schooltalk sponsors the annual voices of change conference, organized and led by youth with disabilites. Schooltalk hosts a website that provides a clearinghouse of resources for youth with disabilites and the people who support them. Schooltalk also disseminates a bi-weekly newsletter with resources and events related to the transition of youth with disabilites and hosts an annual secondary transition community fair and forum for students with disabilites, schools, teachers, families, government organizations, and community organizations.

Operating model

Revenue model
Earned-program. 90% of the money available for current operations came from fees and other program revenue.
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 some filing-based governance responses are negative or unanswered.

Rating breakdown

  • Financial Efficiency: 70
  • Transparency & Controls: 83
  • Accountability: 79
  • Sustainability: 36
  • Growth: 100

Detailed rating inputs

Financial Efficiency

  • Mission deployment rate: 76.5%; rating input score 77
  • Program expense ratio: 80.4%; rating input score 80
  • Fundraising efficiency: $1.52 raised per $1 spent on fundraising; rating input score 4; 4th percentile among comparable filings

Transparency & Controls

  • Consistency checks: 93.3%; rating input score 93; 17th percentile among comparable filings
  • Pay-setting controls: Limited
  • Foreign activity oversight: Limited
  • Grant itemization coverage: 74%; rating input score 74; 20th 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: 4 of 8 controls in place; rating input score 50
    • Conflict-of-interest policy: Pass
    • Whistleblower policy: Fail
    • Document-retention policy: Fail
    • CEO compensation review process: Fail
    • Other executive compensation review process: NotApplicable
    • Form 990 shared with the board: Fail
    • Board meeting minutes documented: Pass
    • Audit committee oversight: Pass
    • Independent financial-statement audit: Pass

Sustainability

  • Operating margin: 4.8%; rating input score 50; 50th percentile among comparable filings
  • Total-asset coverage ratio: 0.43; rating input score 14; 14th percentile among comparable filings
  • Liabilities to assets ratio: 0.14; rating input score 52; 52nd percentile among comparable filings
  • Officer compensation ratio: 14.6%; rating input score 19; 19th percentile among comparable filings

Growth

  • Program expense growth: 13.7% per year; rating input score 100; 75th percentile among comparable filings
  • Revenue growth: 16.3% per year; rating input score 100; 84th percentile among comparable filings
  • Asset growth: 21.1% per year; rating input score 100; 85th percentile among comparable filings

Details

  • Where the money goes: 76.5% of revenue deployed · 80.4% of spending went to programs
  • Governance: 11 of 11 board members independent · 4 of 8 filing controls reported
  • Programs: 2 filed program accomplishments · $2M in reported program spending
  • Leadership: top reported pay $140K · 14 people listed
  • Highest-paid contractors: 2 contractors listed · $268K reported
  • Consistency: 31 of 32 current checks pass · 1 finding to review
  • Schedules: 5 filed schedules · includes major donors and grants
  • Filing history: 11 filing years from 2013 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.

Key Signals

Signals prioritize questions for review. They are not findings of misconduct.

  • High — Financial Efficiency: Fundraising efficiency scored 4/100.
  • Review — Accountability: Governance controls: 4 of 8 not reported.
  • High — Sustainability: Total-asset coverage ratio scored 14/100.
  • Review — Sustainability: Operating margin scored 50/100.
  • Review — Transparency & Controls: Domestic grant itemization did not reconcile in the filed values.
  • High — Sustainability: Officer compensation ratio scored 19/100.
  • Review — Sustainability: Liabilities to assets ratio scored 52/100.