SEIU Local 521
Nonprofit profile at a glance
- EIN
- 208192637
- IRS 990 coverage
- 2010–2024
- Official website data refreshed
- Sep 2026
- Forms available
- Form 990 2024
- Location
- San Jose, CA, US
- Phone
- (408) 678-3300
- Rating confidence
- Limited
- Sector
- Labor Unions
Reported finances
- Revenue
- $38,917,248
- Expenses
- $36,491,954
- Assets
- $32,306,484
- Liabilities
- $8,030,052
Source: IRS Form 990. Selected filing: tax year 2024. Amounts in USD.
Leadership & pay
44 people listed
Executive titles in this filing
- RIKO MENDEZ (CEO)
- RILEY TALFORD (FIRST VICE PRESIDENT)
- MULLISSA WILLETTE (PRESIDENT)
- ALICIA ALEMAN (REGION VICE PRESIDENT)
- TAMMY DHANOTA (REGION VICE PRESIDENT)
- ALICIA METTERS (REGION VICE PRESIDENT)
Highest reported compensation
- DEBORAH NARVAEZ (EXEC REP TO CEO): $289,707 total reported compensation
- RIKO MENDEZ (CEO): $279,373 total reported compensation
- MARLENE VALDEZ (INTERNAL ORGANIZER): $269,163 total reported compensation
Source: IRS Form 990. Selected filing: tax year 2024. Names and roles reflect this filing, not necessarily current officeholders.
Overview
Mission
SEIU Local 521 is a democratically-run, member-driven organization. That means members govern and are at the heart of every decision in our union.
What it reported doing in 2024
To protect & preserve the union as a whole in the performance of it's legal and contractual obligations.
Operating model
- Revenue model
- Earned-program. 96% of the money available for current operations came from fees and other program revenue.
- Distribution model
- Cannot be determined from the filing. The filing does not provide enough consistent spending detail to tell whether the nonprofit works directly or through others.
The verdict
- The available evidence is not sufficient to produce an overall rating for this filing. This is not a warning sign.
Rating breakdown
- Financial Efficiency: NotEnoughData
- Transparency & Controls: 58
- Accountability: 86
- Sustainability: 49
- Growth: 60
Detailed rating inputs
Financial Efficiency
- Mission deployment rate: Limited
- Program expense ratio: Limited
- Fundraising efficiency: Limited
Transparency & Controls
- Consistency checks: 88.9%; rating input score 89; 3rd percentile among comparable filings
- Pay-setting controls: 1 of 6 controls in place; rating input score 17
- Compensation committee: Missing
- Independent consultant: Missing
- Other Form 990s reviewed: Missing
- Written employment contract: Missing
- Compensation survey or study: Missing
- Board or committee approval: Pass
- Foreign activity oversight: Limited
- Grant itemization coverage: 35.1%; rating input score 35; 10th 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; 66th percentile among comparable filings
- Governance controls: 6 of 9 controls in place; rating input score 67
- Conflict-of-interest policy: Pass
- Whistleblower policy: Pass
- Document-retention policy: Pass
- CEO compensation review process: Fail
- Other executive compensation review process: Fail
- Form 990 shared with the board: Fail
- Board meeting minutes documented: Pass
- Audit committee oversight: Pass
- Independent financial-statement audit: Pass
Sustainability
- Operating margin: 6.2%; rating input score 57; 57th percentile among comparable filings
- Total-asset coverage ratio: 0.89; rating input score 32; 32nd percentile among comparable filings
- Liabilities to assets ratio: 0.25; rating input score 52; 52nd percentile among comparable filings
- Officer compensation ratio: 4.2%; rating input score 58; 58th percentile among comparable filings
Growth
- Program expense growth: Limited
- Revenue growth: 1% per year; rating input score 100; 12th percentile among comparable filings
- Asset growth: 11.3% per year; rating input score 100; 70th percentile among comparable filings
Details
- What they do: 3 programs and campaigns described on the official site · 1 operating location identified
- Where the money goes: Financial trends and filed revenue, expense, asset, and liability detail
- Governance: 38 of 38 board members independent · 6 of 9 filing controls reported
- Programs: 1 filed program accomplishment
- Leadership: top reported pay $290K · 44 people listed · 1 of 6 pay-setting controls reported
- Highest-paid contractors: 5 contractors listed · $1.6M reported
- Consistency: 11 of 12 current checks pass · 1 finding to review
- Schedules: 7 filed schedules · includes major donors, grants, and executive pay
- Filing history: 14 filing years from 2010 to 2024
- Contacts: How to reach this organization
- Money network: 7 filed money-flow records
- Related organizations: 2 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.
- Moderate — Transparency & Controls: Grant itemization coverage scored 35/100.
- Review — Accountability: Governance controls: 3 of 9 not reported.
- Review — Transparency & Controls: Domestic grant itemization did not reconcile in the filed values.
- Review — Sustainability: Operating margin scored 57/100.
- Moderate — Sustainability: Total-asset coverage ratio scored 32/100.
- Review — Sustainability: Liabilities to assets ratio scored 52/100.
- Review — Sustainability: Officer compensation ratio scored 58/100.