Sephardic Community Center
Legal name: Sephardic Community Youth Center Inc
Nonprofit profile at a glance
- EIN
- 112567809
- IRS 990 coverage
- 2009–2024
- Official website data refreshed
- Sep 2026
- Forms available
- Form 990 2024
- Location
- Brooklyn, NY, United States
- Phone
- 718-627-4300
- Rating
- 70
- Verdict
- SUPPORTED
- Rating confidence
- Moderate
- Sector
- Youth Centers, Clubs
- Affiliation
- Judaism
Reported finances
- Revenue
- $16,940,795
- Expenses
- $19,718,580
- Assets
- $68,695,432
- Liabilities
- $20,693,379
Source: IRS Form 990. Selected filing: tax year 2024. Amounts in USD.
Leadership & pay
60 people listed
Executive titles in this filing
- Joseph Tawil (Chief Executive Officer)
- Morris Bailey (President Emeritus)
- Louis Jerome (President)
- Seymour Sammell (Vice Treasurer/President)
- Mike Witkes (Former Executive Director)
Highest reported compensation
- Joseph Tawil (Chief Executive Officer): $346,815 total reported compensation
- Aaron Rosenfeld (Chief Operating Officer): $266,944 total reported compensation
- Russell Willens (Chief Financial Officer): $210,943 total reported compensation
Source: IRS Form 990. Selected filing: tax year 2024. Names and roles reflect this filing, not necessarily current officeholders.
Overview
Mission
One Community. One Center. Our Mission: The Sephardic Community Center’s mission is to be a center of togetherness, tradition, and unity for our whole community, through premier and high quality social experiences and programming for all ages. Providing support for people with dementia and Alzheimer’s Disease Alzheimer’s disease, memory loss and other forms of dementia are increasing and affecting many members of our community. The Center has various programs that can provide help with this heartbreaking illness, including Brain Works, an on-going social programs for those affected by dementia. Lead facilitator, Tally Grazi, creates a nurturing atmosphere filled with upbeat group activities that engage each participant at his/her best capability. We offer caregivers support groups and educational programs with experts who provide invaluable information for managing the difficult...
What it reported doing in 2024
The Center offers part and full-day programs for children ages 12 months to 4 years old. These programs encourage school readiness and early academic success. Early childhood classes are focused on skills in Hebrew, English, science, math, social studies and computer technology. The program is accredited by the NYC Department of Education, and all teachers are experienced, hold graduate degrees. An estimated few hundred children attend the program every year.
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 most voting board members are independent. Few specific pay-setting methods are documented in the filing; unanswered boxes are not proof of absence and a relatively small share of total spending goes to programs.
Rating breakdown
- Financial Efficiency: 65
- Transparency & Controls: 60
- Accountability: 100
- Sustainability: 34
- Growth: 80
Detailed rating inputs
Financial Efficiency
- Mission deployment rate: 67.5%; rating input score 68
- Program expense ratio: 58%; rating input score 58
- Fundraising efficiency: $31 raised per $1 spent on fundraising; rating input score 67; 67th percentile among comparable filings
Transparency & Controls
- Consistency checks: 100%; rating input score 100; 62nd percentile among comparable filings
- Pay-setting controls: 0 of 6 controls in place; rating input score 0
- Compensation committee: Missing
- Independent consultant: Missing
- Other Form 990s reviewed: Missing
- Written employment contract: Missing
- Compensation survey or study: Missing
- Board or committee approval: Missing
- Foreign activity oversight: Limited
- Grant itemization coverage: Limited
- Major donor itemization: Limited
- Related-party transparency: Limited
Accountability
- Independent voting board: 100%; rating input score 100; 66th 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: -16.4%; rating input score 6; 6th percentile among comparable filings
- Total-asset coverage ratio: 3.48; rating input score 79; 79th percentile among comparable filings
- Liabilities to assets ratio: 0.3; rating input score 46; 46th percentile among comparable filings
- Officer compensation ratio: 10.3%; rating input score 19; 19th percentile among comparable filings
Growth
- Program expense growth: 4.2% per year; rating input score 100; 35th percentile among comparable filings
- Revenue growth: 4.1% per year; rating input score 100; 35th percentile among comparable filings
- Asset growth: -1.5% per year; rating input score 0; 7th percentile among comparable filings
Details
- What they do: 5 programs and campaigns described on the official site · 1 operating location identified
- Where the money goes: 67.5% of revenue deployed · 58% of spending went to programs
- Governance: 46 of 46 board members independent · 9 of 9 filing controls reported
- Programs: 1 filed program accomplishment
- Leadership: top reported pay $347K · 60 people listed · 0 of 6 pay-setting controls reported
- Consistency: 33 of 33 current checks pass
- Schedules: 8 filed schedules · includes executive pay
- Filing history: 16 filing years from 2009 to 2024
- Contacts: How to reach this organization
- Money network: 12 filed money-flow records
- Related organizations: Filed and resolved organization relationships.
- 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 — Transparency & Controls: Pay-setting controls scored 0/100.
- Review — Financial Efficiency: Program expense ratio scored 58/100.
- High — Sustainability: Operating margin scored 6/100.
- High — Growth: Asset growth scored 0/100.
- High — Sustainability: Officer compensation ratio scored 19/100.
- Moderate — Sustainability: Liabilities to assets ratio scored 46/100.