Step Ahead Scholars

Legal name: Step Ahead Scholars Community Group

Nonprofit profile at a glance

EIN
831036577
IRS 990-EZ coverage
2022–2024
Official website data refreshed
Sep 2026
Forms available
Form 990-EZ 2024, Form 990-N 2020
Location
Atlanta, GA, USA
Phone
4043169292
Rating
85
Verdict
STRONG
Rating confidence
Moderate
Sector
Youth Development Programs

Official website

Reported finances

Revenue
$139,137
Expenses
$121,665
Assets
$88,787
Liabilities
$0

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

Leadership & pay

5 people listed

Executive titles in this filing

  • Debra Nealy (Executive Director)

People named in this filing

  • Kamal Carter (Chair)
  • Jacques Lesure (director)
  • Pamela Scully (director)

Selected names, not a complete roster or a statement of current roles. Open leadership details for the complete filed list.

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

Overview

Mission

We empower resilient students to and through higher education, with community centered programming, and purposeful mentorship.

What it reported doing in 2024

Provided 35 year round community centered and online workshops and presentations through partnerships with 2 public schools, 4 youth and family serving CBOs and 2 universities to provide programming to over 825 students and parents. Designed and facilitated the 2024 State Farm Scholars Program that focused on college, career and civic, youth leadership development for State Farm in collaboration with Georgia State University. Mentored and advised 12 college matriculated students through the State Farm Scholars experiential learning opportunity, which exposed students to careers and opportunities in civic engagement and provide them with a 5 month "learn as you grow" monthly stipends. Gifted laptops to 40 students from the Class of 2024 in collaboration with community partners. Provided a free out-ot state college tour for rising high school seniors. Provide support to students applying to GA Tech's 2024 First Generation College Weekend experiential learning opportunity. Provide free registration and transportation to students accepted to GA Tech's 2024 First Generation College Weekend. Provided free programing to an all girls empowerment conference that was attended by over 1,000 girls. Provided a free out-of state experiential learning opportunity for students interested medicine and health care in Boston on the campus of Tufts University. Supported the enhancement of college affordability for Georgia students through Georgians for College Affordability and spoke at NCAN's annual conference in support of college affordability. Hosted a graduation celebration for over 80 students from the Class of 2024

Operating model

Revenue model
Donor-supported. 99% of the money available for current operations came from contributions and gifts.
Distribution model
Direct operator. The filing allocates 100% 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

STRONG - The filed numbers largely add up and a large share of available resources goes toward mission work. Total assets are small relative to annual expenses; liquid coverage is unknown and reported officer compensation is a large share of total spending, which may reflect staffing concentration.

Rating breakdown

  • Financial Efficiency: 75
  • Transparency & Controls: 100
  • Sustainability: 54
  • Growth: 100

Detailed rating inputs

Financial Efficiency

  • Mission deployment rate: 71.2%; rating input score 71
  • Program expense ratio: 81.5%; rating input score 81

Transparency & Controls

  • Consistency checks: 100%; rating input score 100; 52nd percentile among comparable filings
  • Major donor itemization: Yes; rating input score 100

Sustainability

  • Operating margin: 12.6%; rating input score 63; 63rd percentile among comparable filings
  • Total-asset coverage ratio: 0.73; rating input score 49; 49th percentile among comparable filings
  • Liabilities to assets ratio: 0; rating input score 76; 76th percentile among comparable filings
  • Officer compensation ratio: 45.2%; rating input score 6; 6th percentile among comparable filings

Growth

  • Program expense growth: 45% per year; rating input score 100; 90th percentile among comparable filings
  • Revenue growth: 67% per year; rating input score 100; 98th percentile among comparable filings
  • Asset growth: 21.5% per year; rating input score 100; 82nd percentile among comparable filings

Details

  • What they do: 1 programs and campaigns described on the official site · 1 operating location identified
  • Where the money goes: 71.2% of revenue deployed · 81.5% of spending went to programs
  • Governance: Filed governance answers
  • Accomplishments: 1 filed program accomplishment · $99K in reported program spending
  • Leadership: top reported pay $0 · 5 people listed
  • Consistency: 9 of 9 current checks pass
  • Schedules: 3 filed schedules
  • Filing history: 3 filing years from 2022 to 2024
  • Contacts: How to reach this organization
  • Money network: 1 filed money-flow record
  • 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.

  • Moderate — Sustainability: Total-asset coverage ratio scored 49/100.
  • High — Sustainability: Officer compensation ratio scored 6/100.