Strada Education Foundation Inc

Nonprofit profile at a glance

EIN
473044430
IRS 990 coverage
2015–2024
Forms available
Form 990 2024, Form 990-T 2024
Location
Indianapolis, IN, USA
Phone
3178061200
Rating
81
Verdict
STRONG
Rating confidence
Moderate
Sector
Community Service Clubs

Official website

Reported finances

Revenue
$207,660,821
Expenses
$180,502,322
Assets
$1,837,044,236
Liabilities
$76,901,907

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

Leadership & pay

36 people listed

Executive titles in this filing

  • STEPHEN MORET (CEO & PRESIDENT)
  • RUTH WATKINS (PRESIDENT, POSTSECONDARY EDUCATION)
  • THOMAS DAWSON (PRESIDENT, STRADA COLLABORATIVE)
  • MICHAEL MARRINER (PRESIDENT, ROADTRIP NATION)
  • RUTH IDALENE BAUER (PRESIDENT, INSIDE TRACK)

Highest reported compensation

  • STEPHEN MORET (CEO & PRESIDENT): $1,506,974 total reported compensation
  • RUTH WATKINS (PRESIDENT, POSTSECONDARY EDUCATION): $1,107,495 total reported compensation
  • LARRY LUTZ (EVP, CORPORATE DEVELOPMENT): $756,218 total reported compensation

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

Overview

Mission

Strada education foundation, inc. ("strada") develops and supports programs, policies, and organizations that strengthen connections between education and opportunity in the u.s., with a special focus on helping those who face the greatest challenges securing opportunity through postsecondary education or training. Strada's work is grounded in five focus areas: clear outcomes, quality coaching, affordability, work-based learning, and employer alignment (the "focus areas").

What it reported doing in 2024

Actionable research: strada's actionable research seeks to provide the public and industry with insights into what learners need to realize their career goals and what employers need to build a robust talent pipeline. In 2024, strada launched the inaugural state opportunity index, a publicly-available research report that helps states assess how well they are connecting education to opportunity across all of the organization's focus areas. Strada's research efforts also include the strada institute for the future of work, a program that develops and conducts rigorous, field-leading, publicly-available research to provide actionable insights on how to strengthen educational pathways that lead to economic opportunity for individuals and respond to the talent needs of employers.

Operating model

Revenue model
Mixed. Its operating money came from several sources; no one source provided a clear majority.
Distribution model
Hybrid. The nonprofit split its reported program spending across 70% for direct work, and 30% for grants.

The verdict

STRONG - A large share of available resources goes toward mission work and the filed numbers largely add up. A relatively small share of total spending goes to programs and the filing reports few safeguards for money sent abroad.

Rating breakdown

  • Financial Efficiency: 74
  • Transparency & Controls: 78
  • Accountability: 96
  • Sustainability: 75
  • Growth: 100

Detailed rating inputs

Financial Efficiency

  • Mission deployment rate: 100%; rating input score 100
  • Program expense ratio: 50.6%; rating input score 51
  • Fundraising efficiency: $3.47 raised per $1 spent on fundraising; rating input score 13; 13th percentile among comparable filings

Transparency & Controls

  • Consistency checks: 93.3%; rating input score 93; 21st percentile among comparable filings
  • Pay-setting controls: 5 of 6 controls in place; rating input score 83
    • Compensation committee: Pass
    • Independent consultant: Pass
    • Other Form 990s reviewed: Pass
    • Written employment contract: Missing
    • Compensation survey or study: Pass
    • Board or committee approval: Pass
  • Foreign activity oversight: Scored; rating input score 0
  • Grant itemization coverage: 98.7%; rating input score 99; 36th percentile among comparable filings
  • Major donor itemization: Yes; rating input score 100
  • Related-party transparency: Yes; rating input score 100

Accountability

  • Independent voting board: 93.3%; rating input score 93; 44th 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: 13.1%; rating input score 79; 79th percentile among comparable filings
  • Total-asset coverage ratio: 10.18; rating input score 91; 91st percentile among comparable filings
  • Liabilities to assets ratio: 0.04; rating input score 90; 90th percentile among comparable filings
  • Officer compensation ratio: 8.1%; rating input score 5; 5th percentile among comparable filings

Growth

  • Program expense growth: 7.4% per year; rating input score 100; 60th percentile among comparable filings
  • Revenue growth: 5.7% per year; rating input score 100; 50th percentile among comparable filings
  • Asset growth: 9.8% per year; rating input score 100; 69th percentile among comparable filings

Details

  • Where the money goes: 100% of revenue deployed · 50.6% of spending went to programs
  • Governance: 14 of 15 board members independent · 9 of 9 filing controls reported
  • Programs: 4 filed program accomplishments · $91.4M in reported program spending
  • Leadership: top reported pay $1.5M · 36 people listed · 5 of 6 pay-setting controls reported
  • Highest-paid contractors: 5 contractors listed · $2M reported
  • Consistency: 34 of 35 current checks pass · 1 finding to review
  • Schedules: 9 filed schedules · includes major donors, foreign activity, grants, executive pay, and related organizations
  • Filing history: 8 filing years from 2015 to 2024
  • Contacts: How to reach this organization
  • Money network: 218 filed money-flow records
  • Related organizations: 186 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.

  • Review — Financial Efficiency: Program expense ratio scored 51/100.
  • High — Transparency & Controls: Foreign activity oversight scored 0/100.
  • High — Financial Efficiency: Fundraising efficiency scored 13/100.
  • High — Sustainability: Officer compensation ratio scored 5/100.
  • Review — Transparency & Controls: Domestic grant itemization did not reconcile in the filed values.