Sustainable Horizons Institute

Nonprofit profile at a glance

EIN
464683390
IRS 990 coverage
2020–2024
Forms available
Form 990 2024, Form 990-EZ 2019
Location
Rancho Mirage, CA, USA
Phone
7604699488
Rating
56
Verdict
MIXED
Rating confidence
Moderate
Sector
Education N.E.C.

Official website

Reported finances

Revenue
$1,143,361
Expenses
$1,035,313
Assets
$2,330,877
Liabilities
$173,181

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

Leadership & pay

4 people listed

Executive titles in this filing

  • Mary Ann Leung (President)

Highest reported compensation

  • Mary Ann Leung (President): $261,411 total reported compensation
  • John Ziebarth (Treasurer): $10,810 total reported compensation

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

Overview

Mission

Our mission is to build sustainable connections between students, faculty, and professionals in science, technology, engineering, and mathematics. Our approach is unique in two ways: 1 we devised and apply a model which addresses the development of the whole scientists through academic and mentoring support combined with career, professional, and leadership development and 2 we use proven methods and our extensive experience in developing many of our nation's finest scientist and engineers in the mainstream scientific environments. A unique outcome is that we cultivate a science and technology workforce prepared to be leaders and add new dimensions to innovation. We believe a brighter scientific future is on the horizon.

What it reported doing in 2024

Through our programs we facilitated delivery of online webinars exploring technical, career, professional and leadership development topics to a variety of academic institutions of higher education across the U.S. We also matched faculty, students, and laboratory researchers so they could collaborate in summer research projects, funded participant attendance at a scientific conference where they presented their research results and engaged in the professional society, administered a fellowship program promoting better scientific software, and assisted with the recruitment, outreach, and workforce development activities for a major U.S. national cyber security center.

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 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

MIXED - The filed numbers largely add up and program spending has grown recently. A relatively small share of available resources goes toward mission work and a relatively small share of voting board members are independent.

Rating breakdown

  • Financial Efficiency: 49
  • Transparency & Controls: 65
  • Accountability: 48
  • Sustainability: 55
  • Growth: 100

Detailed rating inputs

Financial Efficiency

  • Mission deployment rate: 51.5%; rating input score 51
  • Program expense ratio: 61.6%; rating input score 62
  • Fundraising efficiency: Limited

Transparency & Controls

  • Consistency checks: 92.3%; rating input score 92; 16th 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: Limited
  • Major donor itemization: Yes; rating input score 100
  • Related-party transparency: Limited

Accountability

  • Independent voting board: 50%; rating input score 50; 11th percentile among comparable filings
  • Governance controls: 4 of 9 controls in place; rating input score 44
    • Conflict-of-interest policy: Fail
    • Whistleblower policy: Fail
    • Document-retention policy: Fail
    • CEO compensation review process: Pass
    • Other executive compensation review process: Fail
    • Form 990 shared with the board: Pass
    • Board meeting minutes documented: Pass
    • Audit committee oversight: Fail
    • Independent financial-statement audit: Pass

Sustainability

  • Operating margin: 9.5%; rating input score 60; 60th percentile among comparable filings
  • Total-asset coverage ratio: 2.25; rating input score 68; 68th percentile among comparable filings
  • Liabilities to assets ratio: 0.07; rating input score 47; 47th percentile among comparable filings
  • Officer compensation ratio: 26.3%; rating input score 9; 9th percentile among comparable filings

Growth

  • Program expense growth: 22.2% per year; rating input score 100; 85th percentile among comparable filings
  • Revenue growth: 27% per year; rating input score 100; 91st percentile among comparable filings
  • Asset growth: 29.7% per year; rating input score 100; 90th percentile among comparable filings

Details

  • Where the money goes: 51.5% of revenue deployed · 61.6% of spending went to programs
  • Governance: 2 of 4 board members independent · 4 of 9 filing controls reported
  • Programs: 1 filed program accomplishment · $638K in reported program spending
  • Leadership: top reported pay $261K · 4 people listed · 1 of 6 pay-setting controls reported
  • Consistency: 27 of 28 current checks pass · 1 finding to review
  • Schedules: 5 filed schedules · includes major donors and executive pay
  • Filing history: 4 filing years from 2020 to 2024
  • Contacts: How to reach this organization
  • Money network: 3 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.
  • Staff and benefit plans: Retirement and health plans the organization files with the Department of Labor, and the people in them.

Key Signals

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

  • Review — Financial Efficiency: Mission deployment rate scored 51/100.
  • Review — Accountability: Independent voting board scored 50/100.
  • Moderate — Accountability: Governance controls: 5 of 9 not reported.
  • Moderate — Transparency & Controls: Schedule A contributions reconciliation did not reconcile in the filed values.
  • High — Sustainability: Officer compensation ratio scored 9/100.
  • Moderate — Sustainability: Liabilities to assets ratio scored 47/100.