The American Montessori Society Inc

Nonprofit profile at a glance

EIN
060766308
IRS 990 coverage
2017–2024
Forms available
Form 990 2024, Form 990-T 2024
Location
New York, NY, USA
Phone
2123581250
Rating
80
Verdict
STRONG
Rating confidence
Moderate
Sector
Kindergarten, Preschool, Nursery School, Early Admissions

Official website

Reported finances

Revenue
$7,703,402
Expenses
$7,418,500
Assets
$9,342,041
Liabilities
$2,260,429

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

Leadership & pay

23 people listed

Executive titles in this filing

  • ANITA HANKS (PRESIDENT FROM 4/2025; VP TO 3/2025)
  • AMIRA MOGAJI (PRESIDENT TO 3/2025)
  • MUNIR SHIVJI (EXECUTIVE DIRECTOR)

Highest reported compensation

  • MUNIR SHIVJI (EXECUTIVE DIRECTOR): $303,792 total reported compensation
  • DEB HOFFMAN (SR DIR OF FINANCE & PEOPLE OPS): $236,011 total reported compensation
  • GINA TALIAFERRO (SR DIR OF EDUCATION & STRAT INIT): $201,707 total reported compensation

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

Overview

Mission

The american montessori society ("ams") provides the leadership and resources to make montessori a significant and enduring voice in education. Ams serves our members, advocate for quality montessori education, and champion montessori principles.

What it reported doing in 2024

The ams annual conference is designed to provide opportunities for professional development and community building to the montessori community. In march 2025, the conference brought together nearly 4000 educators, administrators, and school leaders for a dynamic, multi-day event. The conference offers a wide range of workshops, infocus sessions, and spotlight presentations, etc. Covering topics such as early childhood, infant and toddler education, elementary education, administration, and teacher education. The event also included keynote presentations from notable speakers.

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

STRONG - A large share of available resources goes toward mission work and the filed numbers largely add up. The filing reports few safeguards for money sent abroad and fundraising costs are high for each dollar raised.

Rating breakdown

  • Financial Efficiency: 80
  • Transparency & Controls: 70
  • Accountability: 100
  • Sustainability: 41
  • Growth: 100

Detailed rating inputs

Financial Efficiency

  • Mission deployment rate: 82.6%; rating input score 83
  • Program expense ratio: 83.7%; rating input score 84
  • Fundraising efficiency: $18.04 raised per $1 spent on fundraising; rating input score 56; 56th percentile among comparable filings

Transparency & Controls

  • Consistency checks: 100%; rating input score 100; 63rd percentile among comparable filings
  • Pay-setting controls: 3 of 6 controls in place; rating input score 50
    • Compensation committee: Pass
    • Independent consultant: Missing
    • Other Form 990s reviewed: Missing
    • 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: 100%; rating input score 100; 72nd 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; 63rd 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: 3.7%; rating input score 47; 47th percentile among comparable filings
  • Total-asset coverage ratio: 1.26; rating input score 45; 45th percentile among comparable filings
  • Liabilities to assets ratio: 0.24; rating input score 39; 39th percentile among comparable filings
  • Officer compensation ratio: 20.3%; rating input score 12; 12th percentile among comparable filings

Growth

  • Program expense growth: 0.8% per year; rating input score 100; 17th percentile among comparable filings
  • Revenue growth: 4.5% per year; rating input score 100; 38th percentile among comparable filings
  • Asset growth: 4.1% per year; rating input score 100; 30th percentile among comparable filings

Details

  • Where the money goes: 82.6% of revenue deployed · 83.7% of spending went to programs
  • Governance: 11 of 11 board members independent · 9 of 9 filing controls reported
  • Programs: 4 filed program accomplishments · $6.2M in reported program spending
  • Leadership: top reported pay $304K · 23 people listed · 3 of 6 pay-setting controls reported
  • Highest-paid contractors: 2 contractors listed · $698K reported
  • Consistency: 35 of 35 current checks pass
  • Schedules: 9 filed schedules · includes major donors, foreign activity, grants, and executive pay
  • Filing history: 8 filing years from 2017 to 2024
  • Contacts: How to reach this organization
  • Money network: 8 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.

Key Signals

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

  • High — Transparency & Controls: Foreign activity oversight scored 0/100.
  • Review — Financial Efficiency: Fundraising efficiency scored 56/100.
  • Moderate — Sustainability: Operating margin scored 47/100.
  • Moderate — Sustainability: Total-asset coverage ratio scored 45/100.
  • High — Sustainability: Officer compensation ratio scored 12/100.
  • Moderate — Sustainability: Liabilities to assets ratio scored 39/100.