American Optometric Association
Legal name: The American Optometric Association
Nonprofit profile at a glance
- EIN
- 430684708
- IRS 990 coverage
- 2010–2024
- Official website data refreshed
- Sep 2026
- Forms available
- Form 990 2024
- Location
- St. Louis, MO, USA
- Phone
- 314.983.4167
- Rating confidence
- Limited
Reported finances
- Revenue
- $29,603,785
- Expenses
- $28,839,535
- Assets
- $42,358,819
- Liabilities
- $18,779,673
Source: IRS Form 990. Selected filing: tax year 2024. Amounts in USD.
Leadership & pay
23 people listed
Executive titles in this filing
- JACQUELINE M BOWEN OD (PRESIDENT ELECT)
- ROBERT C LAYMAN OD (PT YR TRUSTEE, IMMEDIATE PAST PRESIDENT)
- RONALD L BENNER OD (PT YR TRUSTEE, IMMEDIATE PAST PRESIDENT)
- STEVEN T REED OD (PRESIDENT)
- TERI GEIST OD (VICE PRESIDENT)
- WILLIAM T REYNOLDS OD (IMMEDIATE PAST PRESIDENT)
Highest reported compensation
- JONATHAN HYMES (EXECUTIVE DIRECTOR): $552,352 total reported compensation
- MATTHEW WILLETTE (CHIEF ADVOCACY OFFICER, FED): $317,570 total reported compensation
- KARA WEBB (CHIEF STRATEGY OFFICER): $313,159 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 mission of the AOA Center for Independent Practice (CIP) is to fuel a passion for and create a foundational knowledge base to excel in the management of today’s independent practice of contemporary optometry.
What it reported doing in 2024
Education offers professional development and continuing education resources to doctors, paraoptometrics and students through ongoing learning experiences that support the practice of contemporary optometry.
Operating model
- Revenue model
- Other-operating. 100% of the money available for current operations came from other operating revenue.
- Distribution model
- Cannot be determined from the filing. The filing does not provide enough consistent spending detail to tell whether the nonprofit works directly or through others.
The verdict
- The available evidence is not sufficient to produce an overall rating for this filing. This is not a warning sign.
Rating breakdown
- Financial Efficiency: NotEnoughData
- Transparency & Controls: 76
- Accountability: 42
- Sustainability: 41
- Growth: 60
Detailed rating inputs
Financial Efficiency
- Mission deployment rate: Limited
- Program expense ratio: Limited
- Fundraising efficiency: Limited
Transparency & Controls
- Consistency checks: 91.7%; rating input score 92; 6th percentile among comparable filings
- Pay-setting controls: 5 of 6 controls in place; rating input score 83
- Compensation committee: Pass
- Independent consultant: Missing
- Other Form 990s reviewed: Pass
- Written employment contract: Pass
- 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; 30th percentile among comparable filings
- Major donor itemization: Limited
- Related-party transparency: Yes; rating input score 100
Accountability
- Independent voting board: 0%; rating input score 0; 3rd 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: 2.6%; rating input score 45; 45th percentile among comparable filings
- Total-asset coverage ratio: 1.47; rating input score 50; 50th percentile among comparable filings
- Liabilities to assets ratio: 0.44; rating input score 33; 33rd percentile among comparable filings
- Officer compensation ratio: 12.7%; rating input score 12; 12th percentile among comparable filings
Growth
- Program expense growth: Limited
- Revenue growth: 1.4% per year; rating input score 100; 14th percentile among comparable filings
- Asset growth: 7.9% per year; rating input score 100; 54th percentile among comparable filings
Details
- What they do: 3 programs and campaigns described on the official site · 1 operating location identified
- Where the money goes: Financial trends and filed revenue, expense, asset, and liability detail
- Governance: 0 of 11 board members independent · 9 of 9 filing controls reported
- Programs: 3 filed program accomplishments
- Leadership: top reported pay $552K · 23 people listed · 5 of 6 pay-setting controls reported
- Highest-paid contractors: 5 contractors listed · $4.3M reported
- Consistency: 14 of 15 current checks pass · 1 finding to review
- Schedules: 7 filed schedules · includes foreign activity, grants, executive pay, and related organizations
- Filing history: 14 filing years from 2010 to 2024
- Contacts: How to reach this organization
- Money network: 27 filed money-flow records
- Related organizations: 8 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.
- 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.
- High — Accountability: Independent voting board scored 0/100.
- High — Transparency & Controls: Foreign activity oversight scored 0/100.
- Moderate — Sustainability: Operating margin scored 45/100.
- Review — Transparency & Controls: Domestic grant itemization did not reconcile in the filed values.
- Review — Sustainability: Total-asset coverage ratio scored 50/100.
- High — Sustainability: Officer compensation ratio scored 12/100.
- Moderate — Sustainability: Liabilities to assets ratio scored 33/100.