The Obama Foundation

What it reported doing in 2024

Obama foundation programming: in service of the foundation's mission to inspire, empower, and connect people to change their world, the foundation continued to work with young leaders in a variety of local, national, and global programs.scholars: our scholars program supports leaders around the world who are ready to take their work to the next level via a one-year residential program that brings together academic, skills-based, and hands-on learning. For the 2023-2024 school year, the scholars program included 18 scholars at the university of chicago and 12 scholars at columbia university.leaders: leaders africa, asia-pacific, europe, and USA are each leadership programs aimed at building and empowering regional networks of changemakers. The regional cohorts participate in values-based leadership training. The leaders africa program began in 2018, the leaders asia-pacific program launched in 2019, the leaders europe program launched in 2020, and the leaders USA program launched in 2022. The africa, asia-pacific, and europe cohorts each contain 35 members, and the USA cohort contains 100.the voyager scholarship: the obama-chesky scholarship for public service, launched in 2022 with the selection of 100 students to receive scholarships. Each year, 100 new students are selected to receive scholarships and participate in the two-year program. The voyager scholarship is designed to build the next generation of leaders committed to public service through a transformational combination of barrier-reducing financial aid and meaningful, educational travel experiences.the obama leadership network ('oln'): oln connects all foundation leadership programs alumni to each other, to increase their individual and collective impact and help them sustain themselves as lifelong values-based leaders. The foundation supports this network through a variety of virtual and in-person activities to foster connection, continued development, community, and collaboration. By the end of 2024, oln grew to include 1,209 leaders in nearly 150 countries across 20 cohorts of obama leaders, scholars, fellows and voyagers.girls opportunity alliance: the girls opportunity alliance seeks to empower adolescent girls around the world through education, allowing them to achieve their full potential and transform their families, communities, and countries. The program engages people around the world to take action to help adolescent girls and the grassroots leaders working to educate them.my brother's keeper alliance: the mbk alliance leads a national call to action focused on building safe and supportive communities for boys and young men of color where they feel valued and have clear pathways to opportunity.

Financial Efficiency

• Mission deployment rate: 28.8%; rating input score 29
• Program expense ratio: 55.9%; rating input score 56
• Fundraising efficiency: $8.25 raised per $1 spent on fundraising; rating input score 36; 36th percentile among comparable filings

Transparency & Controls

• Consistency checks: 94.4%; rating input score 94; 31st percentile among comparable filings
• Pay-setting controls: 4 of 6 controls in place; rating input score 67
  • Compensation committee: Missing
  • 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: 0 of 8 controls in place; rating input score 0
  • Claims monitoring procedures: Fail
  • Requires narrative reports: Fail
  • Conducts field audits: Fail
  • May suspend future funding: Fail
  • Requires financial reports: Fail
  • Conducts site visits: Fail
  • Requires grant agreements: Fail
  • May require repayment: Fail
• Grant itemization coverage: 50%; rating input score 50; 10th percentile among comparable filings
• Major donor itemization: Yes; rating input score 100
• Related-party transparency: Yes; rating input score 100

Accountability

• Independent voting board: 93.8%; rating input score 94; 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: 56.4%; rating input score 97; 97th percentile among comparable filings
• Total-asset coverage ratio: 12.1; rating input score 92; 92nd percentile among comparable filings
• Liabilities to assets ratio: 0.03; rating input score 92; 92nd percentile among comparable filings
• Officer compensation ratio: 7.2%; rating input score 7; 7th percentile among comparable filings

Growth

• Program expense growth: 21.1% per year; rating input score 100; 93rd percentile among comparable filings
• Revenue growth: 15% per year; rating input score 100; 89th percentile among comparable filings
• Asset growth: 25% per year; rating input score 100; 96th percentile among comparable filings