The Blavity Org Foundation Inc
Nonprofit profile at a glance
- EIN
- 852251399
- IRS 990 coverage
- 2021–2025
- Forms available
- Form 990 2025, Form 990-N 2020
- Location
- Lakewood, CA, USA
- Phone
- 6574447584
- Rating
- 78
- Verdict
- SUPPORTED
- Rating confidence
- Moderate
- Sector
- Cultural, Ethnic Awareness
Reported finances
- Revenue
- $61,138
- Expenses
- $147,390
- Assets
- $457,138
- Liabilities
- $0
Source: IRS Form 990. Selected filing: tax year 2025. Amounts in USD.
Leadership & pay
3 people listed
People named in this filing
- Morgan DeBaun (Secretary)
- Aaron Samuels (Treasurer)
- Jeff Nelson (CEOChair)
Selected names, not a complete roster or a statement of current roles. Open leadership details for the complete filed list.
Source: IRS Form 990. Selected filing: tax year 2025. Names and roles reflect this filing, not necessarily current officeholders.
Overview
Mission
The BlavityOrg Foundations mission is to empower and uplift underserved entrepreneurs by increasing access to resources knowledge and opportunities. Through education storytelling workshops and grants we are committed to providing the support needed to help businesses grow succeed and thrive where it matters most
What it reported doing in 2025
Blavity Fest 2025 held from May 31 to June 1 lit up Atlanta GAs Lee White complex last weekend in celebration of Black innovation cultural expression and collective wealth-building. 6,000 festival attendees experienced inspiring panel discussions led by experts in entrepreneurship personal branding creative development and financial empowerment while hands-on workshops offered practical skills in areas including stock trading book launching and event planning. The event also featured networking opportunities at community meetups a Black-owned small business market and immersive installations designed to spark creativity and connection. The high-energy high-stakes and high-impact success of the 2025 Blavity Fest was no accident as Atlanta is for the third consecutive year the nations leading hub for Black-owned businesses as previously reported by AFROTECH. This year Blavity presented Idea Hour an interactive pitch competition spotlighting community-centered ideas and awarding a 5,000 prize from Blavity. org the racial equity and social impact organization established by Blavity Inc.s founders live on stage.
Operating model
- Revenue model
- Donor-supported. 69% of the money available for current operations came from contributions and gifts.
- Distribution model
- Direct operator. The filing allocates 96% 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
SUPPORTED - A large share of available resources goes toward mission work and the filed numbers largely add up. Expenses are high relative to revenue and program spending has declined or grown slowly.
Rating breakdown
- Financial Efficiency: 81
- Transparency & Controls: 86
- Accountability: 88
- Sustainability: 34
- Growth: 0
Detailed rating inputs
Financial Efficiency
- Mission deployment rate: 100%; rating input score 100
- Program expense ratio: 76%; rating input score 76
- Fundraising efficiency: Limited
Transparency & Controls
- Consistency checks: 91.7%; rating input score 92; 22nd percentile among comparable filings
- Pay-setting controls: Limited
- Foreign activity oversight: Limited
- Grant itemization coverage: Limited
- Major donor itemization: Yes; rating input score 100
- Related-party transparency: Limited
Accountability
- Independent voting board: 100%; rating input score 100; 64th percentile among comparable filings
- Governance controls: 5 of 7 controls in place; rating input score 71
- Conflict-of-interest policy: Pass
- Whistleblower policy: Pass
- Document-retention policy: Pass
- CEO compensation review process: NotApplicable
- Other executive compensation review process: NotApplicable
- Form 990 shared with the board: Pass
- Board meeting minutes documented: Pass
- Audit committee oversight: Missing
- Independent financial-statement audit: Fail
Sustainability
- Operating margin: -141.1%; rating input score 14; 14th percentile among comparable filings
- Total-asset coverage ratio: 3.1; rating input score 44; 44th percentile among comparable filings
- Liabilities to assets ratio: 0; rating input score 66; 66th percentile among comparable filings
- Officer compensation ratio: 0%; rating input score 58; 58th percentile among comparable filings
Growth
- Program expense growth: -35.4% per year; rating input score 0; 9th percentile among comparable filings
- Revenue growth: -63% per year; rating input score 0; 7th percentile among comparable filings
- Asset growth: -16% per year; rating input score 0; 9th percentile among comparable filings
Details
- Where the money goes: 100% of revenue deployed · 76% of spending went to programs
- Governance: 3 of 3 board members independent · 5 of 7 filing controls reported
- Programs: 3 filed program accomplishments · $112K in reported program spending
- Leadership: top reported pay $0 · 3 people listed
- Consistency: 41 of 41 current checks pass
- Schedules: 3 filed schedules · includes major donors
- Filing history: 5 filing years from 2021 to 2025
- Contacts: How to reach this organization
- 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 — Sustainability: Operating margin scored 14/100.
- High — Growth: Program expense growth scored 0/100.
- High — Growth: Revenue growth scored 0/100.
- Review — Accountability: Governance controls: Independent financial-statement audit not reported.
- High — Growth: Asset growth scored 0/100.
- Moderate — Sustainability: Total-asset coverage ratio scored 44/100.
- Review — Sustainability: Officer compensation ratio scored 58/100.