The Equity Institute

Nonprofit profile at a glance

EIN: 834472785
IRS 990 coverage: 2019–2025
Forms available: Form 990 2025
Location: Providence, RI, USA
Phone: 4012820000
Rating: 68
Verdict: SUPPORTED
Rating confidence: Moderate
Sector: Educational Services and Schools - Other

Official website

Reported finances

Revenue: $1,170,890
Expenses: $1,198,955
Assets: $1,303,883
Liabilities: $11,965

Source: IRS Form 990. Selected filing: tax year 2025. Amounts in USD.

Leadership & pay

7 people listed

Executive titles in this filing

KARLA VIGIL (EXECUTIVE DIRECTOR)

Highest reported compensation

KARLA VIGIL (EXECUTIVE DIRECTOR): $214,317 total reported compensation
CARLON HOWARD (SECRETARY/CHIEF IMPACT OFF): $167,474 total reported compensation
KATYA RODRIGUEZ ROMAN (CHIEF OF STAFF): $119,414 total reported compensation

Source: IRS Form 990. Selected filing: tax year 2025. Names and roles reflect this filing, not necessarily current officeholders.

Overview

Mission

Equity institute is an education-based nonprofit organization that partners with schools and communities to develop equitable and sustainable learning environments.

What it reported doing in 2025

Equity learning labs: our trainings use innovative design experiences to increase empathy and promote cultural responsiveness in equitable learning communities. We're reimagining diversity, equity, and inclusion trainings to see people as designers in creating sustainable change for their schools and organizations. Our approach to identifying high-impact solutions is driven both by research and the expertise of the dynamic communities we work with. We aim to activate profound change and know transformation takes steady work. When having conversations about implicit bias, racism, and oppression, we create conditions for generative dialogue and support leaders as they move courageously through self-awareness, analysis, and action. Building collaboration across identities is key; trust has been crucial in unlocking doors leading to new pathways.

Operating model

Revenue model: Donor-supported. 86% of the money available for current operations came from contributions and gifts.
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

SUPPORTED - A large share of available resources goes toward mission work and the filed numbers largely add up. Fundraising costs are high for each dollar raised and expenses are high relative to revenue.

Rating breakdown

Financial Efficiency: 67
Transparency & Controls: 70
Accountability: 68
Sustainability: 32
Growth: 100

Detailed rating inputs

Financial Efficiency

Mission deployment rate: 70.3%; rating input score 70
Program expense ratio: 68.5%; rating input score 68
Fundraising efficiency: $14.09 raised per $1 spent on fundraising; rating input score 45; 45th percentile among comparable filings

Transparency & Controls

Consistency checks: 100%; rating input score 100; 63rd 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: 60%; rating input score 60; 16th percentile among comparable filings
Governance controls: 7 of 9 controls in place; rating input score 78
- 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: Missing
- Independent financial-statement audit: Fail

Sustainability

Operating margin: -2.4%; rating input score 24; 24th percentile among comparable filings
Total-asset coverage ratio: 1.09; rating input score 46; 46th percentile among comparable filings
Liabilities to assets ratio: 0.01; rating input score 61; 61st percentile among comparable filings
Officer compensation ratio: 41.8%; rating input score 3; 3rd percentile among comparable filings

Growth

Program expense growth: 19.1% per year; rating input score 100; 78th percentile among comparable filings
Revenue growth: 10.3% per year; rating input score 100; 62nd percentile among comparable filings
Asset growth: 15.8% per year; rating input score 100; 71st percentile among comparable filings

Details

Where the money goes: 70.3% of revenue deployed · 68.5% of spending went to programs
Governance: 3 of 5 board members independent · 7 of 9 filing controls reported
Programs: 3 filed program accomplishments · $821K in reported program spending
Leadership: top reported pay $214K · 7 people listed · 1 of 6 pay-setting controls reported
Consistency: 28 of 28 current checks pass
Schedules: 5 filed schedules · includes major donors and executive pay
Filing history: 6 filing years from 2019 to 2025
Contacts: How to reach this organization
Money network: 3 filed money-flow records
Related organizations: Filed and resolved organization relationships.
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.

Moderate — Financial Efficiency: Fundraising efficiency scored 45/100.
High — Sustainability: Operating margin scored 24/100.
Review — Accountability: Governance controls: Independent financial-statement audit not reported.
Moderate — Sustainability: Total-asset coverage ratio scored 46/100.
High — Sustainability: Officer compensation ratio scored 3/100.