The Founders Arena Inc

Nonprofit profile at a glance

EIN
931814074
IRS 990 coverage
2023–2025
Forms available
Form 990 2025
Location
Arlington, TX, USA
Phone
8172136274
Rating
70
Verdict
SUPPORTED
Rating confidence
Moderate
Sector
Specialized Education Institutions

Official website

Reported finances

Revenue
$822,313
Expenses
$771,385
Assets
$163,041
Liabilities
$0

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

Leadership & pay

5 people listed

Executive titles in this filing

  • PAM CYTRON (President)

Highest reported compensation

  • PAM CYTRON (President): $138,000 total reported compensation

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

Overview

Mission

Entrepreneurs are the driving force behind the future; with proper support, that future can be realized even more rapidly. To support this, we established The Founders Arena (TFA), a ground-breaking public-private initiative based in Arlington, Texas, dedicated to co-creating the future of wealth management. Launched in September 2023, the WealthTech Accelerator supports startups at the forefront of revolutionizing the wealth management industry. This commitment to advancing innovation extends beyond WealthTech, driving local development and fostering innovation throughout the City of Arlington and North Texas.

What it reported doing in 2025

The founders arena is a nonprofit wealthtech growth strategy accelerator based in arlington, Texas. The organization supports early-growth and post-revenue startups by connecting founders with investors, financial institutions, corporate partners, mentors, and other strategic resources.during 2025, the founders arena welcomed an additional 12 companies from around the world into its programming. By year-end, the organization had completed six cohorts and supported a total of 30 companies through its cohort and program activities.program services included founder education, mentorship, strategic advisory support, investor and corporate introductions, community programming, and events designed to advance wealthtech innovation and entrepreneurial growth.in addition to its cohort work, the organization supported community development through programming and ecosystem-building activities, including Texas venture fest, two hackathons, community events, and relationship-building with founders, investors, corporate partners, civic leaders, universities, and other ecosystem participants. These activities helped expand the organizations local, national, and global network while supporting arlington and north Texas as a growing center for wealthtech and innovation.

Operating model

Revenue model
Grant-funded. 83% of the money available for current operations came from government grants.
Distribution model
Direct operator. The filing allocates 98% 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. The filing does not identify recipients for some grant dollars and total assets are small relative to annual expenses; liquid coverage is unknown.

Rating breakdown

  • Financial Efficiency: 67
  • Transparency & Controls: 73
  • Accountability: 78
  • Sustainability: 38
  • Growth: 80

Detailed rating inputs

Financial Efficiency

  • Mission deployment rate: 73.5%; rating input score 73
  • Program expense ratio: 78.3%; rating input score 78
  • Fundraising efficiency: Limited

Transparency & Controls

  • Consistency checks: 90%; rating input score 90; 7th percentile among comparable filings
  • Pay-setting controls: Limited
  • Foreign activity oversight: Limited
  • Grant itemization coverage: 38%; rating input score 38; 31st percentile among comparable filings
  • Major donor itemization: Yes; rating input score 100
  • Related-party transparency: Limited

Accountability

  • Independent voting board: 80%; rating input score 80; 21st percentile among comparable filings
  • Governance controls: 6 of 8 controls in place; rating input score 75
    • Conflict-of-interest policy: Pass
    • Whistleblower policy: Pass
    • Document-retention policy: Pass
    • CEO compensation review process: Pass
    • 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: 6.2%; rating input score 48; 48th percentile among comparable filings
  • Total-asset coverage ratio: 0.21; rating input score 11; 11th percentile among comparable filings
  • Liabilities to assets ratio: 0; rating input score 88; 88th percentile among comparable filings
  • Officer compensation ratio: 17.9%; rating input score 19; 19th percentile among comparable filings

Growth

  • Program expense growth: 31.7% per year; rating input score 100; 89th percentile among comparable filings
  • Revenue growth: 20.9% per year; rating input score 100; 84th percentile among comparable filings
  • Asset growth: -11.2% per year; rating input score 0; 3rd percentile among comparable filings

Details

  • Where the money goes: 73.5% of revenue deployed · 78.3% of spending went to programs
  • Governance: 4 of 5 board members independent · 6 of 8 filing controls reported
  • Programs: 1 filed program accomplishment · $604K in reported program spending
  • Leadership: top reported pay $138K · 5 people listed
  • Highest-paid contractors: 1 contractor listed · $183K reported
  • Consistency: 27 of 28 current checks pass · 1 finding to review
  • Schedules: 5 filed schedules · includes major donors and grants
  • Filing history: 3 filing years from 2023 to 2025
  • Contacts: How to reach this organization
  • Money network: 2 filed money-flow records
  • Related organizations: 1 filed related-organization link
  • 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 — Transparency & Controls: Grant itemization coverage scored 38/100.
  • High — Sustainability: Total-asset coverage ratio scored 11/100.
  • Moderate — Sustainability: Operating margin scored 48/100.
  • Review — Accountability: Governance controls: Independent financial-statement audit not reported.
  • High — Growth: Asset growth scored 0/100.
  • Review — Transparency & Controls: Domestic grant itemization did not reconcile in the filed values.
  • High — Sustainability: Officer compensation ratio scored 19/100.