The Petey Greene Program Inc

Nonprofit profile at a glance

EIN
300499760
IRS 990 coverage
2015–2025
Forms available
Form 990 2025, Form 990-EZ 2013, Form 990-N 2010
Location
Princeton, NJ, USA
Phone
8776247186
Rating
81
Verdict
STRONG
Rating confidence
Moderate
Sector
Inmate Support

Official website

Reported finances

Revenue
$2,489,025
Expenses
$3,317,184
Assets
$1,300,903
Liabilities
$528,411

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

Leadership & pay

21 people listed

Executive titles in this filing

  • Jeffrey Abramowitz (CEO)
  • Colette Johnson (Executive Director)
  • Emma Sindelar (Executive Director)
  • Peter Gates (President)
  • Yusuf Dahl (Vice President)

Highest reported compensation

  • Jeffrey Abramowitz (CEO): $180,157 total reported compensation
  • Colette Johnson (Executive Director): $128,113 total reported compensation
  • Emma Sindelar (Executive Director): $118,111 total reported compensation

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

Overview

Mission

The Petey Greene Program supports the academic and career goals of incarcerated andformerly incarcerated people through high-quality tutoring and other educationalprograms while serving to educate our volunteers and the public on the manifestinjustice in our carceral system. We envision a world in which all people directly impacted by the criminal legal system have access to high-quality educational programming. The Petey Greene Program will inspire our alumni to become advocates and leaders in transforming the criminal legal system.

What it reported doing in 2025

Founded in 2008, the Petey Greene Program (PGP) operates the largest multi-statetutoring program for people who are currently or formerly incarcerated. The PGP isnamed after Petey Greene, Jr., a formerly incarcerated 1960s community activist andmedia personality in Washington D.C., who dedicated his life to advocacy for racialand social justice. The PGP continues this legacy by providing and advocating for the highest quality education for incarcerated and formerly incarcerated people andeducating volunteers on the injustice manifest in our carceral system. Since itsfounding, the PGP has tutored roughly 20,000 students in over 130 tutoring sitesincluding correctional facilities and reentry programs. During that time, theorganization has recruited more than 8,500 volunteer tutors from 40 universities and worked with over 40 community partners in seven states and the District of Columbia.

Operating model

Revenue model
Mixed. Its operating money came from several sources; no one source provided a clear majority.
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

STRONG - 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: 85
  • Transparency & Controls: 74
  • Accountability: 95
  • Sustainability: 10
  • Growth: 100

Detailed rating inputs

Financial Efficiency

  • Mission deployment rate: 100%; rating input score 100
  • Program expense ratio: 77.7%; rating input score 78
  • Fundraising efficiency: $9.51 raised per $1 spent on fundraising; rating input score 34; 34th percentile among comparable filings

Transparency & Controls

  • Consistency checks: 100%; rating input score 100; 63rd percentile among comparable filings
  • Pay-setting controls: 2 of 6 controls in place; rating input score 33
    • Compensation committee: Missing
    • Independent consultant: Missing
    • Other Form 990s reviewed: Pass
    • 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: 100%; rating input score 100; 63rd percentile among comparable filings
  • Governance controls: 8 of 9 controls in place; rating input score 89
    • Conflict-of-interest policy: Pass
    • Whistleblower policy: Pass
    • Document-retention policy: Pass
    • CEO compensation review process: Pass
    • Other executive compensation review process: Fail
    • Form 990 shared with the board: Pass
    • Board meeting minutes documented: Pass
    • Audit committee oversight: Pass
    • Independent financial-statement audit: Pass

Sustainability

  • Operating margin: -33.3%; rating input score 3; 3rd percentile among comparable filings
  • Total-asset coverage ratio: 0.39; rating input score 12; 12th percentile among comparable filings
  • Liabilities to assets ratio: 0.41; rating input score 20; 20th percentile among comparable filings
  • Officer compensation ratio: 16.2%; rating input score 20; 20th percentile among comparable filings

Growth

  • Program expense growth: 12.5% per year; rating input score 100; 69th percentile among comparable filings
  • Revenue growth: 12.9% per year; rating input score 100; 75th percentile among comparable filings
  • Asset growth: 14.5% per year; rating input score 100; 73rd percentile among comparable filings

Details

  • Where the money goes: 100% of revenue deployed · 77.7% of spending went to programs
  • Governance: 15 of 15 board members independent · 8 of 9 filing controls reported
  • Programs: 1 filed program accomplishment · $2.6M in reported program spending
  • Leadership: top reported pay $180K · 21 people listed · 2 of 6 pay-setting controls reported
  • Consistency: 28 of 29 current checks pass · 1 finding to review
  • Schedules: 6 filed schedules · includes major donors and executive pay
  • Filing history: 10 filing years from 2015 to 2025
  • Contacts: How to reach this organization
  • Money network: 5 filed money-flow records
  • 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.

  • Moderate — Financial Efficiency: Fundraising efficiency scored 34/100.
  • High — Sustainability: Operating margin scored 3/100.
  • High — Sustainability: Total-asset coverage ratio scored 12/100.
  • Review — Accountability: Governance controls: Other executive compensation review process not reported.
  • Moderate — Transparency & Controls: Schedule A contributions reconciliation did not reconcile in the filed values.
  • High — Sustainability: Liabilities to assets ratio scored 20/100.
  • High — Sustainability: Officer compensation ratio scored 20/100.