The SoLa Foundation
Nonprofit profile at a glance
- EIN
- 824698211
- IRS 990 coverage
- 2019–2024
- Official website data refreshed
- Sep 2026
- Forms available
- Form 990 2024, Form 990-N 2018
- Location
- Los Angeles, CA, US
- Phone
- 323-306-4645
- Rating
- 74
- Verdict
- SUPPORTED
- Rating confidence
- Moderate
- Sector
- Youth Development Programs
Reported finances
- Revenue
- $3,468,054
- Expenses
- $4,232,110
- Assets
- $7,686,002
- Liabilities
- $1,849,276
Source: IRS Form 990. Selected filing: tax year 2024. Amounts in USD.
Leadership & pay
13 people listed
Executive titles in this filing
- SHERRI FRANCOIS (PRESIDENT/EXEC. DIR.)
Highest reported compensation
- SHERRI FRANCOIS (PRESIDENT/EXEC. DIR.): $283,285 total reported compensation
- LAURA DOXEY (DIR. OF TECH OPS): $142,494 total reported compensation
- DANIEL ROSOVE (BOARD MEMBER): $141,034 total reported compensation
Source: IRS Form 990. Selected filing: tax year 2024. Names and roles reflect this filing, not necessarily current officeholders.
Overview
Mission
The SoLa Foundation builds pathways to intergenerational wealth creation, higher education, and sustainable community development in LA's under-invested and under-resourced communities.
What it reported doing in 2024
Technology & entrepreneurship center (tec): provide access to career development & entrepreneurship access to education & tech innovation access to financial literacy & economic mobility access to college readiness.
Operating model
- Revenue model
- Donor-supported. 61% of the money available for current operations came from contributions and gifts.
- Distribution model
- Hybrid. The nonprofit split its reported program spending across 80% for direct work, and 20% for grants.
- Includes noncash contributions: Reported contributions include donated property or goods.
The verdict
SUPPORTED - A large share of available resources goes toward mission work and the filed numbers largely add up. Few specific pay-setting methods are documented in the filing; unanswered boxes are not proof of absence and expenses are high relative to revenue.
Rating breakdown
- Financial Efficiency: 81
- Transparency & Controls: 68
- Accountability: 73
- Sustainability: 26
- Growth: 100
Detailed rating inputs
Financial Efficiency
- Mission deployment rate: 88.5%; rating input score 88
- Program expense ratio: 72.5%; rating input score 72
- Fundraising efficiency: $31.56 raised per $1 spent on fundraising; rating input score 70; 70th percentile among comparable filings
Transparency & Controls
- Consistency checks: 94.4%; rating input score 94; 24th percentile among comparable filings
- Pay-setting controls: 0 of 6 controls in place; rating input score 0
- Compensation committee: Missing
- Independent consultant: Missing
- Other Form 990s reviewed: Missing
- Written employment contract: Missing
- Compensation survey or study: Missing
- Board or committee approval: Missing
- Foreign activity oversight: Limited
- Grant itemization coverage: 96%; rating input score 96; 31st percentile among comparable filings
- Major donor itemization: Yes; rating input score 100
- Related-party transparency: Limited
Accountability
- Independent voting board: 70%; rating input score 70; 11th 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: Fail
- 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: -22%; rating input score 6; 6th percentile among comparable filings
- Total-asset coverage ratio: 1.82; rating input score 58; 58th percentile among comparable filings
- Liabilities to assets ratio: 0.24; rating input score 40; 40th percentile among comparable filings
- Officer compensation ratio: 20%; rating input score 12; 12th percentile among comparable filings
Growth
- Program expense growth: 41.4% per year; rating input score 100; 96th percentile among comparable filings
- Revenue growth: 25.2% per year; rating input score 100; 92nd percentile among comparable filings
- Asset growth: 35.7% per year; rating input score 100; 95th percentile among comparable filings
Details
- What they do: 5 programs and campaigns described on the official site · 1 operating location identified
- Where the money goes: 88.5% of revenue deployed · 72.5% of spending went to programs
- Governance: 7 of 10 board members independent · 7 of 9 filing controls reported
- Programs: 3 filed program accomplishments · $3.1M in reported program spending
- Leadership: top reported pay $283K · 13 people listed · 0 of 6 pay-setting controls reported
- Consistency: 38 of 39 current checks pass · 1 finding to review
- Schedules: 9 filed schedules · includes major donors, grants, and executive pay
- Filing history: 5 filing years from 2019 to 2024
- Contacts: How to reach this organization
- Money network: 6 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.
- 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.
- High — Transparency & Controls: Pay-setting controls scored 0/100.
- High — Sustainability: Operating margin scored 6/100.
- Review — Accountability: Governance controls: 2 of 9 not reported.
- Review — Sustainability: Total-asset coverage ratio scored 58/100.
- High — Sustainability: Officer compensation ratio scored 12/100.
- Moderate — Sustainability: Liabilities to assets ratio scored 40/100.
- Review — Transparency & Controls: Domestic grant itemization did not reconcile in the filed values.