The Tahirih Justice Center
Nonprofit profile at a glance
- EIN
- 541858176
- IRS 990 coverage
- 2010–2025
- Forms available
- Form 990 2025
- Location
- Falls Church, VA, USA
- Phone
- 5712826161
- Rating
- 75
- Verdict
- SUPPORTED
- Rating confidence
- Moderate
- Sector
- Immigrant’s Rights
Reported finances
- Revenue
- $15,818,154
- Expenses
- $10,860,107
- Assets
- $14,186,546
- Liabilities
- $4,035,508
Source: IRS Form 990. Selected filing: tax year 2025. Amounts in USD.
Leadership & pay
30 people listed
Executive titles in this filing
- ARCHANA PYATI (CEO)
- VANESSA WILKINS (EXECUTIVE DIRECTOR - ATLANTA)
Highest reported compensation
- ARCHANA PYATI (CEO): $210,442 total reported compensation
- MORGAN WEIBEL (DIRECTOR OF CLIENT ADVOCACY - LEGAL): $168,591 total reported compensation
- VANESSA WILKINS (EXECUTIVE DIRECTOR - ATLANTA): $159,133 total reported compensation
Source: IRS Form 990. Selected filing: tax year 2025. Names and roles reflect this filing, not necessarily current officeholders.
Overview
Mission
Tahirih's interdisciplinary, trauma-informed model combines free legal services to secure the rights and legal status that clients are entitled to under u.s. Law, social services case management, nonpartisan policy analysis, and research-based training and education.
What it reported doing in 2025
In 2025 we: informed supporters and advocates by hosting a national webinar outlining recent policy changes created through federal legislation, executive orders, and other agency action. Helped lead a nationwide survey and report on how immigration policy changes are creating a climate of fear that is negatively impacting immigrant survivors of abuse and crime and making it hard for them to achieve safety and justice, as a co-chair of the alliance for immigrant survivors. Worked closely with senate judiciary staff on the child marriage prevention act and continued to grow support for the legislation to be reintroduced in the 119th congress. Led the national movement to end child marriage through its most successful year to date with four jurisdictions Maine, Missouri, Oregon, and Washington, d.c. Passing full bans. Hosted several national webinars throughout the year, including a "compounding victimizations of forced marriage" training that reached over 400 professionals. Presented a workshop at the national sexual violence law conference, "sexual violence: cause and consequence of forced marriage" discussing the nature of forced marriage in the united states, particularly how sexual violence may be used to justify forced marriages.
Operating model
- Revenue model
- Donor-supported. 66% of the money available for current operations came from contributions and gifts.
- Distribution model
- Direct operator. The filing allocates 94% 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 - The filed numbers largely add up and most voting board members are independent. A relatively small share of available resources goes toward mission work and fundraising costs are high for each dollar raised.
Rating breakdown
- Financial Efficiency: 56
- Transparency & Controls: 83
- Accountability: 100
- Sustainability: 59
- Growth: 100
Detailed rating inputs
Financial Efficiency
- Mission deployment rate: 48.2%; rating input score 48
- Program expense ratio: 70.1%; rating input score 70
- Fundraising efficiency: $19.84 raised per $1 spent on fundraising; rating input score 54; 54th percentile among comparable filings
Transparency & Controls
- Consistency checks: 100%; rating input score 100; 64th percentile among comparable filings
- Pay-setting controls: 3 of 6 controls in place; rating input score 50
- Compensation committee: Missing
- Independent consultant: Missing
- Other Form 990s reviewed: Pass
- Written employment contract: Missing
- Compensation survey or study: Pass
- Board or committee approval: Pass
- Foreign activity oversight: Limited
- Grant itemization coverage: 100%; rating input score 100; 76th percentile among comparable filings
- 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: 8 of 8 controls in place; rating input score 100
- 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: Pass
- Independent financial-statement audit: Pass
Sustainability
- Operating margin: 31.3%; rating input score 84; 84th percentile among comparable filings
- Total-asset coverage ratio: 1.31; rating input score 37; 37th percentile among comparable filings
- Liabilities to assets ratio: 0.28; rating input score 42; 42nd percentile among comparable filings
- Officer compensation ratio: 8.9%; rating input score 30; 30th percentile among comparable filings
Growth
- Program expense growth: 9.3% per year; rating input score 100; 64th percentile among comparable filings
- Revenue growth: 10.5% per year; rating input score 100; 75th percentile among comparable filings
- Asset growth: 11.2% per year; rating input score 100; 72nd percentile among comparable filings
Details
- Where the money goes: 48.2% of revenue deployed · 70.1% of spending went to programs
- Governance: 21 of 21 board members independent · 8 of 8 filing controls reported
- Programs: 2 filed program accomplishments · $7.6M in reported program spending
- Leadership: top reported pay $210K · 30 people listed · 3 of 6 pay-setting controls reported
- Highest-paid contractors: 1 contractor listed · $106K reported
- Consistency: 35 of 35 current checks pass
- Schedules: 8 filed schedules · includes major donors, grants, and executive pay
- Filing history: 15 filing years from 2010 to 2025
- Contacts: How to reach this organization
- Money network: 12 filed money-flow records
- Related organizations: 6 filed related-organization links
- 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: Mission deployment rate scored 48/100.
- Review — Financial Efficiency: Fundraising efficiency scored 54/100.
- Moderate — Sustainability: Total-asset coverage ratio scored 37/100.
- Moderate — Sustainability: Officer compensation ratio scored 30/100.
- Moderate — Sustainability: Liabilities to assets ratio scored 42/100.