Transformation Life Center
Nonprofit profile at a glance
- EIN
- 263906467
- IRS 990 coverage
- 2022–2025
- Forms available
- Form 990 2025, Form 990-EZ 2021, Form 990-N 2016
- Location
- Nashville, TN, USA
- Phone
- 6159976841
- Rating
- 49
- Verdict
- MIXED
- Rating confidence
- Moderate
- Sector
- Youth Development Programs
Reported finances
- Revenue
- $301,122
- Expenses
- $232,357
- Assets
- $219,157
- Liabilities
- $0
Source: IRS Form 990. Selected filing: tax year 2025. Amounts in USD.
Leadership & pay
8 people listed
Executive titles in this filing
- DEMETRIUS SHORT (FOUNDER/CEO)
Highest reported compensation
- DEMETRIUS SHORT (FOUNDER/CEO): $53,212 total reported compensation
- VANESSA SHORT (PROGRAM DIRECTOR): $32,500 total reported compensation
- JULIA SELLERS (PROGRAM DIRECTOR): $27,375 total reported compensation
Source: IRS Form 990. Selected filing: tax year 2025. Names and roles reflect this filing, not necessarily current officeholders.
Overview
Mission
Transformation Life Center cultivates future leaders and a highly capable workforce by providing leadership development, education, mentorship, and career readiness programs that positively impact youth and collegiate students in underserved communities
What it reported doing in 2025
Brown Boys Read inspires the love of reading through the love of running to help boys and young men improve reading proficiency, combat childhood obesity, and develop healthier lifestyles and leadership skills. In 2025, the program impacted 328 boys and young men in grades 5 through 12 in partnership with 100 Kings of Middle Tennessee. Participants engaged in a summer reading experience that combined guided book discussions with mentors and healthy walk/run activities, creating an innovative approach to literacy, mentorship, and wellness. The program encouraged participants to strengthen reading comprehension, build confidence, and develop positive relationships with community leaders and mentors. The program concluded with participants joining Demetrius Short and 677 runners in the 15th Annual Steps of Success 5K, reinforcing the importance of perseverance, healthy living, and creating a pathway to success.
Operating model
- Revenue model
- Mixed. Its operating money came from several sources; no one source provided a clear majority.
- Distribution model
- Cannot be determined from the filing. The filing does not provide enough consistent spending detail to tell whether the nonprofit works directly or through others.
The verdict
MIXED - 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 a relatively small share of total spending goes to programs.
Rating breakdown
- Financial Efficiency: 31
- Transparency & Controls: 60
- Accountability: 64
- Sustainability: 56
- Growth: 60
Detailed rating inputs
Financial Efficiency
- Mission deployment rate: 24.5%; rating input score 24
- Program expense ratio: 31.7%; rating input score 32
- Fundraising efficiency: $23.69 raised per $1 spent on fundraising; rating input score 59; 59th percentile among comparable filings
Transparency & Controls
- Consistency checks: 66.7%; rating input score 67; 0th percentile among comparable filings
- Pay-setting controls: Limited
- Foreign activity oversight: Limited
- Grant itemization coverage: Limited
- Major donor itemization: Limited
- Related-party transparency: Limited
Accountability
- Independent voting board: 85.7%; rating input score 86; 25th percentile among comparable filings
- Governance controls: 3 of 9 controls in place; rating input score 33
- Conflict-of-interest policy: Pass
- Whistleblower policy: Fail
- Document-retention policy: Fail
- 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: Missing
- Independent financial-statement audit: Fail
Sustainability
- Operating margin: 22.8%; rating input score 74; 74th percentile among comparable filings
- Total-asset coverage ratio: 0.94; rating input score 39; 39th percentile among comparable filings
- Liabilities to assets ratio: 0; rating input score 77; 77th percentile among comparable filings
- Officer compensation ratio: 48.7%; rating input score 4; 4th percentile among comparable filings
Growth
- Program expense growth: -11.1% per year; rating input score 0; 10th percentile among comparable filings
- Revenue growth: 20.8% per year; rating input score 100; 87th percentile among comparable filings
- Asset growth: 26.7% per year; rating input score 100; 88th percentile among comparable filings
Details
- Where the money goes: 24.5% of revenue deployed · 31.7% of spending went to programs
- Governance: 6 of 7 board members independent · 3 of 9 filing controls reported
- Programs: 2 filed program accomplishments · $90K in reported program spending
- Leadership: top reported pay $53K · 8 people listed
- Consistency: 12 of 19 current checks pass · 7 findings to review
- Schedules: 4 filed schedules
- Filing history: 4 filing years from 2022 to 2025
- Contacts: How to reach this organization
- Money network: 3 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.
Key Signals
Signals prioritize questions for review. They are not findings of misconduct.
- High — Financial Efficiency: Mission deployment rate scored 24/100.
- Moderate — Financial Efficiency: Program expense ratio scored 32/100.
- Moderate — Accountability: Governance controls: 5 of 8 not reported.
- High — Growth: Program expense growth scored 0/100.
- Review — Financial Efficiency: Fundraising efficiency scored 59/100.
- Moderate — Transparency & Controls: Functional expense sum did not reconcile in the filed values.
- Moderate — Transparency & Controls: Part IX Advertising column sum did not reconcile in the filed values.
- Moderate — Transparency & Controls: Part IX InformationTechnology column sum did not reconcile in the filed values.
- Moderate — Transparency & Controls: Part IX Occupancy column sum did not reconcile in the filed values.
- Moderate — Transparency & Controls: Part IX OfficeExpenses column sum did not reconcile in the filed values.
- Moderate — Transparency & Controls: Schedule A contributions reconciliation did not reconcile in the filed values.
- Review — Transparency & Controls: Schedule G fundraiser detail did not reconcile in the filed values.
- Moderate — Sustainability: Total-asset coverage ratio scored 39/100.
- High — Sustainability: Officer compensation ratio scored 4/100.