Valeo Vocation

Nonprofit profile at a glance

EIN
824092268
IRS 990 coverage
2020–2025
Official website data refreshed
Aug 2026
Forms available
Form 990 2025
Location
Tacoma, WA, US
Phone
(253) 301-2134
Rating
79
Verdict
SUPPORTED
Rating confidence
Moderate
Sector
Job Training

Official website

Reported finances

Revenue
$6,620,316
Expenses
$6,680,403
Assets
$5,586,427
Liabilities
$1,407,318

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

Leadership & pay

5 people listed

Executive titles in this filing

  • Luis Rivera Zayas (President)
  • Sherri Jensen (Executive Director)

Highest reported compensation

  • Sherri Jensen (Executive Director): $177,929 total reported compensation
  • Bruce Taylor (Chief Operating Officer): $24,174 total reported compensation

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

Overview

Mission

Valeo’s mission is to end homelessness for participants seeking full-time employment and permanent housing.

What it reported doing in 2025

Workforce Housing & Shelter Operations: Managed multiple workforce shelter and housing sites including enhancing the Calyx Communities model. Upgraded the MLK site to accommodate 30 seasonal shelter participants and progressed with the development of the Altheimer site for couples housing. Continued overseeing shelter contracts in Olympia and Pierce County providing stable housing with comprehensive workforce support. In total Valeo assisted 1131 participants across our shelter programs. Workforce Development & Employment Services: Offered transitional and supported employment to 1024 individuals including 990 new participants in 2025. Of these 74% were unhoused upon intake 38% had justice involvement and 34% were managing behavioral health concerns. Re-Entry Services Pathways to Progress-PTP: Expanded Valeos inaugural specialized re-entry program in collaboration with Pierce County District Court. This program furnishes workforce and housing assistance to justice-impacted individuals engaged with the district court aiding 50 individuals through our innovative WorkCrew Program. Social Enterprise Development SED: Broadened commercial and nonprofit staffing operations yielding over 1,684,622.24 in earned income from contracts with three new employer partners in 2025: Tacoma Humane Society Superior Builders and Precision Iron Works.

Operating model

Revenue model
Grant-funded. 62% of the money available for current operations came from government grants.
Distribution model
Direct operator. The filing allocates 99% 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. Some filing-based governance responses are negative or unanswered and expenses are high relative to revenue.

Rating breakdown

  • Financial Efficiency: 82
  • Transparency & Controls: 83
  • Accountability: 72
  • Sustainability: 31
  • Growth: 100

Detailed rating inputs

Financial Efficiency

  • Mission deployment rate: 83.8%; rating input score 84
  • Program expense ratio: 83%; rating input score 83
  • Fundraising efficiency: $30.95 raised per $1 spent on fundraising; rating input score 70; 70th percentile among comparable filings

Transparency & Controls

  • Consistency checks: 100%; rating input score 100; 63rd percentile among comparable filings
  • Pay-setting controls: 3 of 6 controls in place; rating input score 50
    • Compensation committee: Pass
    • Independent consultant: Missing
    • Other Form 990s reviewed: Pass
    • Written employment contract: Pass
    • Compensation survey or study: Missing
    • Board or committee approval: Missing
  • Foreign activity oversight: Limited
  • Grant itemization coverage: 100%; rating input score 100; 75th percentile among comparable filings
  • Major donor itemization: Yes; rating input score 100
  • Related-party transparency: Limited

Accountability

  • Independent voting board: 75%; rating input score 75; 14th percentile among comparable filings
  • Governance controls: 6 of 9 controls in place; rating input score 67
    • 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: Missing
    • Independent financial-statement audit: Fail

Sustainability

  • Operating margin: -0.9%; rating input score 23; 23rd percentile among comparable filings
  • Total-asset coverage ratio: 0.84; rating input score 28; 28th percentile among comparable filings
  • Liabilities to assets ratio: 0.25; rating input score 30; 30th percentile among comparable filings
  • Officer compensation ratio: 3%; rating input score 70; 70th percentile among comparable filings

Growth

  • Program expense growth: 18.9% per year; rating input score 100; 82nd percentile among comparable filings
  • Revenue growth: 18.6% per year; rating input score 100; 85th percentile among comparable filings
  • Asset growth: 32.4% per year; rating input score 100; 94th 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: 83.8% of revenue deployed · 83% of spending went to programs
  • Governance: 3 of 4 board members independent · 6 of 9 filing controls reported
  • Programs: 3 filed program accomplishments · $5.5M in reported program spending
  • Leadership: top reported pay $178K · 5 people listed · 3 of 6 pay-setting controls reported
  • Consistency: 44 of 44 current checks pass
  • Schedules: 8 filed schedules · includes major donors, grants, and executive pay
  • Filing history: 5 filing years from 2020 to 2025
  • Contacts: How to reach this organization
  • Money network: 4 filed money-flow records
  • Related organizations: Filed and resolved organization relationships.
  • 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.

  • Review — Accountability: Governance controls: 2 of 8 not reported.
  • High — Sustainability: Operating margin scored 23/100.
  • High — Sustainability: Total-asset coverage ratio scored 28/100.
  • Moderate — Sustainability: Liabilities to assets ratio scored 30/100.