MA‘O Organic Farms
Legal name: Waianae Community Re-development Corporation
Nonprofit profile at a glance
- EIN
- 990350803
- IRS 990 coverage
- 2010–2024
- Official website data refreshed
- Sep 2026
- Forms available
- Form 990 2024
- Location
- Waiʻanae, HI, United States
- Phone
- (808) 696-5569
- Rating
- 71
- Verdict
- SUPPORTED
- Rating confidence
- Moderate
- Sector
- Job Training
Reported finances
- Revenue
- $9,375,551
- Expenses
- $3,452,295
- Assets
- $27,769,936
- Liabilities
- $5,884,564
Source: IRS Form 990. Selected filing: tax year 2024. Amounts in USD.
Leadership & pay
18 people listed
Executive titles in this filing
- ELISA YADAO (PRESIDENT/DIRECTOR)
Highest reported compensation
- J KUKUI MAUNAKEA-FORTH (CO-FOUNDER/EXECUTIVE & PROGRAM DIRECTOR): $135,014 total reported compensation
- GARY MAUNAKEA-FORTH (CO-FOUNDER/DIRECTOR OF AINA RE-DEVELOPMENT): $111,727 total reported compensation
Source: IRS Form 990. Selected filing: tax year 2024. Names and roles reflect this filing, not necessarily current officeholders.
Overview
Mission
MAʻO Organic Farms grows food, youth leadership, and community.
What it reported doing in 2024
Our mission is to grow empowered youth leadership for a just, healthy, sustainable and resilient community food system. To that end, we provide youth leadership training (ylt) programs in which youth work in the organic farm enterprise and in return for that sweat equity they are provided full tuition to our local community college while earning educational stipends. In 2024, ma'o organic farms continued to advance its mission of growing empowered youth leaders and building a just, healthy, and resilient community food system. Through its 'auwai youth leadership and workforce training programs, ma'o engaged 195 youth in paid internships that combined hands-on organic farming with college tuition support and leadership development. Together, interns and staff cultivated 36 acres of 'aina, producing more than 340,000 pounds of certified organic produce and generating over $1.3 million in farm sales-marking steady progress toward the organization's 10-year goal of expanding production and increasing local food security.
Operating model
- Revenue model
- Donor-supported. 92% of the money available for current operations came from contributions and gifts.
- Distribution model
- Direct operator. The filing allocates 81% 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.
- Includes noncash contributions: Reported contributions include donated property or goods.
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 some filing-based governance responses are negative or unanswered.
Rating breakdown
- Financial Efficiency: 43
- Transparency & Controls: 94
- Accountability: 84
- Sustainability: 81
- Growth: 100
Detailed rating inputs
Financial Efficiency
- Mission deployment rate: 29.4%; rating input score 29
- Program expense ratio: 79.5%; rating input score 80
- Fundraising efficiency: Limited
Transparency & Controls
- Consistency checks: 100%; rating input score 100; 63rd percentile among comparable filings
- Pay-setting controls: Limited
- Foreign activity oversight: Limited
- Grant itemization coverage: 100%; rating input score 100; 72nd 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; 63rd percentile among comparable filings
- Governance controls: 5 of 8 controls in place; rating input score 62
- Conflict-of-interest policy: Pass
- Whistleblower policy: Pass
- Document-retention policy: Pass
- CEO compensation review process: NotApplicable
- 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: 63.2%; rating input score 95; 95th percentile among comparable filings
- Total-asset coverage ratio: 8.04; rating input score 89; 89th percentile among comparable filings
- Liabilities to assets ratio: 0.21; rating input score 43; 43rd percentile among comparable filings
- Officer compensation ratio: 7.1%; rating input score 41; 41st percentile among comparable filings
Growth
- Program expense growth: 7.1% per year; rating input score 100; 51st percentile among comparable filings
- Revenue growth: 14.2% per year; rating input score 100; 80th percentile among comparable filings
- Asset growth: 20.4% per year; rating input score 100; 84th percentile among comparable filings
Details
- What they do: 3 programs and campaigns described on the official site
- Where the money goes: 29.4% of revenue deployed · 79.5% of spending went to programs
- Governance: 17 of 17 board members independent · 5 of 8 filing controls reported
- Programs: 2 filed program accomplishments · $2.7M in reported program spending
- Leadership: top reported pay $135K · 18 people listed
- Highest-paid contractors: 1 contractor listed · $446K reported
- Consistency: 32 of 32 current checks pass
- Schedules: 8 filed schedules · includes major donors and grants
- Filing history: 14 filing years from 2010 to 2024
- Contacts: How to reach this organization
- Money network: 2 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.
- High — Financial Efficiency: Mission deployment rate scored 29/100.
- Review — Accountability: Governance controls: 2 of 7 not reported.
- Moderate — Sustainability: Officer compensation ratio scored 41/100.
- Moderate — Sustainability: Liabilities to assets ratio scored 43/100.