Walking Strong Inc

Nonprofit profile at a glance

EIN
471648097
IRS 990 coverage
2018–2025
Forms available
Form 990 2025, Form 990-EZ 2023
Location
West Hills, CA, USA
Phone
3104886505
Rating
75
Verdict
SUPPORTED
Rating confidence
Moderate
Sector
Digestive Diseases, Disorders

Reported finances

Revenue
$323,217
Expenses
$288,792
Assets
$425,906
Liabilities
$116,864

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

Leadership & pay

8 people listed

Executive titles in this filing

  • JORGE LLAURO (PRESIDENT)

Highest reported compensation

  • VALERIE PAPPAS LLAURO (EXECUTIVE DI): $43,500 total reported compensation

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

Overview

Mission

Walking strong helps duchenne families with their over-bearing medical needs that are most often not covered by insurance. To date, we have provided families with life-changing items such as a handicap accessible van, service dogs, hoyer lifts, in-home ramps, alternative therapies, medical travel expenses, and on-line training courses for older duchenne teens to help provide them with a career. We also provide one-on-one mindset coaching to all those with duchenne, their parents and siblings.

What it reported doing in 2025

Walking strong helps duchenne families with their over-bearing medical needs that are most often not covered by insurance. To date, we have provided families with life-changing items such as a handicap accessible van, service dogs, hoyer lifts, in-home ramps, alternative therapies, medical travel expenses, and on-line training courses for older duchenne teens to help provide them with a career. We also provide one-on-eone mindset coaching to all those with duchenne, their parents, and siblings.

Operating model

Revenue model
Donor-supported. 100% of the money available for current operations came from contributions and gifts.
Distribution model
Grant intermediary. The nonprofit sent 66% of its reported program spending out as grants.

The verdict

SUPPORTED - The filed numbers largely add up and a large share of available resources goes toward mission work. Some filing-based governance responses are negative or unanswered and fundraising costs are high for each dollar raised.

Rating breakdown

  • Financial Efficiency: 68
  • Transparency & Controls: 94
  • Accountability: 62
  • Sustainability: 47
  • Growth: 100

Detailed rating inputs

Financial Efficiency

  • Mission deployment rate: 68.5%; rating input score 68
  • Program expense ratio: 76.6%; rating input score 77
  • Fundraising efficiency: $10.5 raised per $1 spent on fundraising; rating input score 39; 39th percentile among comparable filings

Transparency & Controls

  • Consistency checks: 100%; rating input score 100; 64th percentile among comparable filings
  • Pay-setting controls: Limited
  • Foreign activity oversight: Limited
  • Grant itemization coverage: 100%; rating input score 100; 81st percentile among comparable filings
  • Major donor itemization: Yes; rating input score 100
  • Related-party transparency: Limited

Accountability

  • Independent voting board: 87.5%; rating input score 88; 26th percentile among comparable filings
  • Governance controls: 2 of 8 controls in place; rating input score 25
    • Conflict-of-interest policy: Pass
    • Whistleblower policy: Fail
    • Document-retention policy: Fail
    • CEO compensation review process: NotApplicable
    • Other executive compensation review process: Fail
    • Form 990 shared with the board: Fail
    • Board meeting minutes documented: Pass
    • Audit committee oversight: Missing
    • Independent financial-statement audit: Fail

Sustainability

  • Operating margin: 10.7%; rating input score 58; 58th percentile among comparable filings
  • Total-asset coverage ratio: 1.47; rating input score 51; 51st percentile among comparable filings
  • Liabilities to assets ratio: 0.27; rating input score 14; 14th percentile among comparable filings
  • Officer compensation ratio: 15.1%; rating input score 23; 23rd percentile among comparable filings

Growth

  • Program expense growth: 6.2% per year; rating input score 100; 55th percentile among comparable filings
  • Revenue growth: 9.3% per year; rating input score 100; 67th percentile among comparable filings
  • Asset growth: 14.4% per year; rating input score 100; 74th percentile among comparable filings

Details

  • Where the money goes: 68.5% of revenue deployed · 76.6% of spending went to programs
  • Governance: 7 of 8 board members independent · 2 of 8 filing controls reported
  • Programs: 1 filed program accomplishment · $221K in reported program spending
  • Leadership: top reported pay $44K · 8 people listed
  • Consistency: 28 of 28 current checks pass
  • Schedules: 6 filed schedules · includes major donors and grants
  • Filing history: 5 filing years from 2018 to 2025
  • Contacts: How to reach this organization
  • Money network: 2 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 — Accountability: Governance controls: 5 of 7 not reported.
  • Moderate — Financial Efficiency: Fundraising efficiency scored 39/100.
  • Review — Sustainability: Operating margin scored 58/100.
  • Review — Sustainability: Total-asset coverage ratio scored 51/100.
  • High — Sustainability: Liabilities to assets ratio scored 14/100.
  • High — Sustainability: Officer compensation ratio scored 23/100.