Washington Leadership Academy

Legal name: Washington Leadership Academy Public Charter School

Nonprofit profile at a glance

EIN
474595801
IRS 990 coverage
2015–2024
Official website data refreshed
Sep 2026
Forms available
Form 990 2024
Location
Washington, DC, US
Phone
240-580-3371
Rating
83
Verdict
STRONG
Rating confidence
Moderate
Sector
Specialized Education Institutions

Official website

Reported finances

Revenue
$15,702,269
Expenses
$13,630,931
Assets
$21,139,051
Liabilities
$8,813,238

Source: IRS Form 990. Selected filing: tax year 2024. Amounts in USD.

Leadership & pay

18 people listed

Executive titles in this filing

  • ANASTASIA KANE (EXECUTIVE DIRECTOR)

Highest reported compensation

  • ANASTASIA KANE (EXECUTIVE DIRECTOR): $218,061 total reported compensation
  • ERIC COLLAZO (PRINCIPAL): $198,778 total reported compensation
  • MARK DEEGAN (CHIEF INNOVATION OFFICER): $155,878 total reported compensation

Source: IRS Form 990. Selected filing: tax year 2024. Names and roles reflect this filing, not necessarily current officeholders.

Overview

Mission

We prepare our kids to thrive in the world and change it for the better.

What it reported doing in 2024

Washington leadership academy (wla) is a 9-12 public charter school providing its students with a rigorous college preparatory curriculum with an emphasis on public leadership and technology. Students learn four years of computer science and have opportunities to work with and learn from local organizations.

Operating model

Revenue model
Grant-funded. 97% of the money available for current operations came from government grants.
Distribution model
Direct operator. The filing allocates 100% 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

STRONG - 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 total assets are small relative to annual expenses; liquid coverage is unknown.

Rating breakdown

  • Financial Efficiency: 78
  • Transparency & Controls: 83
  • Accountability: 95
  • Sustainability: 59
  • Growth: 100

Detailed rating inputs

Financial Efficiency

  • Mission deployment rate: 72.4%; rating input score 72
  • Program expense ratio: 82.6%; rating input score 83
  • Fundraising efficiency: $425.98 raised per $1 spent on fundraising; rating input score 94; 94th percentile among comparable filings

Transparency & Controls

  • Consistency checks: 100%; rating input score 100; 62nd percentile among comparable filings
  • Pay-setting controls: 3 of 6 controls in place; rating input score 50
    • Compensation committee: Missing
    • Independent consultant: Pass
    • Other Form 990s reviewed: Missing
    • 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; 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; 66th percentile among comparable filings
  • Governance controls: 8 of 9 controls in place; rating input score 89
    • 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: Pass
    • Independent financial-statement audit: Pass

Sustainability

  • Operating margin: 13.2%; rating input score 73; 73rd percentile among comparable filings
  • Total-asset coverage ratio: 1.55; rating input score 52; 52nd percentile among comparable filings
  • Liabilities to assets ratio: 0.42; rating input score 35; 35th percentile among comparable filings
  • Officer compensation ratio: 6.3%; rating input score 41; 41st percentile among comparable filings

Growth

  • Program expense growth: 17.2% per year; rating input score 100; 87th percentile among comparable filings
  • Revenue growth: 16.7% per year; rating input score 100; 89th percentile among comparable filings
  • Asset growth: 27.1% per year; rating input score 100; 95th percentile among comparable filings

Details

  • What they do: 1 programs and campaigns described on the official site · 1 operating location identified
  • Where the money goes: 72.4% of revenue deployed · 82.6% of spending went to programs
  • Governance: 12 of 12 board members independent · 8 of 9 filing controls reported
  • Programs: 1 filed program accomplishment · $11.3M in reported program spending
  • Leadership: top reported pay $218K · 18 people listed · 3 of 6 pay-setting controls reported
  • Highest-paid contractors: 4 contractors listed · $747K reported
  • Consistency: 32 of 32 current checks pass
  • Schedules: 7 filed schedules · includes major donors, grants, and executive pay
  • Filing history: 10 filing years from 2015 to 2024
  • Contacts: How to reach this organization
  • Money network: 5 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.

  • Review — Accountability: Governance controls: Other executive compensation review process not reported.
  • Review — Sustainability: Total-asset coverage ratio scored 52/100.
  • Moderate — Sustainability: Liabilities to assets ratio scored 35/100.
  • Moderate — Sustainability: Officer compensation ratio scored 41/100.