We as One Education

Nonprofit profile at a glance

EIN
990942690
IRS 990-EZ coverage
2024–2024
Official website data refreshed
Sep 2026
Forms available
Form 990-EZ 2024, Form 990-N 2023
Location
Mendota Heights, MN, USA
Phone
6127047268
Rating
79
Verdict
SUPPORTED
Rating confidence
Moderate
Sector
Educational Services and Schools - Other

Official website

Reported finances

Revenue
$59,832
Expenses
$53,304
Assets
$11,132

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

Leadership & pay

5 people listed

People named in this filing

  • MARY JO KATRAS (DIRECTOR & P)
  • PING CHEN (DIRECTOR & T)
  • SIRUI CHEN (PAST DIRECTO)

Selected names, not a complete roster or a statement of current roles. Open leadership details for the complete filed list.

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

Overview

Mission

To use language and culture as a bridge and a window to provide real-life learning opportunities for young students to experience and discuss things that can sometimes be sensitive and difficult to talk about in a safe environment.

What it reported doing in 2024

We as one camp: established in 2020, we as one camp is a language and culture summer camp serving kindergarten to 8th grade students, offering a high-quality immersion experience in oral proficiency, cultural dialogues, and hands-on activities. The camp emphasizes language acquisition while fostering meaningful conversations on topics like race, identity, diversity, inclusion and belonging. Our goal is to use language and culture as a bridge and a window to provide real-life learning opportunites for young students to experience and discuss things that can sometimes be sensitive and difficult to talk about in a safe environment. All of the courageous conversations are done through social justice themed literature, personal stories shared by adults and peers, and open-minded discussions suitable for the student's cognitive development level. In the summer of 2025, we had three weeks of camp programs at two different locations, serving a total of 207 students, among which over 9% of our student body received financial aid to attend our high-quality k-8 youth program free-of-charge. We as one commumity work & affinity group gatherings: in the year of 2024-2025, we as one continued to be involved in community gatherings, celebrations and organized teacher-support affinity group gatherings. At those community events, we as one always had our own table or booth, and was very involved in letting our community know what our mission is and how we serve our community. These community events included: twin cities dumpling festival, Minnesota may forum and twin cities west metro asian fair. We as one professional developments and public education: in the year of 2024-2025, our we as one team offered several in-depth professional training designed to strengthen cultural understanding and community connections. We as one cross-state k-12 chinese language program survey: the 2025 we as one education & Minnesota council on teaching languages and cultures (mctlc) survey was a statewide initiative designed to capture a clear picture of the rapidly changing landscape of k-12 chinese language programs across Minnesota. Prompted by increasing reports of program cuts, declining enrollment, and reduced instructional time in both public and independent schools, the survey sought to document the lived experiences of chinese language educators. Many of these educators are teachers of color, first-generation immigrants, and in some cases individuals whose employment is directly tied to employer-sponsored h-1b visas. Data was collected between february and april 2025 through educator networks, professional organizations, and statewide newsletters. The resulting dataset provides critical insight to inform future advocacy efforts, strengthen world language programs, and support the professional growth and long-term stability of chinese-and potentially other world language-teachers across Minnesota.

Operating model

Revenue model
Earned-program. 99% of the money available for current operations came from fees and other program revenue.
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

SUPPORTED - A large share of available resources goes toward mission work and the filed numbers largely add up. Total assets are small relative to annual expenses; liquid coverage is unknown and reported officer compensation is a large share of total spending, which may reflect staffing concentration.

Rating breakdown

  • Financial Efficiency: 88
  • Transparency & Controls: 82
  • Sustainability: 41
  • Growth: NotEnoughData

Detailed rating inputs

Financial Efficiency

  • Mission deployment rate: 83.6%; rating input score 84
  • Program expense ratio: 93.8%; rating input score 94

Transparency & Controls

  • Consistency checks: 100%; rating input score 100; 52nd percentile among comparable filings
  • Major donor itemization: Limited

Sustainability

  • Operating margin: 10.9%; rating input score 63; 63rd percentile among comparable filings
  • Total-asset coverage ratio: 0.21; rating input score 17; 17th percentile among comparable filings
  • Liabilities to assets ratio: Limited
  • Officer compensation ratio: 0%; rating input score 56; 56th percentile among comparable filings

Growth

  • Program expense growth: Limited
  • Revenue growth: Limited
  • Asset growth: Limited

Details

  • What they do: 6 programs and campaigns described on the official site · 3 operating locations identified
  • Where the money goes: 83.6% of revenue deployed · 93.8% of spending went to programs
  • Governance: Filed governance answers
  • Accomplishments: 1 filed program accomplishment · $50K in reported program spending
  • Leadership: top reported pay $0 · 5 people listed
  • Consistency: 6 of 6 current checks pass
  • Schedules: 2 filed schedules
  • Contacts: How to reach this organization
  • 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 — Sustainability: Total-asset coverage ratio scored 17/100.
  • Review — Sustainability: Officer compensation ratio scored 56/100.