We Lead Cs Inc

Nonprofit profile at a glance

EIN
884037170
IRS 990 coverage
2024–2024
Forms available
Form 990 2024, Form 990-N 2023
Location
Shelbyville, KY, USA
Phone
5024751245
Rating
56
Verdict
MIXED
Rating confidence
Moderate
Sector
Vocational, Technical Schools

Reported finances

Revenue
$1,546,599
Expenses
$1,308,755
Assets
$273,162
Liabilities
$35,285

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

Leadership & pay

3 people listed

People named in this filing

  • LOURDES BAEZ (CHAIRPERSON)
  • HEATHER ACKELS (VICE CHAIR)
  • TERESA SCOTTI (SECRETARY)

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

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

Overview

Mission

In krs 158.809, the Kentucky general assembly established weleadcs, Kentucky's virtual computer science career academy, to increase the commonwealth's competitiveness in the tech economy and significantly expand Kentucky's capacity to educate and prepare high school students for the tech workforce.weleadcs offers Kentucky eighth grade and high school students a jumpstart on computer science degrees in virtual, dual college credit career pathways in artificial intelligence, computer programming, cybersecurity, data science, network security, and network administration - and the opportunity to prepare for the workforce with many of america's leading tech employers.

What it reported doing in 2024

Weleadcs began statewide operation on july 1, 2024 with a $3 million appropriation from the Kentucky general assembly in the 2024 general session and a directive from the state legislature to significantly expand Kentucky's capacity to educate and prepare students for the tech workforce and, in turn, increase the commonwealth's competitiveness in the tech economy. And significantly expand Kentucky's capacity to educate and prepare high school students for the tech workforce. Enrolling students in we lead cs computer science courses we began by communicating with Kentucky public school districts that we lead cs was offering opportunities to enroll students in a dual college credit computer programming career pathway. We had 15 students from a regional career academy who were enrolled in our pilot program who transitioned into the program, and four additional districts signed contracts with weleadcs for the 2024-2025 school year to teach their students. In 2024-2025, we had 68 students from five school districts. We launched a statewide communications campaign in that year and in the 2025-2025 school year enrolled 220 students from 23 school districts a 420% increase in the number of students served in just one year. Student success weleadcs is required to report several measures of student success in krs 158.809, which is the legislation the Kentucky general assembly passed in 2022 to establish the program. In 2024-2025: 26 of our 68 students earned industry certifications prioritized by Kentucky employers hiring tech talent, including ic3 digital literacy, java programming, python programming, web development, and digital design. 59 of our 68 students took at least one dual college credit course and earned 190 hours of college credit. The 15 students who transitioned into the statewide weleadcs program from our pilot took an end-of-program exam having had two or more years of courses in the computer programming pathway. We had an 87% pass rate among students tested. Teacher support in the 2025 general session, the Kentucky general assembly passed legislation making weleadcs an employer in the Kentucky teacher retirement system and Kentucky employee health insurance plan so weleadcs can offer our staff the same benefits they could receive in a school district. This was an essential step to help weleadcs recruit faculty members to sustain our growth.

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

MIXED - 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 a relatively small share of total spending goes to programs.

Rating breakdown

  • Financial Efficiency: 33
  • Transparency & Controls: 90
  • Accountability: 64
  • Sustainability: 50
  • Growth: NotEnoughData

Detailed rating inputs

Financial Efficiency

  • Mission deployment rate: 34.6%; rating input score 35
  • Program expense ratio: 40.8%; rating input score 41
  • 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: Limited
  • Major donor itemization: Limited
  • Related-party transparency: Limited

Accountability

  • Independent voting board: 100%; rating input score 100; 63rd percentile among comparable filings
  • Governance controls: 1 of 7 controls in place; rating input score 14
    • Conflict-of-interest policy: Fail
    • Whistleblower policy: Fail
    • Document-retention policy: Fail
    • CEO compensation review process: NotApplicable
    • Other executive compensation review process: NotApplicable
    • Form 990 shared with the board: Fail
    • Board meeting minutes documented: Pass
    • Audit committee oversight: Missing
    • Independent financial-statement audit: Fail

Sustainability

  • Operating margin: 15.4%; rating input score 70; 70th percentile among comparable filings
  • Total-asset coverage ratio: 0.21; rating input score 10; 10th percentile among comparable filings
  • Liabilities to assets ratio: 0.13; rating input score 39; 39th percentile among comparable filings
  • Officer compensation ratio: 0%; rating input score 81; 81st percentile among comparable filings

Growth

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

Details

  • Where the money goes: 34.6% of revenue deployed · 40.8% of spending went to programs
  • Governance: 3 of 3 board members independent · 1 of 7 filing controls reported
  • Programs: 1 filed program accomplishment · $534K in reported program spending
  • Leadership: top reported pay $0 · 3 people listed
  • Consistency: 21 of 21 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.

  • Moderate — Financial Efficiency: Mission deployment rate scored 35/100.
  • Moderate — Financial Efficiency: Program expense ratio scored 41/100.
  • High — Accountability: Governance controls: 5 of 6 not reported.
  • High — Sustainability: Total-asset coverage ratio scored 10/100.
  • Moderate — Sustainability: Liabilities to assets ratio scored 39/100.