Women's Link Worldwide

Nonprofit profile at a glance

EIN
030371141
IRS 990 coverage
2010–2025
Forms available
Form 990 2025
Location
New York, NY, USA
Phone
3322441944
Rating
67
Verdict
SUPPORTED
Rating confidence
Moderate
Sector
Civil Rights, Social Action, Advocacy N.E.C.

Official website

Reported finances

Revenue
$3,839,466
Expenses
$2,790,380
Assets
$7,612,082
Liabilities
$111,236

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

Leadership & pay

11 people listed

Executive titles in this filing

  • Jovana Rios Cisnero (Executive Director)

Highest reported compensation

  • Jovana Rios Cisnero (Executive Director): $178,176 total reported compensation
  • Susan Roberts (Director of Finance and Operations): $132,590 total reported compensation
  • Charlotte Minvielle (Director of Development and Communications): $132,064 total reported compensation

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

Overview

Mission

A legal organization working to advance the rights of women, girls, and gender diverse people. We work on issues of reproductive rights, gender-based violence, climate, and racial justice in East Africa, Europe, Latin America, and the Caribbean.

What it reported doing in 2025

Women's Link Worldwide is an intersectional feminist nonprofit organization that advances women's rights through legal action. We are legal experts, strategists, and activists dedicated to advancing justice for women, girls, and gender-diverse people. Using legal strategies, we tackle barriers, challenge discrimination, and expand access to human rights in Latin America and the Caribbean, East Africa, and Europe. We use strategic litigation and take on legal cases that have the potential to bring about long-lasting change. We work with communities to bring about justice in ways most relevant to their reality. We also join broader national, regional, and global networks and movements to advocate for change in legislation on sexual and reproductive health and rights, violence against women and girls, climate and environmental justice, and racial justice.

Operating model

Revenue model
Donor-supported. 96% of the money available for current operations came from contributions and gifts.
Distribution model
Direct operator. The filing allocates 87% 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 - 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 the filing reports few safeguards for money sent abroad.

Rating breakdown

  • Financial Efficiency: 51
  • Transparency & Controls: 69
  • Accountability: 86
  • Sustainability: 68
  • Growth: 100

Detailed rating inputs

Financial Efficiency

  • Mission deployment rate: 48.1%; rating input score 48
  • Program expense ratio: 63.4%; rating input score 63
  • Fundraising efficiency: $7.58 raised per $1 spent on fundraising; rating input score 26; 26th percentile among comparable filings

Transparency & Controls

  • Consistency checks: 92.9%; rating input score 93; 14th percentile among comparable filings
  • Pay-setting controls: 3 of 6 controls in place; rating input score 50
    • Compensation committee: Pass
    • Independent consultant: Missing
    • Other Form 990s reviewed: Missing
    • Written employment contract: Missing
    • Compensation survey or study: Pass
    • Board or committee approval: Pass
  • Foreign activity oversight: 1 of 8 controls in place; rating input score 12
    • Claims monitoring procedures: Pass
    • Requires narrative reports: Fail
    • Conducts field audits: Fail
    • May suspend future funding: Fail
    • Requires financial reports: Fail
    • Conducts site visits: Fail
    • Requires grant agreements: Fail
    • May require repayment: Fail
  • Grant itemization coverage: 98.7%; rating input score 99; 42nd 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: 6 of 9 controls in place; rating input score 67
    • Conflict-of-interest policy: Pass
    • Whistleblower policy: Pass
    • Document-retention policy: Fail
    • CEO compensation review process: Pass
    • Other executive compensation review process: Fail
    • Form 990 shared with the board: Fail
    • Board meeting minutes documented: Pass
    • Audit committee oversight: Pass
    • Independent financial-statement audit: Pass

Sustainability

  • Operating margin: 27.3%; rating input score 80; 80th percentile among comparable filings
  • Total-asset coverage ratio: 2.73; rating input score 67; 67th percentile among comparable filings
  • Liabilities to assets ratio: 0.01; rating input score 75; 75th percentile among comparable filings
  • Officer compensation ratio: 23.9%; rating input score 12; 12th percentile among comparable filings

Growth

  • Program expense growth: 3.4% per year; rating input score 100; 26th percentile among comparable filings
  • Revenue growth: 7.1% per year; rating input score 100; 52nd percentile among comparable filings
  • Asset growth: 13.6% per year; rating input score 100; 70th percentile among comparable filings

Details

  • Where the money goes: 48.1% of revenue deployed · 63.4% of spending went to programs
  • Governance: 4 of 4 board members independent · 6 of 9 filing controls reported
  • Programs: 1 filed program accomplishment · $1.8M in reported program spending
  • Leadership: top reported pay $178K · 11 people listed · 3 of 6 pay-setting controls reported
  • Consistency: 32 of 33 current checks pass · 1 finding to review
  • Schedules: 6 filed schedules · includes major donors, foreign activity, and executive pay
  • Filing history: 16 filing years from 2010 to 2025
  • 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.

  • Moderate — Financial Efficiency: Mission deployment rate scored 48/100.
  • High — Transparency & Controls: Foreign activity oversight: 7 of 8 not reported.
  • High — Financial Efficiency: Fundraising efficiency scored 26/100.
  • Review — Accountability: Governance controls: 3 of 9 not reported.
  • High — Sustainability: Officer compensation ratio scored 12/100.
  • Review — Transparency & Controls: Foreign grant itemization did not reconcile in the filed values.