Young Leaders Strong City
Nonprofit profile at a glance
- EIN
- 843239436
- IRS 990 coverage
- 2021–2024
- Forms available
- Form 990 2024, Form 990-EZ 2020
- Location
- Mesquite, TX, USA
- Phone
- 2144074097
- Rating
- 72
- Verdict
- SUPPORTED
- Rating confidence
- Moderate
- Sector
- Educational Services and Schools - Other
Reported finances
- Revenue
- $616,047
- Expenses
- $627,966
- Assets
- $105,045
- Liabilities
- $1,196
Source: IRS Form 990. Selected filing: tax year 2024. Amounts in USD.
Leadership & pay
9 people listed
Executive titles in this filing
- SHARON GOODING (PRESIDENT)
Highest reported compensation
- AMBER D SIMS (PROGRAM DIRE): $121,214 total reported compensation
- CAAZENA P HUNTER (VP PROGRAMS): $90,000 total reported compensation
Source: IRS Form 990. Selected filing: tax year 2024. Names and roles reflect this filing, not necessarily current officeholders.
Overview
Mission
To equip a network of students, educators, and their adult allies with tools to analyze, advocate, and dismantle systemic racism in themselves, their schools and communities.
What it reported doing in 2024
Ylsc financial literacy course: combines the fundamentals of finances with a racial equity and historical perspective. This pilot will allow our team to develop a racial equity financial literacy cohort that can be used for all students. Students will learn about the history of the us and global economy through a racial equity lens and also learn about key financial basics like savings, credit, debt and income. The goal is for students to understand how disparities were created and how they continue to exist while also learning about the wealth gap, their individual and familar relationships with money and they power they have to improve their financial outcomes and those of others in their professional and personal lives. Summer community racial equity teen summit: an open space teen equity summit which provides an unprecedented platform where students choose workshops facilitated by other students as well as adults. It is a rare and carefully curated space for students that have participated in yac to talk about race and racism with their peers and adult allies. The lunch room: conversations with students about race; the lunch room conversation will be student led and adult moderated virtual conversation about race over lunch. Students develop the questions that are presented for each of the lunchroom conversations. Yac summit: a teen equity summit exclusively for yac (youth advisory council) provides an unprecedented platform where students choose workshops facilitated by other students as well as adults. It is a rare and carefully curated space for students that have participated in yac to talk about race and racism with their peers and adult allies. Ylsc showcase: working with students, we scout and train student experts to take thought leadership positions in their schools thorugh writing. We pair them with student mentors that are more advanced in their writing journey for guidance. We vet and channel creative new ideas from students for implementation in impactful ways which allow them to organize their own movements. Ylsc youth racial identity development camp and affinity group: works with students on literacy, racial identity development, self-confidence and creativity. This program is targeted towards students that are black, indigenous or people of color. Ylsc alumni network: for graduating high school seniors--support transition, identity, and community building to prepare for transition to college or work. Isd staff summit: ylsc/if staff works with district/campus to develop summits at the campus or department level that incorporate conversations about race and equity. Participants select workshops on varying subjects that cover race and equity. The day also includes an opening and closing plenary. Community conversations: for adults; ylsc staff facilitate conversations about race and history open to community members. Adult allies community conversations: ylsc staff facilitate conversations about race and allyship with adults interested in advocating for teens as it pertains to issues of race (three part series).
Operating model
- Revenue model
- Mixed. Its operating money came from several sources; no one source provided a clear majority.
- 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 - 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: 64
- Transparency & Controls: 92
- Accountability: 63
- Sustainability: 25
- Growth: 100
Detailed rating inputs
Financial Efficiency
- Mission deployment rate: 67.6%; rating input score 68
- Program expense ratio: 66.3%; rating input score 66
- Fundraising efficiency: $11.32 raised per $1 spent on fundraising; rating input score 42; 42nd percentile among comparable filings
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: 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: 1 of 8 controls in place; rating input score 12
- Conflict-of-interest policy: Fail
- 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: -1.9%; rating input score 30; 30th percentile among comparable filings
- Total-asset coverage ratio: 0.17; rating input score 8; 8th percentile among comparable filings
- Liabilities to assets ratio: 0.01; rating input score 68; 68th percentile among comparable filings
- Officer compensation ratio: 33.6%; rating input score 5; 5th percentile among comparable filings
Growth
- Program expense growth: 13.6% per year; rating input score 100; 72nd percentile among comparable filings
- Revenue growth: 35.6% per year; rating input score 100; 94th percentile among comparable filings
- Asset growth: 22% per year; rating input score 100; 84th percentile among comparable filings
Details
- Where the money goes: 67.6% of revenue deployed · 66.3% of spending went to programs
- Governance: 7 of 7 board members independent · 1 of 8 filing controls reported
- Programs: 4 filed program accomplishments · $416K in reported program spending
- Leadership: top reported pay $121K · 9 people listed
- Consistency: 27 of 27 current checks pass
- Schedules: 4 filed schedules · includes major donors
- Filing history: 4 filing years from 2021 to 2024
- 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: 6 of 7 not reported.
- Moderate — Financial Efficiency: Fundraising efficiency scored 42/100.
- Moderate — Sustainability: Operating margin scored 30/100.
- High — Sustainability: Total-asset coverage ratio scored 8/100.
- High — Sustainability: Officer compensation ratio scored 5/100.