Young Women's Freedom Center

Nonprofit profile at a glance

EIN
943227681
IRS 990 coverage
2013–2024
Forms available
Form 990 2024
Location
San Francisco, CA, USA
Phone
4157038800
Rating
84
Verdict
STRONG
Rating confidence
Moderate
Sector
Womens' Centers

Official website

Reported finances

Revenue
$12,537,281
Expenses
$11,984,802
Assets
$7,377,142
Liabilities
$2,771,451

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

Leadership & pay

21 people listed

Executive titles in this filing

  • JESSICA NOWLAN (PRESIDENT)
  • JULIA ARROYO (CO-EXECUTIVE DIRECTOR)
  • ABIGAIL RICHARDS (VICE PRESIDENT)
  • AMIKA MOTA (SW EXECUTIVE DIRECTOR)

Highest reported compensation

  • JESSICA NOWLAN (PRESIDENT): $218,283 total reported compensation
  • JULIA ARROYO (CO-EXECUTIVE DIRECTOR): $203,809 total reported compensation
  • AMIKA MOTA (SW EXECUTIVE DIRECTOR): $197,009 total reported compensation

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

Overview

Mission

The core mission of the young women's freedom center is to inspire and empower young women who have been involved in the juvenile justice system, criminal justice system, and/or the underground street economy to create a positive change in their lives and communities. Additionally, the young women's freedom center backend freedom center is to provide fiscal sponsorship, operational support, coaching, and training to projects that center systems-impacted women, girls, and trans people of all genders with the primary purpose to inspire and empower young women who have been involved in the juvenile justice system, criminal justice system, and or the underground street economy to create positive change in their lives and communities.

What it reported doing in 2024

Young women's freedom center (ywfc) advanced its core mission working with young women across California in five counties providing comprehensive programming to over 3,500 youth in the areas of leadership development, power building, workforce development and community organizing and civic engagement. Ywfc offered its core programs to young people surviving poverty, living and working on the streets, homeless young people, young people entangled in the juvenile justice system and foster care, and young pregnant and parenting youth.additional programs provided by ywfc include beloved village, a pilot program providing deep investment and intensive wrap around services to the young person and that young person's family to address structural drivers of youth incarceration including poverty, housing, and services to address immediate and longer-term needs. This program served an additional 100 + youth across California and an additional 72 parents and caregivers, investing significant resources into the young person and family and creating community-based alternatives to incarceration and congregate care in los angeles and the bay area.through the sister warriors freedom coalition, ywfc's base building and healing community for youth and adult women that have experienced poverty, violence, exploitation and incarceration, we served over 1,000 people and continued to build a base of over 10,000 members. This work spanned geographically across California in los angeles, the central valley, the bay area, and had active programming inside all of California's women's prisons. Sister warriors provided intensive leadership development to a cohort of 20 women, investing over 80 hours into their leadership and skills development, provided over 600 hours of reentry support, and provided in depth programming to incarcerated women.this year's accomplishments reflect our continued commitment to building economic power, leadership pathways and healing spaces for systems impacted women, girls, and gender expansive people. Our work remains grounded in lived experience and driven by the communities most impacted by cycles of poverty, violence, and incarceration.

Operating model

Revenue model
Donor-supported. 63% of the money available for current operations came from contributions and gifts.
Distribution model
Direct operator. The filing allocates 93% 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. Fundraising costs are high for each dollar raised and total assets are small relative to annual expenses; liquid coverage is unknown.

Rating breakdown

  • Financial Efficiency: 78
  • Transparency & Controls: 87
  • Accountability: 100
  • Sustainability: 36
  • Growth: 100

Detailed rating inputs

Financial Efficiency

  • Mission deployment rate: 79.2%; rating input score 79
  • Program expense ratio: 82.9%; rating input score 83
  • Fundraising efficiency: $19.05 raised per $1 spent on fundraising; rating input score 56; 56th percentile among comparable filings

Transparency & Controls

  • Consistency checks: 100%; rating input score 100; 62nd percentile among comparable filings
  • Pay-setting controls: 4 of 6 controls in place; rating input score 67
    • Compensation committee: Missing
    • Independent consultant: Missing
    • Other Form 990s reviewed: Pass
    • Written employment contract: Pass
    • 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: 9 of 9 controls in place; rating input score 100
    • Conflict-of-interest policy: Pass
    • Whistleblower policy: Pass
    • Document-retention policy: Pass
    • CEO compensation review process: Pass
    • Other executive compensation review process: Pass
    • Form 990 shared with the board: Pass
    • Board meeting minutes documented: Pass
    • Audit committee oversight: Pass
    • Independent financial-statement audit: Pass

Sustainability

  • Operating margin: 4.4%; rating input score 52; 52nd percentile among comparable filings
  • Total-asset coverage ratio: 0.62; rating input score 21; 21st percentile among comparable filings
  • Liabilities to assets ratio: 0.38; rating input score 39; 39th percentile among comparable filings
  • Officer compensation ratio: 13.8%; rating input score 10; 10th percentile among comparable filings

Growth

  • Program expense growth: 24.9% per year; rating input score 100; 93rd percentile among comparable filings
  • Revenue growth: 25% per year; rating input score 100; 95th percentile among comparable filings
  • Asset growth: 26.2% per year; rating input score 100; 94th percentile among comparable filings

Details

  • Where the money goes: 79.2% of revenue deployed · 82.9% of spending went to programs
  • Governance: 9 of 9 board members independent · 9 of 9 filing controls reported
  • Programs: 1 filed program accomplishment · $9.9M in reported program spending
  • Leadership: top reported pay $218K · 21 people listed · 4 of 6 pay-setting controls reported
  • Highest-paid contractors: 1 contractor listed · $142K reported
  • Consistency: 30 of 30 current checks pass
  • Schedules: 6 filed schedules · includes major donors, grants, and executive pay
  • Filing history: 12 filing years from 2013 to 2024
  • Contacts: How to reach this organization
  • Money network: 9 filed money-flow records
  • Related organizations: Filed and resolved organization relationships.
  • 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 — Financial Efficiency: Fundraising efficiency scored 56/100.
  • High — Sustainability: Total-asset coverage ratio scored 21/100.
  • Review — Sustainability: Operating margin scored 52/100.
  • High — Sustainability: Officer compensation ratio scored 10/100.
  • Moderate — Sustainability: Liabilities to assets ratio scored 39/100.