Youth Mentoring Connection

What it reported doing in 2024

For the year ended june 30, 2025, over 325 vulnerable youth were provided with core mentoring and positive youth development activities. Youth were matched with caring adult mentors who empowered them with long-term and consistent support to build resiliency through ymc's gift centered approach. In addition to core mentoring, ymc provided other positive youth development programs including echo, urban oasis film academy, stoked city surf camp, year-round sunday surf, rites-of-passage annual retreat, and youth support. Ymc also hosted events focusing on positive youth development, open to former, current and prospective mentees.ymc deepened its recent partnerships with local schools, including options for youth, thomas jefferson high school, new open world academy, and the seed la school. Our corporate and community partners included synergy, shout factory, i have a dream la, home boys industries, street poets, rhythm arts alliance, wellnest, twin town treatment center, and youth build. An additional partnership with friends of the children la, focused on individual mentoring of black male youth who are struggling in the foster system.ymc's youth outcomes remain consistent year after year with youth achieving the following: 91% high school graduation rate among high school seniors; 82% of those enrolling in college or trade school. In the four key social emotional learning domains, 84% improved communication; 83% have stronger decision-making skills; 92% increased resiliency; and 88% have greater feelings of self-worth. Ymc also fully opened our urban oasis youth center (uoyc), creating a drop-in center for youth, and holding regular events to engage local young people to build a new community. Our resource coordinator provided valuable connections for those in need of services outside of what we directly provide, and we reached outside of our immediate community to provide material & financial support for victims of the eaton & palisades fires. We piloted a life-skills workshop called grow, addressing various topics including problem-solving skills, job readiness, health education and money management. Our long-time partners street poets and rhythm arts alliance also began monthly workshops in the space, providing creative expression through poetry and african drumming circles and dance. We also laid the groundwork to begin in-house counseling services with one of our own staff members who recently completed her mft, and with a usc master's student who secured a placement with us for their internship.

Financial Efficiency

• Mission deployment rate: 100%; rating input score 100
• Program expense ratio: 69.2%; rating input score 69
• Fundraising efficiency: $7.42 raised per $1 spent on fundraising; rating input score 28; 28th 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: 100%; rating input score 100; 76th percentile among comparable filings
• Major donor itemization: Yes; rating input score 100
• Related-party transparency: Limited

Accountability

• Independent voting board: 80%; rating input score 80; 18th percentile among comparable filings
• Governance controls: 6 of 8 controls in place; rating input score 75
  • Conflict-of-interest policy: Pass
  • Whistleblower policy: Pass
  • Document-retention policy: Fail
  • CEO compensation review process: Pass
  • Other executive compensation review process: NotApplicable
  • Form 990 shared with the board: Pass
  • Board meeting minutes documented: Pass
  • Audit committee oversight: Fail
  • Independent financial-statement audit: Pass

Sustainability

• Operating margin: -46.7%; rating input score 3; 3rd percentile among comparable filings
• Total-asset coverage ratio: 1.44; rating input score 55; 55th percentile among comparable filings
• Liabilities to assets ratio: 0.57; rating input score 14; 14th percentile among comparable filings
• Officer compensation ratio: 6.8%; rating input score 48; 48th percentile among comparable filings

Growth

• Program expense growth: 9.6% per year; rating input score 100; 61st percentile among comparable filings
• Revenue growth: 11.7% per year; rating input score 100; 71st percentile among comparable filings
• Asset growth: 27.4% per year; rating input score 100; 89th percentile among comparable filings