Is it real?
Yes. Never revoked by the IRS. Latest filing on record: FY2025. IRS ruling in Jul 1981.
IRS Pub. 78 · IRS Auto-Revocation List · IRS Business Master File
Where the money goes
80 cents of each dollar spent went to programs.
Form 990 Part IX, line 25, columns B–D. Every line is in By the numbers.
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Who runs it and what they're paid
12 people listed on the 990; $430K paid to officers and key staff.
Mark Lewis’s $157K as Chief Executive Officer is at the 67th percentile of top reported officer pay among 1690 $1–10M philanthropy & grantmaking nonprofits. Peer set: organizations in the same NTEE major field of work and revenue-size band, compared on each org’s own highest-paid officer/key-employee, from Form 990 Part VII / 990-PF Part VIII. Descriptive placement, not a verdict on whether the pay is appropriate.
Compensation history total reportable pay by year · 4 named individuals · Part VII
| Name | FY2025 | FY2024 | FY2023 | FY2022 | FY2021 | FY2020 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Mark Lewis | $157,325 | $157,325 | $145,000 | $155,000 | $123,000 | $115,000 |
| Karris Jackson | $142,325 | $138,108 | $123,375 | $117,500 | $115,500 | $108,000 |
| Shemariah Little | $130,000 | — | — | — | — | — |
| Maryum Lee | — | — | $110,927 | — | — | — |
Total reportable compensation (Form 990 Part VII column D / Schedule J column E) by filing year, matched by name within this organization. The Schedule J base / bonus / deferred breakdown is not parsed into this dataset.
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Questions the 990 asks
The form asks each of these directly. These are the filed answers.
- Family or business ties among officersPt VI · Ln 2No
- Top official's pay set by an independent reviewPt VI · Ln 15aYes
Programs and updates
Empowers Pittsburgh’s Black community through strategic grantmaking, advocacy, and private school scholarships to foster self-sustaining growth and educational success.
Questions for Poise Foundation
Your first name shows with your question. Poise Foundation answers here, for everyone.
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Poise acts as a fiscal sponsor for various programs, projects and organizations that are not defined as charitable organizations based on the internal revenue code or qualified organizations seeking to increase their capacity through fiscal sponsorship.
Provided grants and program support to organizations that are designed to strengthen educational, economic or cultural opportunities for the black community. The foundation provides grants to nonprofit charitable organizations that execute programs and services in line with the foundation's mission.
Education improvement tax credit. Provided scholarships to families attending private schools for pre kindergarten through twelfth grade. This program is funded by corporate and other qualifying donations which provide the donors a tax credit towards their pennsylvania tax liability.
Funders
Who pays for it.
From grant filings on record. Receipts are incomplete: individual donors are never listed.
Grants
By the numbers
The FY2025 990, line by line.
Download 990
| Line | Start FY25 | End FY25 |
|---|---|---|
| Cash and savingsLn 1–2 | $2.1M | $1.8M |
| InvestmentsLn 11–13 | $9.5M | $11.9M |
| Land, buildings, equipmentLn 10c | $2K | $2K |
| Total assetsLn 16 | $14.4M | $14.5M |
| LiabilitiesLn 26 | $2.0M | $1.2M |
| Net assetsLn 32 | $12.4M | $13.3M |
| Line | Total | Programs | Management | Fundraising |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Grants to domestic organizationsLn 1 | $1.3M | $1.3M | ||
| Pay of current officers, directors and key staffLn 5 | $341K | $167K | $138K | $37K |
| Other salaries and wagesLn 7 | $456K | $223K | $184K | $49K |
| Pension plan contributionsLn 8 | $27K | $13K | $11K | $3K |
| Other employee benefitsLn 9 | $135K | $66K | $54K | $14K |
| Payroll taxesLn 10 | $47K | $23K | $19K | $5K |
| Accounting feesLn 11c | $28K | $28K | ||
| Investment management feesLn 11f | $41K | $39K | $2K | |
| Other fees for servicesLn 11g | $149K | $149K | ||
| Advertising and promotionLn 12 | $29K | $29K | ||
| Office expensesLn 13 | $8K | $3K | $5K | $480 |
| OccupancyLn 16 | $51K | $25K | $21K | $6K |
| Conferences, conventions and meetingsLn 19 | $15K | $136 | $15K | |
| Depreciation, depletion and amortizationLn 22 | $399 | $399 | ||
| InsuranceLn 23 | $13K | $6K | $5K | $1K |
| Other expenses (24a–d)Ln 24 | $1.3M | $1.3M | $24K | $6K |
| Total functional expensesLn 25 | $4.0M | $3.2M | $683K | $122K |
Filing history
| Year | Money in | Money out | In minus out | Net assets | Download |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| FY2025 Latest Viewing | $3.9M | $4.0M | −$91K | $13.3M | 990 PDF |
| FY2024 | $5.7M | $8.9M | −$3.2M | $12.4M | 990 PDF |
| FY2023 | $11.3M | $8.7M | $2.7M | $15.2M | 990 PDF |
| FY2022 | $9.1M | $12.6M | −$3.5M | $11.5M | 990 PDF |
| FY2021 | $10.7M | $5.6M | $5.1M | $15.5M | 990 PDF |
| FY2020 | $7.2M | $3.7M | $3.5M | $10.1M | 990 PDF |
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Schedules filed Part IV
See the full FY2025 990 (6 parts)
Part I · Summary $3,897,929 revenue, 12 lines filed
Part VI · Governance 9 of 9 board members independent, no flags
Part VIII · Statement of revenue $3,897,929 across 6 lines filed
Part IX · Statement of functional expenses $3,988,582 across 16 lines filed
Part X · Balance sheet $14,522,018 assets, 16 lines filed
Part XI · Reconciliation of net assets $13,324,869 net assets at year end
Form 990 e-file (XML) FY2025 from the IRS · Classification, formation year and address from the IRS Business Master File
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