Is it real?
Yes. Never revoked by the IRS. Latest filing on record: FY2025. IRS ruling in Oct 2009.
IRS Pub. 78 · IRS Auto-Revocation List · IRS Business Master File
Where the money goes
97 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
23 people listed on the 990; $151K paid to officers and key staff.
Jennifer Headley-Nordman’s $151K as President is at the 16th percentile of top reported officer pay among 3683 $10–100M education 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 · 2 named individuals · Part VII
| Name | FY2025 | FY2024 | FY2023 | FY2022 | FY2021 | FY2020 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Jennifer Headley-Nordman | $150,843 | $150,843 | $136,857 | $26,276 | — | — |
| Annemarie Valdez | — | — | — | $56,835 | $124,856 | $117,278 |
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
Coordinates early childhood services to ensure all Kent County children start kindergarten ready to succeed.
Questions for First Steps Kent
Your first name shows with your question. First Steps Kent answers here, for everyone.
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Early childhood development first steps kent administers and oversees the ready by five early childhood millage (the "ready by five millage") for programs that improve the health, school readiness, and wellbeing of children through age five.
Early learning initiatives-first steps kent was established to be the systems level organization for early childhood in kent county, born out of planning between community leaders, funders and the kent county administration in 2009.
Mainspring Early Care Alliance
Increases access to affordable, quality childcare for working families with young children by maximizing early childcare provider capacity. The shared services initiative offers resources to increase business sustainability through supports such as: technical assistance from experts on small business management, professional development…
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 | $2.0M | $385K |
| Land, buildings, equipmentLn 10c | $22K | $19K |
| Total assetsLn 16 | $4.8M | $3.9M |
| LiabilitiesLn 26 | $2.5M | $2.3M |
| Net assetsLn 32 | $2.3M | $1.6M |
| Line | Total | Programs | Management | Fundraising |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Grants to domestic organizationsLn 1 | $9.8M | $9.8M | ||
| Pay of current officers, directors and key staffLn 5 | $172K | $133K | $28K | $11K |
| Other salaries and wagesLn 7 | $742K | $721K | $15K | $6K |
| Pension plan contributionsLn 8 | $16K | $15K | $1K | $553 |
| Other employee benefitsLn 9 | $152K | $134K | $12K | $5K |
| Payroll taxesLn 10 | $62K | $55K | $5K | $2K |
| Legal feesLn 11b | $9K | $9K | ||
| Accounting feesLn 11c | $21K | $21K | ||
| Other fees for servicesLn 11g | $354K | $241K | $70K | $43K |
| Advertising and promotionLn 12 | $11K | $9K | $1K | $634 |
| Office expensesLn 13 | $10K | $3K | $5K | $2K |
| Information technologyLn 14 | $4K | $1K | $2K | $727 |
| OccupancyLn 16 | $88K | $35K | $44K | $9K |
| Conferences, conventions and meetingsLn 19 | $29K | $25K | $2K | $965 |
| Depreciation, depletion and amortizationLn 22 | $7K | $6K | $1K | |
| Other expenses (24a–d)Ln 24 | $35K | $19K | $11K | $5K |
| Total functional expensesLn 25 | $11.5M | $11.1M | $231K | $87K |
Filing history
| Year | Money in | Money out | In minus out | Net assets | Download |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| FY2025 Latest Viewing | $10.8M | $11.5M | −$677K | $1.6M | 990 PDF |
| FY2024 | $13.0M | $11.9M | $1.0M | $2.3M | 990 PDF |
| FY2023 | $10.5M | $10.9M | −$370K | $1.3M | 990 PDF |
| FY2022 | $8.5M | $8.3M | $202K | $1.6M | 990 PDF |
| FY2021 | $6.4M | $6.2M | $183K | $1.4M | 990 PDF |
| FY2020 | $3.6M | $3.7M | −$159K | $1.2M | 990 PDF |
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Schedules filed Part IV
See the full FY2025 990 (6 parts)
Part I · Summary $10,788,371 revenue, 12 lines filed
Part VI · Governance 19 of 20 board members independent, no flags
Part VIII · Statement of revenue $10,788,371 across 5 lines filed
Part IX · Statement of functional expenses $11,465,683 across 16 lines filed
Part X · Balance sheet $3,929,520 assets, 13 lines filed
Part XI · Reconciliation of net assets $1,613,646 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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