Is it real?
Yes. Never revoked by the IRS. Latest filing on record: FY2025. IRS ruling in Nov 2015.
IRS Pub. 78 · IRS Auto-Revocation List · IRS Business Master File
Where the money goes
87 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
16 people listed on the 990; $1.5M paid to officers and key staff.
Aylon Samouha’s $432K as CEO is at the 83rd 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 · 8 named individuals · Part VII
| Name | FY2025 | FY2024 | FY2023 | FY2022 | FY2021 | FY2020 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Aylon Samouha | $432,349 | $399,821 | $347,961 | $301,821 | $293,234 | $286,547 |
| Jeffrey Wetzler | $411,469 | $396,771 | $350,161 | $302,964 | $295,871 | $290,319 |
| Josh Edelman | $284,349 | $270,616 | — | — | — | — |
| Arielle Kinder | $269,295 | $247,465 | $214,981 | $192,812 | — | — |
| Lavada Berger | $254,519 | — | — | — | — | — |
| Kathleen Bowen | $249,099 | — | — | — | — | — |
| Vanessa Mendoza | $226,876 | $114,445 | — | — | — | — |
| Jenn Charlot | $224,552 | — | — | — | — | — |
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 communities to create and share exceptional learning opportunities for everyone.
Questions for Transcend INC
Your first name shows with your question. Transcend INC answers here, for everyone.
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Transcend is a national nonprofit that supports school communities to create and spread extraordinary, equitable learning environments. Founded in 2015, transcend has partnered with nearly 400 schools and systems which collectively serve hundreds of thousands of students across the nation.
Funders
Who pays for it.
From grant filings on record. Receipts are incomplete: individual donors are never listed.
Grants
By the numbers
The FY2022 990, line by line.
Download 990
| Line | Start FY22 | End FY22 |
|---|---|---|
| Cash and savingsLn 1–2 | $20.3M | $36.0M |
| Total assetsLn 16 | $22.7M | $40.2M |
| LiabilitiesLn 26 | $591K | $1.1M |
| Net assetsLn 32 | $22.1M | $39.2M |
| Line | Total | Programs | Management | Fundraising |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Grants to domestic organizationsLn 1 | $596K | $596K | ||
| Pay of current officers, directors and key staffLn 5 | $704K | $299K | $229K | $177K |
| Other salaries and wagesLn 7 | $9.6M | $8.6M | $696K | $313K |
| Other employee benefitsLn 9 | $1.0M | $909K | $88K | $24K |
| Payroll taxesLn 10 | $811K | $711K | $65K | $34K |
| Accounting feesLn 11c | $41K | $41K | ||
| Other fees for servicesLn 11g | $4.5M | $4.4M | $80K | $19K |
| Office expensesLn 13 | $517K | $294K | $211K | $13K |
| OccupancyLn 16 | $30K | $16K | $14K | |
| TravelLn 17 | $1.0M | $782K | $241K | $5K |
| InsuranceLn 23 | $22K | $22K | ||
| Other expenses (24a–d)Ln 24 | $463K | $276K | $158K | $28K |
| All other expensesLn 24e | $3K | $2K | $925 | $25 |
| Total functional expensesLn 25 | $19.3M | $16.9M | $1.8M | $613K |
Filing history
| Year | Money in | Money out | In minus out | Net assets | Download |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| FY2025 Latest | $33.9M | $30.2M | $3.7M | $49.1M | 990 PDF |
| FY2024 | $32.5M | $30.4M | $2.1M | $44.6M | 990 PDF |
| FY2023 | $31.0M | $29.3M | $1.8M | $41.2M | 990 PDF |
| FY2022 Viewing | $36.4M | $19.3M | $17.1M | $39.2M | 990 PDF |
| FY2021 | $16.5M | $10.5M | $6.0M | $22.1M | 990 PDF |
| FY2020 | $9.7M | $7.4M | $2.3M | $16.0M | 990 PDF |
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Schedules filed Part IV
See the full FY2022 990 (6 parts)
Part I · Summary $36,384,149 revenue, 12 lines filed
Part VI · Governance 9 of 11 board members independent, 1 to look at
Part VIII · Statement of revenue $36,384,149 across 7 lines filed
Part IX · Statement of functional expenses $19,319,117 across 13 lines filed
Part X · Balance sheet $40,245,682 assets, 14 lines filed
Part XI · Reconciliation of net assets $39,161,276 net assets at year end
Form 990 e-file (XML) FY2022 from the IRS · Classification, formation year and address from the IRS Business Master File
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