Is it real?
Yes. Never revoked by the IRS. Latest filing on record: FY2025. IRS ruling in Sep 1999.
IRS Pub. 78 · IRS Auto-Revocation List · IRS Business Master File
Where the money goes
68 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
14 people listed on the 990; $115K paid to officers and key staff.
Natasha Smith-Walker’s $132K as Executive Di is at the 56th percentile of top reported officer pay among 3924 $1–10M arts & culture 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 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Natasha Smith-Walker | $131,976 | $119,100 | $113,671 | $115,050 | $115,200 | $112,400 |
| Kelli Beyer Patel | — | — | $101,104 | — | — | — |
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 underrepresented youth with science skills and a lifelong learning mindset.
Questions for Project Exploration
Your first name shows with your question. Project Exploration answers here, for everyone.
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The "explore" programs focus on specific disciplines and inquiry methods while reinforcing critical thinking skills and investigative approaches. Examples of project exploration's explore programs: explore engineering,medical sciences, aviation.
"discover" programs spark interest, and engagement and introduce students to a broad range of scientific and engineering disciplines and topics, as well as the basics of the nature of science, scientific inquiry, and engineering design process.
Chicago stem pathways cooperative (stem co-op) is dedicated to building cradle-to-career pathways of high-quality stem learning for chicago's youth through partnerships between the in- and out-of-school time sector, as well as deep support from stakeholders involved in chicago's stem learning landscape.
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 | $336K | $207K |
| Land, buildings, equipmentLn 10c | $111K | $79K |
| Total assetsLn 16 | $497K | $397K |
| LiabilitiesLn 26 | $268K | $32K |
| Net assetsLn 32 | $229K | $365K |
| Line | Total | Programs | Management | Fundraising |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Pay of current officers, directors and key staffLn 5 | $116K | $12K | $82K | $23K |
| Other salaries and wagesLn 7 | $412K | $274K | $130K | $8K |
| Payroll taxesLn 10 | $45K | $25K | $18K | $3K |
| Accounting feesLn 11c | $25K | $25K | ||
| Other fees for servicesLn 11g | $9K | $9K | ||
| Office expensesLn 13 | $35K | $18K | $12K | $5K |
| TravelLn 17 | $59K | $56K | $2K | $2K |
| Depreciation, depletion and amortizationLn 22 | $32K | $32K | ||
| InsuranceLn 23 | $30K | $121 | $30K | |
| Other expenses (24a–d)Ln 24 | $446K | $434K | $12K | |
| All other expensesLn 24e | $74K | $56K | $18K | $1K |
| Total functional expensesLn 25 | $1.3M | $872K | $370K | $42K |
Filing history
| Year | Money in | Money out | In minus out | Net assets | Download |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| FY2025 Latest | $2.2M | $2.8M | −$540K | −$61K | 990 PDF |
| FY2024 | $2.1M | $1.9M | $175K | $348K | 990 PDF |
| FY2023 | $1.3M | $1.5M | −$202K | $163K | 990 PDF |
| FY2022 Viewing | $1.4M | $1.3M | $136K | $365K | 990 PDF |
| FY2021 | $1.5M | $1.5M | −$56K | $229K | 990 PDF |
| FY2020 | $969K | $823K | $146K | $285K | 990 PDF |
| FY2019 | $744K | $735K | $9K | $139K | 990 PDF |
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Schedules filed Part IV
See the full FY2022 990 (6 parts)
Part I · Summary $1,420,429 revenue, 12 lines filed
Part VI · Governance 13 of 13 board members independent, no flags
Part VIII · Statement of revenue $1,420,429 across 6 lines filed
Part IX · Statement of functional expenses $1,284,249 across 11 lines filed
Part X · Balance sheet $396,534 assets, 11 lines filed
Part XI · Reconciliation of net assets $365,030 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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