Project Optimism EIN 82-1542836

Project Optimism FY2023 filing

EIN  82-1542836 Public charity (501(c)(3)) Signal Hill, CA
Form 990 (PDF)
You’re viewing the FY2023 filing — not the latest on file. See the latest (FY2025) →
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Size
$1–10M
What they do
Promotes optimism by offering personal, professional, and community services.
Leadership
Ishmael Pruitt · CEO · $90K
Money in and out
$347K revenue, $422K expenses
Bottom line
6.0mo operating runway

Promotes optimism by offering personal, professional, and community services. For fiscal year 2023 it reported $347K in revenue, $422K in expenses, and $188K in net assets.Pt I

Where the money goes · FY2023
Total revenue
$347K
Pt VIII · Ln 12
Total expenses
$422K
Pt IX · Ln 25
Net assets
$188K
Pt X · Ln 32
Revenue less expenses (Pt I · Ln 19): −$76K
Operating runway
6.0mo
months of highly liquid reserves at operating expense rate
Surplus margin
-22%
revenue over expenses, this year
Donor-funded
100%
of revenue is gifts & grants

Summary of the Filing

Part I · fiscal year 2023 · Form 990
Revenue
$347K
FY2023▼ -55%
Expenses
$422K
FY2023▼ -57%
Total assets
$204K
FY2023▲ ×88
Total liabilities
$15K
FY2023▲ +1%
Total revenue
$347K
Pt VIII · Ln 12
Total expenses
$422K
Pt IX · Ln 25
Net assets
$188K
Pt X · Ln 32
Revenue less expensesPt I · Ln 19−$76K
Total assetsPt X · Ln 16$204K
Program-expense ratioPt IX · col B0%
Voting members of governing bodyPt I · Ln 32
Independent voting membersPt I · Ln 42
Mission & Programs · Part III

Where the work happens

2 program services, described in the organization's own filed words · FY2023.
01

Project Optimism Mentoring Sessions (POMS) model is designed to align youth in the community with mentors who are representative of their identity. During the program, students are able to engage in activities, workshops, and be exposed to career/professionals, and and receive scholarships.

Pt IX · col B
02

Project Optimism Mentoring Sessions model is designed to align youth in the community with mentors who are representative of their identity. During the program, students are able to engage in activities, workshop and be exposed to career professional, and receive scholarship.

Pt IX · col B

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Identity & Classification

Form 990 Header · IRS Business Master File
Legal nameHdr · item CProject Optimism
EINHdr · item D82-1542836
Principal addressHdr · item CSignal Hill, CA
WebsiteHdr · item Jprojectoptimism.org
Year of formationHdr · item Lpending
State of legal domicileHdr · item MCA
Exempt statusHdr · item I501(c)(3) · active
NTEE classificationIRS BMFCommunity Development (S99)
Ruling yearIRS BMFMay 2017

Governance & Policies

Part VI
Voting members of the governing bodyPt VI · Ln 1a2
Independent voting membersPt VI · Ln 1b2
Conflict-of-interest policyPt VI · Ln 12aNo
Whistleblower policyPt VI · Ln 13No
Document retention policyPt VI · Ln 14No
CEO/top-official compensation independently reviewedPt VI · Ln 15aNo
Family or business relationships among officers/directorsPt VI · Ln 2No

Officers, Directors & Key Employees

Part VII, Section A · reportable compensation
$89,800Pt VII · Sec A
$84,802Pt VII · Sec A
$0Pt VII · Sec A
$0Pt VII · Sec A

Compensation history total reportable pay by year · 4 named individuals · Part VII

NameFY2025FY2023FY2022FY2021FY2020
Ishmael D Pruitt$91,311
Ishmael Pruitt$89,800$89,800$62,671
Armoni Easley$84,802$84,802$87,464$81,683
Armoni Easley$30,950

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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Statement of Revenue

Part VIII
Contributions & grants100%$347K
— government grantsLn 1e$921K
Total revenueLn 12$347K

Balance Sheet

Part X · end of year
CashLn 1$210K
Total assetsLn 16$204K
Total liabilitiesLn 26$15K
Total net assetsLn 32$188K
Months of cash on handcomputed6.0

Financial Metrics

Form 990 · FY2023 · each ratio shown with the dollars behind it
Liquidity & Payout
Operating runway
Highly liquid reserves $210K · Operating expenses/yr $422K
6.0 months
Where the money goes
Program services
Program services $0 · Total expenses $422K
not reported
Management & General
Management & general $0 · Total expenses $422K
not reported
Fundraising
Fundraising $0 · Total expenses $422K
not reported
Cost to raise $1
Fundraising expense (3-yr avg) $0 · Solicited contributions (3-yr avg) $247K
Solicited contributions below reporting floor
Where the money comes from
Contribution dependence
Contributions & grants $347K · Total revenue $347K
100%
Government reliance
Government grants $921K · Total revenue $347K
266%
Earned-income share
Program service revenue $0 · Total revenue $347K
0%
Investment reliance
Investment income $0 · Total revenue $347K
0%
Program self-sufficiency
Program service revenue $0 · Total expenses $422K
0%
Growth & trend
Revenue growth (YoY)
This year $347K · Prior year $765K
-55%
Net-asset trend (YoY)
End of year $188K · Beginning of year —
Beginning net assets not meaningfully positive — showing dollar change
Balance sheet
Surplus Margin
Revenue $347K · Expenses $422K
-22%
Liabilities-to-Assets
Total liabilities — · Total assets $204K
Net-asset ratio
Net assets $188K · Total assets $204K
93%
Marketable Investment Share
Publicly traded securities (Pt X, ln 11) — · Other securities (Pt X, ln 12) — · Total assets (Pt X, ln 16) $204K
Excludes program-related investments (Pt X, ln 13)
People & payroll
Highest Reported Total Compensation
Individual Ishmael Pruitt · Reported title CEO · Highest reported compensation $90K · Total expenses $422K
21%
Personnel share
Salaries, benefits & payroll (Pt IX 5-10) $383K · Total expenses $422K
91%
Peer comparison

Same NTEE category, revenue band, and state where available. Descriptive — not a grade.

MetricThis orgPeer medianPercentile
Overhead ratio 0%
Fundraising cost ratio 0%
Revenue growth -55%
Legal fee ratio 4%
Accounting fee ratio 2%

Straight from the Form 990 — descriptive, not an evaluation. A ratio is hidden when its base is zero or too small to be meaningful; the dollars are always shown.

Grants

Schedule I · funders on record
Grants received · FY2024
See all 3 funders →

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Filings & Schedule Manifest

Part IV
III · Programs I · Grants R · Related orgs G · Fundraising L · Interested persons A · Public support F · Foreign M · Noncash
FY2025 (Latest)$1.6M revenue · ⤓ 990 PDF
FY2024not on file
FY2023$347K revenue · viewing · ⤓ 990 PDF
FY2022$765K revenue · ⤓ 990 PDF
FY2021$645K revenue · ⤓ 990 PDF
FY2020$119K revenue · ⤓ 990 PDF

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Sources

Every figure above is drawn from these filings
Form 990 e-file (XML) · FY2023IRS
Classification, formation year, addressIRS Business Master File
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