Is it real?
Yes. Never revoked by the IRS. Latest filing on record: FY2024. IRS ruling in Jan 2018.
IRS Pub. 78 · IRS Auto-Revocation List · IRS Business Master File
Where the money goes
72 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
7 people listed on the 990; $99K paid to officers and key staff.
Charli Cooksey’s $129K as Chief Executive Officer is at the 35th percentile of top reported officer pay among 2832 $1–10M community development 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 · 3 named individuals · Part VII
| Name | FY2024 | FY2023 | FY2022 | FY2021 | FY2020 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Charli Cooksey | $128,864 | $123,857 | $113,604 | $98,988 | $103,594 |
| Christopher Dennis | $114,510 | — | — | — | — |
| Alicia Alexander | — | $109,106 | — | — | — |
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
Activates community power to redesign systems for justice and equity.
Questions for Wepower
Your first name shows with your question. Wepower answers here, for everyone.
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Community Wealth Building Initiative
We run a trio of programs (WEPOWER Business Accelerator, WEPOWER Investment Fund, and Kiva Hub 0-Interest loans) that develop Black and Latinx St. Louis entrepreneurs with the goals of sparking economic development and creating living-wage jobs. In 2021, we disbursed 15+ interest free loans (up to $15k) through the St. Louis Kiva Hub.
Power Building Academies
Power Building Academy is a 3 month program that provides key experiences in leadership development, systems analysis, and grassroots organizing for residents seeking to improve the regions economic and early childhood education (ECE) systems. In 2021, we trained 21 local residents through the program.
Storytelling and Communications
We tell human-centered stories that shift beliefs and behaviors. We amplify the stories of our community members in order to illuminate their experiences with the current system and their journeys of achieving change.
Funders
Who pays for it.
From grant filings on record. Receipts are incomplete: individual donors are never listed.
Grants
By the numbers
The FY2021 990, line by line.
Download 990
| Line | Start FY21 | End FY21 |
|---|---|---|
| Cash and savingsLn 1–2 | $11K | $79K |
| Total assetsLn 16 | $76K | $84K |
| LiabilitiesLn 26 | $64K | $56K |
| Net assetsLn 32 | $12K | $28K |
| Line | Total | Programs | Management | Fundraising |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Grants to domestic organizationsLn 1 | $38K | $38K | ||
| Pay of current officers, directors and key staffLn 5 | $20K | $20K | ||
| Other salaries and wagesLn 7 | $84K | $84K | ||
| Other employee benefitsLn 9 | $9K | $9K | ||
| Payroll taxesLn 10 | $51K | $47K | $4K | |
| Management feesLn 11a | $105K | $49K | $56K | |
| Legal feesLn 11b | $23K | $23K | ||
| Accounting feesLn 11c | $20K | $20K | ||
| Professional fundraising feesLn 11e | $76K | $76K | ||
| Other fees for servicesLn 11g | $5K | $3K | $2K | |
| Office expensesLn 13 | $3K | $3K | ||
| Information technologyLn 14 | $62K | $62K | ||
| OccupancyLn 16 | $31K | $31K | ||
| TravelLn 17 | $2K | $2K | ||
| Conferences, conventions and meetingsLn 19 | $3K | $3K | ||
| InsuranceLn 23 | $2K | $2K | ||
| Other expenses (24a–d)Ln 24 | $1.3M | $1.2M | $12K | |
| Total functional expensesLn 25 | $1.8M | $1.3M | $370K | $137K |
Filing history
| Year | Money in | Money out | In minus out | Net assets | Download |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| FY2024 Latest | $3.3M | $3.0M | $272K | $1.1M | 990 PDF |
| FY2023 | $2.3M | $2.0M | $261K | $822K | 990 PDF |
| FY2022 | $2.1M | $2.1M | $60K | $101K | 990 PDF |
| FY2021 Viewing | $1.8M | $1.8M | $21K | $28K | 990 PDF |
| FY2020 | $1.5M | $1.5M | −$24K | $12K | 990 PDF |
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Schedules filed Part IV
See the full FY2021 990 (6 parts)
Part I · Summary $1,807,746 revenue, 12 lines filed
Part VI · Governance 6 of 6 board members independent, no flags
Part VIII · Statement of revenue $1,807,746 across 6 lines filed
Part IX · Statement of functional expenses $1,787,165 across 17 lines filed
Part X · Balance sheet $83,554 assets, 8 lines filed
Part XI · Reconciliation of net assets $27,934 net assets at year end
Form 990 e-file (XML) FY2021 from the IRS · Classification, formation year and address from the IRS Business Master File
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