Is it real?
Yes. Never revoked by the IRS. Latest filing on record: FY2025. IRS ruling in Feb 2019.
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
13 people listed on the 990; $245K paid to officers and key staff.
Justin Lessek’s $138K as Executive Director is at the 11th 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 · 5 named individuals · Part VII
| Name | FY2025 | FY2024 | FY2023 | FY2022 | FY2021 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Justin Lessek | $138,272 | $136,565 | $130,000 | $103,662 | $93,225 |
| Denise Brijbasi Edwards | $126,854 | — | — | — | — |
| Ryan Abel | $117,500 | — | — | — | — |
| Denise Edwards | — | — | $115,005 | — | — |
| Shaka Greene | $106,055 | — | — | — | — |
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 students to transform the world through education.
Questions for Sojourner Truth School
Your first name shows with your question. Sojourner Truth School answers here, for everyone.
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The sojourner truth public charter school (the school) is washington, DC'S first public montessori middle and high school. The school strives to be an innovative and exciting learning space that embodies two design principles: (1) students need to be prepared for life and not just school, and (2) every student's identity, voice…
Funders
Who pays for it.
From grant filings on record. Receipts are incomplete: individual donors are never listed.
Grants
By the numbers
The FY2023 990, line by line.
Download 990
| Line | Start FY23 | End FY23 |
|---|---|---|
| Cash and savingsLn 1–2 | $1.2M | $1.6M |
| Land, buildings, equipmentLn 10c | $250K | $455K |
| Total assetsLn 16 | $1.7M | $5.4M |
| LiabilitiesLn 26 | $485K | $3.6M |
| Net assetsLn 32 | $1.3M | $1.8M |
| Line | Total | Programs | Management | Fundraising |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Pay of current officers, directors and key staffLn 5 | $378K | $314K | $62K | $2K |
| Other salaries and wagesLn 7 | $2.7M | $2.4M | $351K | $337 |
| Other employee benefitsLn 9 | $331K | $287K | $44K | $300 |
| Payroll taxesLn 10 | $257K | $216K | $39K | $2K |
| Legal feesLn 11b | $15K | $15K | ||
| Accounting feesLn 11c | $130K | $109K | $19K | $1K |
| Other fees for servicesLn 11g | $53K | $45K | $8K | $437 |
| Office expensesLn 13 | $75K | $63K | $11K | $612 |
| Information technologyLn 14 | $40K | $34K | $6K | $328 |
| OccupancyLn 16 | $616K | $519K | $92K | $5K |
| Conferences, conventions and meetingsLn 19 | $66K | $56K | $10K | $544 |
| InterestLn 20 | $2K | $2K | $334 | $18 |
| Depreciation, depletion and amortizationLn 22 | $194K | $164K | $29K | $2K |
| InsuranceLn 23 | $35K | $30K | $5K | $287 |
| Other expenses (24a–d)Ln 24 | $586K | $574K | $11K | $613 |
| Total functional expensesLn 25 | $5.5M | $4.8M | $703K | $16K |
Filing history
| Year | Money in | Money out | In minus out | Net assets | Download |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| FY2025 Latest | $10.5M | $9.6M | $833K | $3.3M | 990 PDF |
| FY2024 | $8.7M | $8.1M | $615K | $2.4M | 990 PDF |
| FY2023 Viewing | $6.0M | $5.5M | $539K | $1.8M | 990 PDF |
| FY2022 | $4.5M | $4.2M | $306K | $1.3M | 990 PDF |
| FY2021 | $2.8M | $2.3M | $495K | $953K | 990 PDF |
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Schedules filed Part IV
See the full FY2023 990 (6 parts)
Part I · Summary $6,033,151 revenue, 12 lines filed
Part VI · Governance 11 of 11 board members independent, no flags
Part VIII · Statement of revenue $6,033,151 across 6 lines filed
Part IX · Statement of functional expenses $5,493,904 across 15 lines filed
Part X · Balance sheet $5,367,387 assets, 16 lines filed
Part XI · Reconciliation of net assets $1,798,288 net assets at year end
Form 990 e-file (XML) FY2023 from the IRS · Classification, formation year and address from the IRS Business Master File
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