Is it real?
Yes. Never revoked by the IRS. Latest filing on record: FY2025. IRS ruling in Dec 1999.
IRS Pub. 78 · IRS Auto-Revocation List · IRS Business Master File
Where the money goes
89 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
26 people listed on the 990; $1.7M paid to officers and key staff.
Geetha Murali’s $405K as CEO / Director is at the 81st 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 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Geetha Murali | $404,538 | $361,002 | $353,520 | $358,527 | $281,688 | $245,915 |
| Shari Freedman | $294,555 | $268,258 | $262,537 | $264,140 | $209,883 | $197,611 |
| Laurie McMahon | $286,072 | $253,057 | $234,855 | $233,677 | $222,286 | $189,275 |
| Heather Simpson | $281,627 | $260,714 | $255,314 | $259,241 | $204,181 | $189,445 |
| Michael Bowers | $259,489 | $237,746 | $235,976 | $220,997 | $175,933 | — |
| Cynthia Orme | $229,001 | $240,966 | $235,976 | — | — | — |
| Nicole Sayres | — | — | — | $224,902 | $211,078 | $192,941 |
| Nancy Shyer | $221,930 | $209,402 | $205,067 | $208,513 | $179,765 | $159,867 |
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
Empowering children with literacy and gender equality through education.
Questions for Room to Read
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Our literacy program transforms primary schools to enable children to become independent readers and lifelong learners. Our literacy program trains and coaches teachers, creates quality books and curricular materials and establishes libraries filled with diverse children's books in local languages that can be enjoyed at school or home.
Our girls' education program helps girls build the skills to succeed in school and make key life decisions. We prepare girls to make positive change by providing life skills curriculum, opportunities for mentorship and peer support and family and community engagement.
See schedule o
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 | $20.0M | $14.1M |
| InvestmentsLn 11–13 | $10.8M | $40.9M |
| Land, buildings, equipmentLn 10c | $88K | $74K |
| Total assetsLn 16 | $51.4M | $79.9M |
| LiabilitiesLn 26 | $7.1M | $5.7M |
| Net assetsLn 32 | $44.3M | $74.2M |
| Line | Total | Programs | Management | Fundraising |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Grants and assistance to foreign recipientsLn 3 | $1.3M | $1.3M | ||
| Pay of current officers, directors and key staffLn 5 | $780K | $489K | $253K | $38K |
| Other salaries and wagesLn 7 | $24.0M | $20.3M | $930K | $2.8M |
| Pension plan contributionsLn 8 | $338K | $203K | $37K | $98K |
| Other employee benefitsLn 9 | $4.0M | $3.7M | $92K | $252K |
| Payroll taxesLn 10 | $660K | $405K | $81K | $173K |
| Legal feesLn 11b | $207K | $137K | $65K | $5K |
| Accounting feesLn 11c | $434K | $229K | $157K | $48K |
| Other fees for servicesLn 11g | $4.2M | $3.7M | $182K | $314K |
| Advertising and promotionLn 12 | $39K | $39K | ||
| Office expensesLn 13 | $421K | $362K | $21K | $38K |
| Information technologyLn 14 | $1.7M | $1.4M | $8K | $295K |
| OccupancyLn 16 | $1.9M | $1.5M | $163K | $218K |
| TravelLn 17 | $534K | $521K | $3K | $10K |
| Conferences, conventions and meetingsLn 19 | $26K | $26K | ||
| Depreciation, depletion and amortizationLn 22 | $15K | $9K | $3K | $3K |
| InsuranceLn 23 | $97K | $71K | $25K | $985 |
| Other expenses (24a–d)Ln 24 | $17.2M | $17.0M | $160K | $20K |
| All other expensesLn 24e | $1.5M | $1.3M | $58K | $161K |
| Total functional expensesLn 25 | $59.5M | $52.7M | $2.2M | $4.5M |
Filing history
| Year | Money in | Money out | In minus out | Net assets | Download |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| FY2025 Latest | $74.0M | $64.6M | $9.4M | $80.7M | 990 PDF |
| FY2024 | $66.5M | $62.9M | $3.7M | $68.2M | 990 PDF |
| FY2023 | $61.1M | $65.0M | −$3.9M | $63.5M | 990 PDF |
| FY2022 | $59.4M | $66.9M | −$7.5M | $63.5M | 990 PDF |
| FY2021 Viewing | $87.9M | $59.5M | $28.4M | $74.2M | 990 PDF |
| FY2020 | $62.0M | $48.0M | $13.9M | $44.3M | 990 PDF |
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Schedules filed Part IV
See the full FY2021 990 (6 parts)
Part I · Summary $87,854,551 revenue, 12 lines filed
Part VI · Governance 17 of 19 board members independent, no flags
Part VIII · Statement of revenue $87,854,551 across 10 lines filed
Part IX · Statement of functional expenses $59,455,474 across 19 lines filed
Part X · Balance sheet $79,944,429 assets, 18 lines filed
Part XI · Reconciliation of net assets $74,229,822 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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