Oprah Winfrey Leadership Academy Foundation

The information for Oprah Winfrey Leadership Academy Foundation is as of the organization's most recent filing in December 2019. This organization is located in West Hollywood, CA and has been in existence since 2002, making it 17 years old.

Organization Classification

The IRS classifies organizations according to the National Taxonomy of Exempt Entities (NTEE) system. The NTEE system helps the IRS assign a 3-character code to each organization to describe the organization's activities.

The Oprah Winfrey Leadership Academy Foundation's NTEE code is T23. The "T" tells us that the organization is classified along with Philanthropy, Voluntarism & Grantmaking Foundations. The "23" tells us that the organization is a Private Operating Foundation. The NTEE describes Private Operating Foundations as private foundations that use a bulk of their resources to provide charitable services or run charitable programs of their own. They make few, if any, grants to outside organizations and, like private independent foundations, they generally do not raise funds from the public.

Every organization is also governed by a specific section of the Internal Revenue Code. The most common type is a 501(c)(3) organization. However, there are actually 29 different types of organizations that are identified by the Internal Revenue Code. This organization happens to be a 501(c)(3) organization. The IRS describes these organizations as those engaged in Religious, Educational, Charitable, Scientific, Literary, Public Safety, Amateur Sports, or Prevention of Cruelty to Children or Animals work.

Perhaps the most accurate way to get a sense of what the organization hopes to achieve is by looking at its mission. The mission of the Oprah Winfrey Leadership Academy Foundation is to support and operate the Oprah Winfrey Leadership Academy for Girls, a school for girls located in South Africa.

Program Areas

Program Area 1: The Oprah Winfrey Leadership Academy Foundation has partnered with the Guateng Member of the Executive Council for Education and the Guateng Department of Education to build and operate the Oprah Winfrey Leadership Academy for Girls, a school for 310 disadvantaged South African female students.

Program Area 2: The Oprah Winfrey Leadership Academy Foundation assists outstanding students graduating from the Oprah Winfrey Leadership Academy for Girls with scholarship support to attend college in South Africa or the United States.

Organization Staffing

Oprah Winfrey Leadership Academy Foundation is run by Rebecca Sykes, who is the President. The organization has 3 employees, of whom 1 is paid more than $100k per year (according to the organization's most recent 990 tax filing). Supporting the paid staff are 3 volunteers.

Board Governance

The Oprah Winfrey Leadership Academy Foundation is well-governed with three voting members and three independent members. Potential conflicts of interest exist, but the organization has taken steps to address this by having a conflict of interest policy and requiring disclosure of any conflicts. The organization also has a written whistleblower policy and a document retention policy. Board and committee meetings are documented, and the organization provides copies of the 990 to the board prior to filing. However, the organization does not substantiate and review leadership or officer salaries. Overall, the Oprah Winfrey Leadership Academy Foundation has taken the necessary steps to ensure that it is well-governed and compliant with regulations.

Organization Growth

The Oprah Winfrey Leadership Academy Foundation experienced a decrease in total revenue from $8.7M in 2014 to $8.1M in 2019. Contributions & Grants Received and Investment Income both decreased as well. Grants Paid increased, however, from $381.9K in 2014 to $1.7M in 2019. The number of employees and volunteers both decreased, indicating that the Foundation has not grown over this time period.