Connecticut · Nonprofit
ACHIEVEMENT FIRST INC
ACHIEVEMENT FIRST INC (Connecticut) receives grants from 90 organizations whose IRS filings report $93,479,434 to it, the largest being THE PETER AND CARMEN LUCIA BUCK FOUNDATION INC ($20,975,000). 67 of them have funded it in more than one year.
- Revenue FY2025
- $55M
- Funders on record
- 90
- Grants received
- $93M
- Net assets
- $37M
What Achievement First Inc does
Mission
Achievement first, inc. Is a non-profit charter schools management organization that operates a network of k-12 public charter schools in connecticut, rhode island, and new york. The network of schools focuses on providing students with the academic and character skills they need to graduate from top colleges, to succeed in a competitive world, and to serve as the next generation of leaders of their communities.
As stated on its FY2025 Form 990.
Programs
Educational, financial and management services to charter schools in connecticut, new york and rhode island.
$39,696,370 spentof which $263,455 as grants$36,788,023 earned by the program94% of program spendingSchool grants: to provide assistance to a network of k-12 public charter schools in connecticut, rhode island, and new york. The network of schools focuses on providing students with the academic and character skills they need to graduate from top colleges, to succeed in a competitive world, and to serve as the next generation of leaders of their communities. Contributions, gifts, and grants were received by the organization which were used to cover the expenses of these programs.
$2,368,446 spentof which $2,813,127 as grants6% of program spendingImprovement of educational experiences related to preparation and success in college, innovation in elementary school design, parent and community engagement and, sharing educational practices with traditional public and other charter schools.
The 3 programs described on its FY2024 Form 990, listed largest first by expense. Program spending in total: $42,064,816.
The organization over time
Each line starts at 100 in 2017, so what you read is the shape rather than the size: 150 means half as much again as 2017, 50 means half. The number beside each label in the key is where it ended. The shaded band is where the middle 50% of its peers' revenue would sit, given their growth.
Balance sheet
Total assets and total liabilities at each year end, in dollars. The largest one-year move in total assets was 2023 to 2024, from $44M to $92M (+109%).
How it's funded, over time
Each bar is one year's revenue split into where it came from, and every bar is the same height — these are shares, not amounts, so a year that raised twice as much looks the same size. Hover a bar for the split.
Government-grant reliance: 2021 6%. Grants only. Government contracts and fees sit inside program revenue.
14% of ACHIEVEMENT FIRST INC’s revenue is contributions — about as donation-reliant as the typical peer (23% for the typical peer).
Surplus & reserves
Operating surplus or deficit each year, and months of liquidity in hand. 3 of the last 9 reported years ran a deficit.
reserve
Leadership and staff
The officers, directors, trustees and key employees listed on each return. Joined and no longer listed compare each filing with the year before, matching people by surname and first initial; a year after a gap, or a roster under three people, has no comparison.
Chief executive
Lisa Margosian
CEO
Board chair
Andrew Boas
Chair/acting treasurer
As listed on its FY2025 Form 990.
The chief executive listed changed between the FY2021 and FY2022, and between the FY2022 and FY2023 filings.
Who funds it, year by year
2017 → 2023: the base narrowed from 34 funders to 33 funders, grant income rose $8.1M → $13M.
21 of 90 of your funders are donor-advised or pass-through sponsors (tagged DAF) — 26% of grant dollars received. That money is really individual donors directing a sponsor; the institutions to cultivate are the non-DAF funders.
From the IRS filings of ACHIEVEMENT FIRST INC’s funders (the co-funder graph). Top 30 of 90 funders by total. Association, not causation. Trends are read to FY2023, the last fiscal year that has finished arriving. FY2024–FY2026 are still being filed and are shown unshaded; they do not move any figure on this page.
How concentrated its funding is
ACHIEVEMENT FIRST INC has a broad base — no single funder exceeds 22% of grant income, and it takes 4 funders to reach half.
the vertical line marks half of all grant income — 4 funders to its left
52% of the income these shares are computed over arrives through pass-through sponsors or from payers whose filings do not say what kind of payment it is. Concentration is still measured over all of it, because the money is real; what it does not support is a claim about how many institutions have chosen to fund ACHIEVEMENT FIRST INC.
Largest funder’s share by year: 2017 34% · 2018 20% · 2019 27% · 2020 18% · 2021 31% · 2022 35% · 2023 39% — growing more concentrated.
“Effective funders” = inverse Herfindahl index (1 / Σ shareᵢ²) — the number of equal-sized funders that would give the same concentration. Trends are read to FY2023, the last fiscal year that has finished arriving. FY2024–FY2026 are still being filed and are shown unshaded; they do not move any figure on this page.
How long its funders stay
51% of ACHIEVEMENT FIRST INC's funders are still giving 3 years after their first grant; 74% give in more than one year at all.
Share of funders still giving k years after their first recorded grant, pooled across every acquisition cohort. A funder counts as retained in a year only if it made a grant that year. Measured to FY2023, the last fiscal year that has finished arriving — a funder cannot be counted as lapsed in a year most filers have not reached.
Where its funders are
ACHIEVEMENT FIRST INC draws 91% of its grant income from funders outside Connecticut, across 17 states in all.
In-state vs out-of-state, by year
Funder states come from each funder’s own filing. $24M arriving through sponsors registered in 14 states is excluded from the map and the split above: a sponsor holds money on a donor’s behalf, so its registered address would place those dollars somewhere no donor need ever have been. Trends are read to FY2023, the last fiscal year that has finished arriving. FY2024–FY2026 are still being filed and are shown unshaded; they do not move any figure on this page.
Against its field
ACHIEVEMENT FIRST INC runs a healthier operating margin than half of the 3,794 education nonprofits its size.
this organization peer median middle 50% of peers· 3,794 education nonprofits $10M–$100M, FY2025
Government funding ACHIEVEMENT FIRST INC receives
Grants and contracts to this organization from federal (USASpending) and state checkbooks, reconciled to its EIN. $14.3M on record — $14.3M federal, $458 state.
- Department of Education$14.3M
- REFUNDS - GENERAL $458
Federal grants vs contracts are distinguished; state line items keep their reported category. Matched by name + geography (the BMF), so coverage is partial and precision-first.
Organizations like ACHIEVEMENT FIRST INC
Organizations whose mission and program text most resemble this one, by semantic similarity over every organization in the US filings — the closest peers, and often the clearest route to shared or prospective funders.
In Connecticut
Nationally
Read directly from this organization’s own Form 990, as neutral context.
Where the money goes
83% of spending goes to programs.
Governance
Public support
61%
Share of support from the public (Schedule A) — the basis for its public-charity status.
Footprint & structure
Files a return copy in 3 states
Part of a family of 4 related entities
- Achievement First Waverly LLC · disregarded
- Af Glenmore Avenue LLC · disregarded
- Af Queens Es1 LLC · disregarded
- Achievement First Brooklyn Hs4 LLC · disregarded
Screen this organization
A dated, signed PDF of the compliance screen for ACHIEVEMENT FIRST INC: IRS status (Business Master File, Publication 78, auto-revocation), the OFAC sanctions lists, the Internal Revenue Bulletin, and California registration, with the Rev. Proc. 2018-32 §8.01 reliance elements stated element by element. Generated from the current files at the moment you download it.
Screens are triage, not determinations; a source that cannot be read reports not screened, never clear. Screen this nonprofit · How the screen works · on the API as GET /api/screening/{ein}?format=pdf
Questions and answers
- Who funds ACHIEVEMENT FIRST INC?
- ACHIEVEMENT FIRST INC (Connecticut) receives grants from 90 organizations whose IRS filings report $93,479,434 to it, the largest being THE PETER AND CARMEN LUCIA BUCK FOUNDATION INC ($20,975,000). 67 of them have funded it in more than one year.
- How many funders does ACHIEVEMENT FIRST INC have?
- IRS filings report 90 organizations giving $93,479,434 in grants to ACHIEVEMENT FIRST INC, 67 of which have funded it in more than one year.
- Who is the largest funder of ACHIEVEMENT FIRST INC?
- THE PETER AND CARMEN LUCIA BUCK FOUNDATION INC is the largest funder on record, with $20,975,000 in grants. The full list of funders is on this page.
- How can an organization like ACHIEVEMENT FIRST INC find more funders?
- Start with the funders already giving here, then look at the foundations that back similar organizations in Connecticut. The funding by cause and by state pages list the largest funders for a given area and how to approach them.
These figures are read directly from IRS Form 990 / 990-PF e-file XML: this organization’s own return for FY2025 (financials across 2017–2025), and the filings of 90 funders that report grants to it. “On record” means captured in the filings we have parsed — a funder that does not e-file, or whose grant detail is not itemized, will not appear. Filings run roughly 12–24 months behind. Trends on this page end at FY2023, the last fiscal year that has finished arriving; later years are shown and marked, and move no figure. Data on this page was exported October 22, 2026. What this page cannot tell you · view filing