Washington, D.C. · Nonprofit
SCHOOL LEADER LAB
SCHOOL LEADER LAB (Washington, D.C.) receives grants from 16 organizations whose IRS filings report $6,307,462 to it, the largest being EDUCATION FORWARD DC ($2,145,000). 8 of them have funded it in more than one year.
- Revenue FY2025
- $1.3M
- Funders on record
- 16
- Grants received
- $6.3M
- Net assets
- $3.1M
What School Leader Lab does
Mission
School Leader Lab supports schools and their networks in sustaining and growing high-quality schools through one of their most important assets: leaders. School Leader Lab partners with schools to strengthen their instructional leadership bench by developing exceptional teams made up of diverse leaders reflective of its community's students and by building organizational capacity for leader development.
As stated on its FY2025 Form 990.
Programs
School leader cohort (slc): school leader cohort is our 18-month cohort for dc-based principals, vice principals, assistant principals, deans, instructional coaches, or an equivalent role. Slc develops exceptional principals and assistant principals so that they inspire staff, disrupt racism, and champion rigorous learning. Executive leader cohort (edex): executive leader cohort (edex) is our nine-month, cross-school program for leaders in managing, director, head, and chief-level roles and accomplished principals who have the potential to transition into executive-level leadership in the next 1-3 years. Edex develops high-performing and diverse systems leaders with the key skills and competencies needed to lead strong teams in chief-level executive roles. Teacher leader cohort (tlc): teacher leader cohort is our nine-month, cross-school program that develops transformational classroom-based leaders so that they exercise leadership on the teams they lead while remaining impactful with their immediate groups of students.
$605,658 spentof which $1,180 as grants$80,817 earned by the program50% of program spendingGeneral programs that support schools and their networks in sustaining and growing high-quality schools through one of their most important assets: leaders. The program strengthens schools instructional leadership bench by developing exceptional teams made up of diverse leaders reflective of its community's students and by building organizational capacity for leader development.
$138,632 spentof which $10,530 as grants$308,642 earned by the program11% of program spendingDeltastrong: professional learning community for principals convenes principals and aspiring principals in the greater delta-area to build connections with one another to sustain and thrive in their roles and participate in school visits focused on best practices to implement at their schools.
$122,447 spentof which $2,000 as grants$25,000 earned by the program10% of program spending4: ap leadership is our 10-month cohort that develops dcps assistant principals who are in their second year and beyond.
$117,439 spent$8,000 earned by the program10% of program spending5: 160 School Leader PLC with TFA DC (DC PLC)
$93,455 spent$33,000 earned by the program8% of program spending6: dc school leader professional learning community convenes dc-area charter and district principals monthly to build connections with one another to sustain and thrive in their roles and participate in school visits focused on best practices to implement at their schools.
$77,429 spent$15,000 earned by the program6% of program spending7: Total for 190 Special Projects
$46,925 spent$17,990 earned by the program4% of program spending8:115 Richmond Public Schools (RPS)
$18,101 spent$85,000 earned by the program1% of program spending
The 8 programs described on its FY2024 Form 990, listed largest first by expense. Program spending in total: $1,220,086.
The organization over time
Each line starts at 100 in 2018, so what you read is the shape rather than the size: 150 means half as much again as 2018, 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 $1.6M to $3.9M (+136%).
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: 2019 7% · 2020 16% · 2021 19% · 2022 13% · 2025 0%. Grants only. Government contracts and fees sit inside program revenue.
49% of SCHOOL LEADER LAB’s revenue is contributions — about as donation-reliant as the typical peer (81% for the typical peer).
Surplus & reserves
Operating surplus or deficit each year, and months of liquidity in hand. 2 of the last 8 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
Erica Beal
Executive director
As listed on its FY2025 Form 990.
The chief executive listed changed between the FY2021 and FY2022 filings.
Who funds it, year by year
2018 → 2023: the base broadened from 1 funder to 7 funders, grant income rose $400k → $450k.
4 of 16 of your funders are donor-advised or pass-through sponsors (tagged DAF) — 32% 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 SCHOOL LEADER LAB’s funders (the co-funder graph). 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
SCHOOL LEADER LAB leans on a few funders — its largest provides 34% of grant income and the top three 77%; half comes from just 2 funders.
the vertical line marks half of all grant income — 2 funders to its left
69% 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 SCHOOL LEADER LAB.
Largest funder’s share by year: 2018 100% · 2019 75% · 2020 49% · 2021 77% · 2022 65% · 2023 44% — diversifying over time.
“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
60% of SCHOOL LEADER LAB's funders are still giving 3 years after their first grant; 50% 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
67% of SCHOOL LEADER LAB's grant income comes from Washington, D.C. funders.
In-state vs out-of-state, by year
Funder states come from each funder’s own filing. $2.0M arriving through sponsors registered in 4 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
SCHOOL LEADER LAB is better cushioned than half of the 6,891 human services nonprofits its size.
this organization peer median middle 50% of peers· 6,891 human services nonprofits $1M–$10M, FY2025
Organizations like SCHOOL LEADER LAB
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 Washington, D.C.
Nationally
Read directly from this organization’s own Form 990, as neutral context.
Where the money goes
68% of spending goes to programs.
Governance
Public support
78%
Share of support from the public (Schedule A) — the basis for its public-charity status.
Screen this organization
A dated, signed PDF of the compliance screen for SCHOOL LEADER LAB: 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 SCHOOL LEADER LAB?
- SCHOOL LEADER LAB (Washington, D.C.) receives grants from 16 organizations whose IRS filings report $6,307,462 to it, the largest being EDUCATION FORWARD DC ($2,145,000). 8 of them have funded it in more than one year.
- How many funders does SCHOOL LEADER LAB have?
- IRS filings report 16 organizations giving $6,307,462 in grants to SCHOOL LEADER LAB, 8 of which have funded it in more than one year.
- Who is the largest funder of SCHOOL LEADER LAB?
- EDUCATION FORWARD DC is the largest funder on record, with $2,145,000 in grants. The full list of funders is on this page.
- How can an organization like SCHOOL LEADER LAB find more funders?
- Start with the funders already giving here, then look at the foundations that back similar organizations in Washington, D.C.. The funding by cause and by state pages list the largest funders for a given area and how to approach them.
Play a game about who funds School Leader Lab →
These figures are read directly from IRS Form 990 / 990-PF e-file XML: this organization’s own return for FY2025 (financials across 2018–2025), and the filings of 16 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 14, 2026. What this page cannot tell you · view filing