Totals
- Total revenue
- $251,734
- Total expenses
- $152,143
- Contributions and grants received
- $251,734
- Grants paid
- $0
- Program service revenue
- $0
- Investment income
- $0
- Other revenue
- $0
- Total assets, end of year
- $222,994
- Total liabilities, end of year
- $0
- Net assets or fund balances, end of year
- $222,994
- Program services expenses (Part IX)
- $127,354
- Management and general expenses
- $6,581
- Fundraising expenses
- $18,208
- Program service expenses (Part III)
- $127,354
Program services were 83.7% of total expenses calculated — Part IX's program-services column over total expenses, both as filed.
Line items
Every line the filer filed in Parts VIII, IX and X, as filed and in filed order. Blank columns are left out, and the lines are not forced to add up to the totals above.
Revenue
Part VIII, the statement of revenue.
-
1a · Federated campaigns
$0
-
1b · Membership dues
$0
-
1c · Fundraising events
$0
-
1d · Related organizations
$0
-
1e · Government grants (contributions)
$90,000
-
1f · All other contributions, gifts and grants
$161,734
-
1g · Noncash contributions included above
$0
-
3 · Investment income
total $0 · related or exempt $0 · unrelated business $0 · excluded $0
-
4 · Income from investment of tax-exempt bond proceeds
total $0 · related or exempt $0 · unrelated business $0 · excluded $0
-
5 · Royalties
total $0 · related or exempt $0 · unrelated business $0 · excluded $0
-
6d · Net rental income or loss
total $0 · related or exempt $0 · unrelated business $0 · excluded $0
-
8a · Fundraising events: gross income
$0
-
8a · Fundraising events: contributions included on line 1c
$0
-
8b · Fundraising events: direct expenses
$0
-
8c · Net income from fundraising events
total $0 · unrelated business $0 · excluded $0
-
9a · Gaming: gross income
$0
-
9b · Gaming: direct expenses
$0
-
9c · Net income from gaming
total $0 · related or exempt $0 · unrelated business $0 · excluded $0
-
11e · Other revenue, total
$0
Functional expenses
Part IX, the statement of functional expenses.
-
5 · Compensation of officers, directors and key employees
total $32,808 · program services $22,966 · management and general $0 · fundraising $9,842
-
6 · Compensation of disqualified persons
total $0 · program services $0 · management and general $0 · fundraising $0
-
7 · Other salaries and wages
total $0 · program services $0 · management and general $0 · fundraising $0
-
8 · Pension plan contributions
total $0 · program services $0 · management and general $0 · fundraising $0
-
9 · Other employee benefits
total $0 · program services $0 · management and general $0 · fundraising $0
-
10 · Payroll taxes
total $0 · program services $0 · management and general $0 · fundraising $0
-
11a · Fees: management
total $85,479 · program services $84,510 · management and general $969 · fundraising $0
-
11b · Fees: legal
total $0 · program services $0 · management and general $0 · fundraising $0
-
11c · Fees: accounting
total $1,785 · program services $0 · management and general $1,785 · fundraising $0
-
11d · Fees: lobbying
total $0 · program services $0 · management and general $0 · fundraising $0
-
11e · Fees: professional fundraising services
total $0 · fundraising $0
-
11f · Fees: investment management
total $0 · program services $0 · management and general $0 · fundraising $0
-
11g · Fees: other
total $0 · program services $0 · management and general $0 · fundraising $0
-
12 · Advertising and promotion
total $0 · program services $0 · management and general $0 · fundraising $0
-
13 · Office expenses
total $656 · program services $0 · management and general $656 · fundraising $0
-
14 · Information technology
total $2,598 · program services $1,802 · management and general $796 · fundraising $0
-
15 · Royalties
total $0 · program services $0 · management and general $0 · fundraising $0
-
16 · Occupancy
total $0 · program services $0 · management and general $0 · fundraising $0
-
17 · Travel
total $5,957 · program services $3,263 · management and general $0 · fundraising $2,694
-
18 · Travel or entertainment for public officials
total $0 · program services $0 · management and general $0 · fundraising $0
-
19 · Conferences, conventions and meetings
total $0 · program services $0 · management and general $0 · fundraising $0
-
20 · Interest
total $0 · program services $0 · management and general $0 · fundraising $0
-
21 · Payments to affiliates
total $0 · program services $0 · management and general $0 · fundraising $0
-
22 · Depreciation, depletion and amortization
total $0 · program services $0 · management and general $0 · fundraising $0
-
23 · Insurance
total $0 · program services $0 · management and general $0 · fundraising $0
-
24a · Other expenses: Payroll related - taxes and processing fees
total $21,149 · program services $13,612 · management and general $1,865 · fundraising $5,672
-
24b · Other expenses: Other organization expenses such as supplies printing, membership fees, etc
total $1,711 · program services $1,201 · management and general $510 · fundraising $0
Balance sheet
Part X, book values.
-
1 · Cash, non-interest-bearing
beginning of year $123,403 · end of year $222,994
-
7 · Other notes and loans receivable
beginning of year $0 · end of year $0
-
8 · Inventories for sale or use
beginning of year $0 · end of year $0
-
9 · Prepaid expenses and deferred charges
beginning of year $0 · end of year $0
-
10a · Land, buildings and equipment: cost or other basis
$0
-
10b · Land, buildings and equipment: accumulated depreciation
$0
-
10c · Land, buildings and equipment, net
beginning of year $0 · end of year $0
-
17 · Accounts payable and accrued expenses
beginning of year $0 · end of year $0
-
18 · Grants payable
beginning of year $0 · end of year $0
-
19 · Deferred revenue
beginning of year $0 · end of year $0
-
20 · Tax-exempt bond liabilities
beginning of year $0 · end of year $0
-
21 · Escrow or custodial account liability
beginning of year $0 · end of year $0
-
22 · Loans and payables to officers and key people
beginning of year $0 · end of year $0
-
23 · Secured mortgages and notes payable
beginning of year $0 · end of year $0
-
24 · Unsecured notes and loans payable
beginning of year $0 · end of year $0
-
25 · Other liabilities
beginning of year $0 · end of year $0
-
29 · Capital stock, trust principal or current funds
beginning of year $0 · end of year $0
-
30 · Paid-in or capital surplus, or land, building or equipment fund
beginning of year $0 · end of year $0
-
31 · Retained earnings, endowment or other funds
beginning of year $123,403 · end of year $222,994
Mission and programs · 2024
Mission
To inspire youth in Japan and the US to look beyond their communities embrace diversity and become active global citizens by fostering international friendship through exchange of culture and collaborative learning via an educational exchange website.
-
Kizuna Across Cultures facilitated the six month bilingual and virtual exchange program Global Classmates for high school students across Japan and the U.S. from September 2024 to February 2025. Since 2011 Global Classmates has connected over 20,600 students from the U.S. and Japan. In the programs 13th year we connected 2,100 students from 79 high schools in Japan and the U.S.. We successfully delivered another year of high-quality collaborative online international learning experience as reflected in the exit survey with 97% of the students and 99% of the teachers reporting satisfaction with the program. Building on last years curriculum upgrade this year we continued to emphasize not just improving language skills and cultural understanding but also on fostering intercultural competence-the ability to communicate effectively and appropriately with people from different backgrounds build meaningful relationships and collaborate across cultures. This year many school pairs conducted live video exchanges more than once during the program. These real-time conversations significantly deepened students sense of connection with their peers which in turn sparked greater enthusiasm for the regular asynchronous exchanges written exchanges with time difference. This positive cycle created a strong mutually reinforcing impact on student engagement. In recent years generative AI technologies such as ChatGPT have made language translation significantly easier. However we believe there are still essential human abilities that AI cannot replace: the capacity to connect with people from different backgrounds build mutual understanding and develop trust. Students participating in the program shared reflections such as: No matter how different we are its important to keep talking while respecting each other When you engage with genuine curiosity its possible to build meaningful relationships and Its crucial to communicate with an understanding of different values. These comments show that through their experiences students developed both the mindset and skills needed to build relationships and collaborate with people from different cultures and backgrounds. At KAC our goal has never been just about language acquisition. Instead weve continued to evolve the Global Classmate program to help students see and connect with the broader world and the future that lie beyond language. That said bringing this vision to life in real classrooms requires steady effort and thoughtful innovation. We are grateful for the teachers who have shared our vision and worked alongside us to make this program possible. We believe that the experiences and lessons students gained through Global Classmate will reach far beyond U.S.-Japan relations and prove valuable across many areas of their future lives. This program has offered students with a meaningful first step and we sincerely hope they will carry what theyve learned here forward with confidence and a sense of purpose.
Expenses $86,901
-
The Global Classmates Summit is a summer program facilitated by Kizuna Across Cultures KAC that brings together Japanese and American high school students who hold the potential to influence and lead in diverse communities in the future. Through a wide variety of activities the students deepen their understanding of one another and develop friendships while fostering their skills to promote mutual understanding and cooperation between Japan and the U.S. as well as the broader international community. In its eighth year Kizuna Across Cultures selected sixteen outstanding students eight from the U.S. and eight from Japanfrom a pool of 2,190 students who participated in the 2023-24 Global Classmates virtual program. To reflect the increasingly diverse areas of cooperation between Japan and the U.S. we aimed to form a group of participants that are rich in diversity in terms of attributes strengths and fields of interest. Since the Summits launch in 2017 until the third year it was held as an in-person event in Washington DC; however due to the global pandemic it has been a virtual program since 2020. For this years Summit students met for three to four hours a day over the course of twelve days from late July to mid-August for online activities. The students participated in various activities including team building exercises meetings with leaders in U.S.-Japan relations and workshops led by international experts. Through these experiences they broadened their perspectives and deepened their knowledge on topics including cross-cultural understanding U.S.-Japan relations international business climate change diversity and cultural competence media literacy and the role of citizen diplomacy. At the Summit in addition to learning from mentors we place great value on fostering a peer learning community where students can learn from each other. By providing positive feedback to one another making valuable contributions in discussions stepping out of their comfort zones to be the first to share their opinions and feelings and encouraging others to participate they developed skills and mindsets essential for cross-cultural collaboration. During the webinar event on the final day one high school teacher who observed their students presentation remarked I was shocked by their growth in such a short period. With hopes that this Summit will serve as a stepping stone for them to emerge as the next generation of leaders KAC looks forward to continuing our support for these new members of theSummit alumni network.
Expenses $30,796
-
In 2021 KAC launched the Global Classmate Community to provide ongoing support to participants who graduated from the Global Classmate program. This community aims to support young people who wish to enrich their academic career and personal lives by incorporating international perspectives and opportunities. This year we held three online webinars. Two of the webinars were co-hosted with the Embassy of Japan in the United States focusing on career opportunities related to Japan and studying abroad in Japan for Americans learning Japanese. Each webinar attracted over 300 participants highlighting a strong interest in the Japanese language and culture. In the future we plan to provide more information on practical steps to support career development.
Expenses $9,657
As filed on the 2024 return.
Listed in Part VII
-
Ayako Smethurst
Executive Director and Co-Founder
- Total calculated
- $32,808
- From this org
- $32,808
- From related orgs
- $0
- Other
- $0
- Hours/week
- 30
-
Shanti Shoji
Co-Founder and Board Member
- Total calculated
- $0
- Hours/week
- 1
-
John Basalla
Board Member
- Total calculated
- $0
- Hours/week
- 0.5
Compensation is as filed in Part VII: reportable pay from this organization and from related organizations, other compensation, and hours per week. The total, marked calculated, is our sum of the three dollar columns, with a blank column counted as $0; the form itself has no total. On a Form 990-EZ the columns are Part IV's instead, and on a Form 990-PF Part VIII's — compensation, contributions to benefit plans, and expense account — and the total sums those.
Grants on this return
No itemized grants to organizations on this return.
Provenance
- Return type
- form_990
- Tax year
- 2024
- Filed
- 18 February 2026
- IRS schema version
- 2024v5.1
- Source object
- 202640499349300204
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