Form 990 for tax year 2024

Totals

Total revenue

$2,471,417

Total expenses

$2,837,298

Contributions and grants received

$2,229,124

Grants paid

$0

Program service revenue

$233,070

Investment income

$30

Other revenue

$9,193

Total assets, end of year

$1,608,962

Total liabilities, end of year

$222,823

Net assets or fund balances, end of year

$1,386,139

Program services expenses (Part IX)

$2,150,320

Management and general expenses

$471,987

Fundraising expenses

$214,991

Program service expenses (Part III)

$2,150,320

Program services were 75.8% 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.

Mission and programs · 2024

• OUR NEW CREATIVE SUITE OF PROGRAMS INCLUDE: FILM LAB, CREATIVE CAMP, AND CREATIVE CAREER LAB (CCL). FILM LAB IS A YEAR-LONG PROGRAM FOR OUR HIGH-SCHOOL STUDENTS WITH WEEKLY WORKSHOPS IN ALL ASPECTS OF FILMMAKING. EACH SEMESTER, THE CLASS IS BROKEN INTO 4 WEEKS OF PRE-PRODUCTION, 4 WEEKS OF PRODUCTION, AND 4 WEEKS OF POST-PRODUCTION. GUESTS AND MENTORS FOR FILM LAB HAVE INCLUDED REPRESENTATIVES FROM THE WGA, MONKEYPAW PRODUCTIONS, LIONSGATE, TOLLIN PRODUCTIONS, ARTISTS FIRST, AND AWARD-WINNING CINEMATOGRAPHERS, DIRECTORS, AND LIGHTING TECHNICIANS. CREATIVE CAREER LAB (CCL) IS A YEAR-LONG JOB TRAINING PROGRAM IN CREATIVE FIELDS THAT CULMINATES IN PARTICIPANT PLACEMENT IN PAID FULL-TIME JOBS WITH OUR ENTERTAINMENT AND NONPROFIT PARTNERS. PARTICIPANTS RECEIVE PROFESSIONAL-LEVEL TRAINING, PORTFOLIO DEVELOPMENT, 1 ON 1 MENTORSHIP, AND JOB PLACEMENT. IT ALSO INCLUDES FINANCIAL AND MEDIA LITERACY TRAINING; "SOFT" SKILLS SUCH AS COMMUNICATION, TEAMWORK, AND PROFESSIONALISM; CAREER PLANNING; AND INVALUABLE NETWORKING. GET LIT RECEIVED A MAJOR GRANT FROM THE STATE OF CALIFORNIA FOR SUPPORT OF THE CREATIVE CAREER LAB. OUT OF 30 STATEWIDE RECIPIENTS OF THE CALIFORNIA GOVERNOR'S OFFICE OF BUSINESS AND ECONOMIC DEVELOPMENT'S CALIFORNIA COMMUNITY REINVESTMENT GRANT (CALCRG), WE ARE THE ONLY ARTS ORGANIZATION GRANTEE, AND ONE OF ONLY FIVE WHO RECEIVED THE FULL $3M GRANT OVER 3 YEARS.

  Expenses $957,760

• OUR PROGRAMS SPAN FROM CLASSROOM TO CAREER INCLUDING TRAINING IN HIGH-DEMAND FIELDS, LEADING TO LIFE-CHANGING CREATIVE OPPORTUNITIES, INTERNSHIPS, SCHOLARSHIPS, AND JOBS. THEY INCLUDE: IN-SCHOOL PROGRAM: OUR ROBUST CURRICULA FOR THE CLASSROOM ENGAGE STUDENTS IN THE DEEP STUDY AND PERFORMANCE OF CLASSIC/CONTEMPORARY POEMS COMBINED WITH THE CREATION AND PERFORMANCE OF ORIGINAL RESPONSE POEMS. THE PROGRAM INCLUDES UNI(VERSE), OUR PIONEERING INTERACTIVE LITERACY AND POETRY PLATFORM FOR THE CLASSROOM; CORE PROGRAMMING: FREE WEEKLY POETRY AND PERFORMANCE WORKSHOPS, OPEN MICS; CLASSIC SLAM: OUR ANNUAL TEEN POETRY COMPETITION; GET LIT PLAYERS: AWARD-WINNING TEEN PERFORMANCE TROUPE; AND OUR NEW CREATIVE SUITE OF PROGRAMS, DESCRIBED BELOW.

  Expenses $420,208

• IN 2024-25, WE TAUGHT THE GET LIT CURRICULA TO 6,000 STUDENTS. IN ADDITION, WE SERVED 1,600 YOUTH WITH OUR VARIOUS AFTER-SCHOOL PROGRAMS, FOR A TOTAL OF 7,600 YOUTH DIRECTLY SERVED. THESE YOUTH ARE FROM DIVERSE COMMUNITIES THROUGHOUT GREATER LOS ANGELES, INCLUDING STUDENTS IN GRADES 4-12, YOUNG ADULTS IN EARLY COLLEGE OR CAREER EXPLORATION, AND TRANSITION AGE YOUTH AGING OUT OF THE FOSTER CARE SYSTEM. 85% OF THESE STUDENTS ARE FROM UNDER-RESOURCED AREAS AND ENROLLED IN TITLE I SCHOOLS, AND 92% ARE STUDENTS OF COLOR. 48% OF STUDENTS IDENTIFY AS FEMALE WITH 95 LANGUAGES SPOKEN ACROSS OUR STUDENT POPULATION. WE REACHED AN ADDITIONAL 50,000 YOUTH THROUGH ALL PROGRAMS, SERVICES, AND PERFORMANCES, SUCH AS WITH OUR GET LIT PLAYERS' ASSEMBLIES.THE CLASSIC SLAM COMPETITION IS THE CULMINATION OF OUR IN-SCHOOL PROGRAM. OUR 14TH ANNUAL CLASSIC SLAM HELD IN MAY 2025 HAD 240 STUDENT COMPETITORS AND A LIVE COMMUNITY AUDIENCE OF 3,000 AT THE L.A. THEATRE CENTER (QUARTER- AND SEMI-FINALS) AND DYNASTY TYPEWRITER (FINALS). JUDGES INCLUDED WELL-KNOWN ACTRESS FIVEL STEWART, AWARD WINNING ARTIST ILL CAMILLE, PRODUCER TYLER COLE, BLAIR GREEN OF NBC/UNIVERSAL, AND KORYN FRYE-FUINTES OF NETFLIX.

  Expenses $344,088

• OUR TEACHER PROFESSIONAL DEVELOPMENT PROGRAM INCLUDES OUR ANNUAL DAY-LONG POETIC CONVERGENCE, IN WHICH TEACHERS ARE TRAINED IN GET LIT'S METHODS AND PHILOSOPHY, AND IN HOW TO EFFECTIVELY USE OUR UNIQUE CURRICULUM. THE 2024 POETIC CONVERGENCE WAS HELD IN SEPTEMBER AT GET LIT'S HEADQUARTERS IN KOREATOWN. IT FEATURED POETRY TEACHING WORKSHOPS BY POETS/EDUCATORS MARLENE CARTER AND BRENDAN CONSTANTINE, AND A KEYNOTE ON HOW TO HELP STUDENTS FIND THEIR AUTHENTIC VOICE BY ROGER LOVE, ONE OF THE WORLD'S LEADING AUTHORITIES ON VOICE.CREATIVE CAMP IS A MONTH-LONG EXPERIENCE IN WHICH STUDENTS LEARN THE PRINCIPLES OF CINEMATOGRAPHY, SOUND RECORDING, EDITING, AND OTHER ELEMENTS OF VISUAL STORYTELLING THROUGH THEIR INTERPRETATION OF POEMS FROM GET LIT'S ANTHOLOGY. EACH PARTICIPANT PRODUCES A SHORT FILM, MIXTAPE, OR SPOKEN-WORD PERFORMANCE, DEPENDING ON THEIR FOCUS IN THE PROGRAM.

  Expenses $428,264 · Revenue $233,070

As filed on the 2024 return. The filer continues this part on Schedule O, which is not shown here.

Listed in Part VII

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. A Schedule J breakdown is as filed: base pay, bonus, other, deferred compensation and nontaxable benefits from this organization, with any from related organizations beside each, and the filer's own total. It is shown with the Part VII listing of the same name on the same return. The form gives no key between the two, so that pairing is ours, and is marked matched by us.

Schedule J

Part I's answers as filed. A line not listed was left unanswered; on lines 1a and 3 that means the box was not checked.

Grants on this return

No itemized grants to organizations on this return.

Provenance

Return type

form_990

Tax year

2024

Filed

7 April 2026

IRS schema version

2024v5.5

Source object

202600979349302055

Check it against the return as filed: the GivingTuesday Data Lake hosts a public copy of the original XML.

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