Form 990 for tax year 2022

Totals

Total revenue

$3,748,086

Total expenses

$2,730,854

Contributions and grants received

$3,477,544

Grants paid

$0

Program service revenue

$264,872

Investment income

$607

Other revenue

$5,063

Total assets, end of year

$2,673,207

Total liabilities, end of year

$454,863

Net assets or fund balances, end of year

$2,218,344

Program services expenses (Part IX)

$1,999,478

Management and general expenses

$432,924

Fundraising expenses

$298,452

Program service expenses (Part III)

$1,999,478

Program services were 73.2% 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 · 2022

• GET LIT'S UNI(VERSE) IS THE WORLD'S FIRST INTERACTIVE POETRY PLATFORM DESIGNED WITH YOUTH VOICES AND DIVERSE POETS AT THE CENTER. THIS REVOLUTIONARY HYBRID LEARNING SYSTEM FUSES EDUCATION, TECHNOLOGY, AND MEDIA, GIVING TEACHERS AND STUDENTS POWERFUL TOOLS TO ELEVATE LITERACY LEVELS, AN INSPIRING PATH TO SOCIAL-EMOTIONAL LEARNING, AND TRAINING IN 21ST CENTURY SKILLS FOR COMMUNICATION, CRITICAL THINKING, CREATIVITY, AND COLLABORATION. IN 2022-23, UNI(VERSE) WAS BETA TESTED BY SCHOOLS IN LAUSD, APPROVED FOR THEIR UNIFIED DIGITAL INSTRUCTIONAL PROCUREMENT PLAN (UDIPP) REQUIREMENTS, AND HAS BEEN FORMALLY ACCEPTED BY LAUSD AS A DIGITAL CONTENT PROVIDER, ONE OF ONLY EIGHT ENTITIES CHOSEN THROUGH A COMPETITIVE RFP.

  Expenses $670,641

• THIS YEAR WE WORKED WITH LEADING SCHOLARS TO DEVELOP OUR ETHNIC STUDIES CURRICULA IN WHICH, THROUGH THE LENS OF POETRY, STUDENTS CELEBRATE THE BEAUTY, POWER, AND STORIES OF BIPOC AND LGBTQ+ PEOPLE, AND LEARN HOW RACE AND ETHNICITY, GENDER AND SEXUALITY, RELIGION, CLASS, AND DISABILITY INFLUENCE EXPERIENCES IN SOCIETY. OUR "VOICES IN VERSE" CURRICULUM, DELIVERED TO SCHOOLS VIA UNI(VERSE), IS 1 OF 11 ETHNIC STUDIES COURSES THAT HAVE BEEN APPROVED BY LAUSD TO FULFILL THE NEW CALIFORNIA ETHNIC STUDIES REQUIREMENT FOR GRADUATION. UNI(VERSE) WILL SERVE THOUSANDS OF STUDENTS IN LAUSD IN 2023-24.

  Expenses $653,964

• THIS YEAR, OUR GET LIT MEDIA PROGRAM PROVIDED 200 UNDER-RESOURCED YOUTH WITH PROFESSIONAL-LEVEL MEDIA SKILLS TRAINING, WORKFORCE PREPARATION, DEVELOPMENT OF PORTFOLIOS, NETWORKING OPPORTUNITIES, AND PLACEMENT IN PAID EMPLOYMENT IN THE ENTERTAINMENT INDUSTRY WITH OUR PARTNERS IN TALENT MANAGEMENT, SCREENWRITING, PRODUCTION, DISTRIBUTION, VISUAL DESIGN, ADVERTISING, AND PUBLISHING. PARTICIPANTS WERE TRAINED IN ADOBE CREATIVE SUITE, 4K CAMERAS AND CINEMATOGRAPHY, SOUND DESIGN, GRAPHIC DESIGN, AND COLOR GRADING. THIS TRAINING HAS PREPARED THEM TO HANDLE EVERY ASPECT OF PRODUCTION FROM CREATIVE DEVELOPMENT, PRE-PRODUCTION, LIVE VIRTUAL PRODUCTION, REMOTE PRODUCTION, POST-PRODUCTION, AND LIVE STREAMING BROADCASTS, AND TO BE ABLE TO FULLY PRODUCE DIGITAL MEDIA CAMPAIGNS, PODCASTS, WEB SERIES, OR NARRATIVE CONTENT. 2022-23 GET LIT MEDIA HIGHLIGHTS INCLUDE:- CREATED VIDEO CONTENT FOR GET LIT'S TIKTOK GARNERING 30 MILLION TOTAL VIEWS IN FIRST YEAR- PRODUCED PODCAST SERIES "POETRY IN MOTION" IN WHICH GET LIT POET CYRUS ROBERTS INTERVIEWS FAMOUS ATHLETES TALKING ABOUT THE INTERSECTION OF POETRY AND SPORTS, WITH FAMED L.A. TIMES SPORTS COLUMNIST BILL PLASCHKE AS ADVISOR- WROTE, FILMED, AND EDITED 200 EDUCATIONAL VIDEOS FOR OUR UNI(VERSE) PLATFORM AND OVER 100 EPISODES OF GET LIT MINUTE PODCAST- CREATED POEMS AND VIDEOS FOR THE L.A. MAYOR'S FUND, AND CALIFORNIA COLLEGE GUIDANCE INITIATIVE FOR STUDENTS UNDER-REPRESENTED IN HIGHER EDUCATION- PARTNERED WITH FOX TO CREATE COMMERCIALS FOR BLACK HISTORY MONTH, HISPANIC HERITAGE, PRIDE, WOMEN'S HISTORY MONTH, AND MENTAL HEALTH AWARENESS, REACHING A GLOBAL AUDIENCE

  Expenses $361,034

• 12TH ANNUAL CLASSIC SLAM: 240 STUDENT COMPETITORS PARTICIPATED IN OUR 2023 SLAM BEFORE A LIVE COMMUNITY AUDIENCE OF 3,000 AT THE L.A. THEATRE CENTER (QUARTER- AND SEMI-FINALS) AND THEATRE AT ACE HOTEL (FINALS). JUDGES INCLUDED LUIS RODRIGUEZ, MALCOLM-JAMAL WARNER, GRACE WEBER, LEE HERRICK, AND MILA CUDA. GET LIT MEDIA STUDENTS FILMED, EDITED, AND DISTRIBUTED 60 YOUTH POETRY PERFORMANCES FROM THE CLASSIC SLAM THAT FEATURE POEMS FOCUSED ON COMMUNITY OR PERSONAL TRAUMA, DE-STIGMATIZING MENTAL HEALTH, AND ENCOURAGEMENT OF HELP-SEEKING BEHAVIORS.OTHER GET LIT ACCOMPLISHMENTS THIS YEAR INCLUDE: WE WERE NAMED A 2023 LIBRARY OF CONGRESS LITERACY AWARDS PROGRAM SUCCESSFUL PRACTICES HONOREE, AND NAMED THE OUTSTANDING NONPROFIT ORGANIZATION OF 2023 BY THE ASSOCIATION OF FUNDRAISING PROFESSIONALS, GREATER LOS ANGELES CHAPTER. GET LIT PLAYER SALOME AGBAROJI, WAS NAMED 2023 NATIONAL YOUTH POET LAUREATE, AND GET LIT PLAYER SIERRA LEONE ANDERSON WAS NAMED 2023 WEST COAST REGIONAL YOUTH POET LAUREATE. WITH THE L.A. COUNTY DEPT OF MENTAL HEALTH AND VANS, WE PRODUCED OUR THIRD ANNUAL "WHY I RISE" MENTAL HEALTH POETRY COMPETITION.

  Expenses $313,839 · Revenue $264,872

As filed on the 2022 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

2022

Filed

14 May 2024

IRS schema version

2022v5.0

Source object

202421359349307607

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

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