Live preview — download the board-ready PDF to attach to your minutes.Download the free PDF
Email yourself a copy:
PeerBasis
Compensation Comparability Determination

Economic Justice Alliance Of Michigan

Executive Director / CEO

EIN 474734132
MI · NTEE W70
FY ending 2024-12-31
June 9, 2026

This analysis benchmarks the total compensation of Dewayne Wells, Executive Director / CEO ($98,367) against every comparable organization that fit the selection criteria — 45 in total — drawn systematically from IRS Form 990 filings, not a hand-picked subset.

Compensation sits at approximately the 71st percentile of comparable organizationswithin the typical range

Benchmarked executive: Dewayne Wells — reported title “EXECUTIVE DIRECTOR”, a direct title match to the Executive Director / CEO role.

How comparable organizations were selected

45 organizations qualified on sector, size, and geography 45 within the band form the benchmarked peer set.

Distribution of comparable compensation

$1,214 total compensation of comparable organizations → $138,369 $98,367
$10,78410th
$40,05225th
$81,980Median
$102,25075th
$115,10990th
$98,367This org · 71st
p10$10,784
p25$40,052
p50$81,980
p75$102,250
p90$115,109
$98,367

Comparable organizations

Each figure is Form 990 Part VII columns D + F (reportable pay plus other compensation and benefits; column F may include amounts from related organizations), normalized to MI cost of living (BEA RPP, 2023) and to its filing year (CPI-U); the reported amount is on each linked 990.

OrganizationStateRevenueMatched titleComp
(reported)
Comp
(adjusted)
FY
Skills Usa Council PA$320,725 Executive Director $87,883 $84,908 2024
Wyoming Congressional Award WY$311,093 Executive Director $102,771 $106,619 2024
Leadership Seminole Inc FL$310,996 President $108,659 $96,346 2025
Leadership Lake County Inc OH$308,970 President/ceo $83,000 $82,975 2025
Leadership Geauga County OH$308,035 Executive Director $79,845 $81,932 2024
Leadership New Hampshire NH$325,615 Executive Director $91,640 $81,980 2024
Leadership Lincoln Inc NE$307,779 Executive Director $87,388 $93,751 2023
Lead Dsm IA$301,859 Executive Director $96,689 $105,598 2023
Center For Compassionate Leadership Inc NY$333,753 Chair $41,000 $35,894 2024
Severn Leadership Group Inc MD$294,110 President $116,192 $105,243 2024
Public Health Fund Inc MO$340,221 Administrator $15,817 $16,231 2024
Center For Democracy And Development In The Americas Inc DC$289,679 President (Ceo) $54,167 $47,412 2023
Barbara Jean Brown Foundation WA$286,334 Secretary $1,400 $1,214 2024
The Michiana Leadership Center Inc IN$281,067 Executive Director $75,542 $79,460 2023
Leadership Birmingham Inc AL$361,810 Executive Director $112,500 $121,228 2023
Board Development Systems Inc TX$267,973 President/ce $87,729 $85,021 2024
Leadership Harrisburg Area PA$365,948 President & $114,245 $113,638 2023
Leadership Oakland MI$260,741 Executive Director $82,000 $82,000 2024
Ventura County Leadership Academy CA$258,726 Executive Director $136,277 $111,069 2025
The Jackson Institute Inc GA$256,657 Chairman $142,041 $138,369 2024
Black Leadership & Legacies Inc IN$256,064 President $61,500 $62,834 2024
Leadership Ashtabula County Inc OH$252,148 Executive Director $63,059 $66,619 2023
Women Of Color Roar Media CA$249,608 President $65,000 $54,378 2024
Leadership Training International VA$247,977 President/ce $81,292 $76,045 2024
Adventure U CO$389,731 President $124,963 $116,090 2024

Comp (reported) is the figure on each organization's Form 990 (columns D + F); Comp (adjusted) normalizes it to MI cost of living and 2024 dollars. Click any organization to verify the figure on ProPublica.

Methodology

Comparable organizations were drawn from electronically filed IRS Form 990 returns and matched on sector (NTEE code), budget (a size-adaptive revenue band that tightens as the organization grows), and geography (same-state first, broadening only when too few peers qualify); every organization within the band forms the peer set. To compare fairly across regions and years, peer compensation is normalized to MI cost of living (BEA Regional Price Parities, 2023) and to the subject's filing year (CPI-U). The figure benchmarked is Form 990 Part VII, Section A, columns D + F — reportable pay plus other compensation, benefits, and deferred amounts (column F may include amounts from related organizations) — with the chief executive matched by role. Related-organization amounts (column E) and institutional trustees are excluded. Full methodology: peerbasis.org/methodology.

Sample, role match & sensitivity

Sensitivity — the subject's percentile under alternative compensation definitions:

BasisSubject percentile
Total compensation (D + F), cost-of-living + inflation adjusted — the PeerBasis default71st
Total compensation (D + F), as reported (no adjustments)69th
Reportable pay only (column D), adjusted82nd
All sources (D + E + F), adjusted67th

If the percentile moves materially across these definitions, the result is sensitive to methodology choices, and the board should weigh which basis best fits its facts.

Rebuttable presumption of reasonableness · 26 CFR 53.4958-6

Compensation paid by a tax-exempt organization is presumed reasonable — shifting the burden to the IRS — when three requirements are met. This report supplies the comparability data for the second. The board should record the following in its minutes concurrently with its decision:

Draft board minutes — executive compensation

  1. The compensation of the Executive Director / CEO (Dewayne Wells) was approved in advance by [the Board / Compensation Committee], composed of members with no conflict of interest with respect to the arrangement.
  2. Prior to its determination, the authorized body obtained and relied upon appropriate comparability data, namely the PeerBasis Compensation Comparability Determination dated June 9, 2026, comparing compensation against 45 similarly situated organizations (Same NTEE sector (W70), nationwide + budget 0.67–1.5× revenue).
  3. The authorized body determined that total compensation of $98,367 is reasonable (approximately the 71st percentile of comparable organizations) and documented the basis for this determination concurrently, on [date], by a vote of [__ for / __ against].

Sources: IRS Form 990 e-file data (apps.irs.gov); IRS Business Master File (NTEE classification). Every figure traces to an original public filing — click any organization above to verify it on ProPublica. PeerBasis is a service of Prismind Analytics; its methodology is published, was commissioned for independent adversarial review, and discloses its own limitations. This report is comparability data to support a board's good-faith determination under IRC 4958; it is not legal or tax advice. Generated by PeerBasis on June 9, 2026.