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PeerBasis
Compensation Comparability Determination

Equal Justice Works

Executive Director / CEO

EIN 521469738
DC · NTEE I110
FY ending 2024-08-31
June 9, 2026

This analysis benchmarks the total compensation of Verna Williams, Executive Director / CEO ($400,850) against every comparable organization that fit the selection criteria — 60 in total — drawn systematically from IRS Form 990 filings, not a hand-picked subset.

Compensation sits at approximately the 92nd percentile of comparable organizationsabove the 90th percentile — board review recommended

Benchmarked executive: Verna Williams — reported title “CHIEF EXECUTIVE OFFICER”, a direct title match to the Executive Director / CEO role.

How comparable organizations were selected

60 organizations qualified on sector, size, and geography 60 within the band form the benchmarked peer set.

Distribution of comparable compensation

$13,531 total compensation of comparable organizations → $567,898 $400,850
$156,73410th
$204,23025th
$241,433Median
$286,39375th
$376,63390th
$400,850This org · 92nd
p10$156,734
p25$204,230
p50$241,433
p75$286,393
p90$376,633
$400,850

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 DC 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
Recidiviz Inc CA$24,087,441 Chief Executive Officer/director $473,818 $466,244 2024
Arizona Foundation For Legal Services & Education AZ$23,793,539 Ceoexecutive Director $256,187 $280,767 2024
Queens Law Associates Not-for-profit NY$24,241,714 Executive Director $490,258 $519,750 2023
Legal Aid Of Southeast And Central Ohio OH$23,729,112 Executive Director $245,229 $295,984 2024
Respect Together PA$24,305,301 Ceo $184,934 $210,161 2024
🔒 55 more comparable organizations — included in the purchased report

Comp (reported) is the figure on each organization's Form 990 (columns D + F); Comp (adjusted) normalizes it to DC 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 DC 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 default92nd
Total compensation (D + F), as reported (no adjustments)93rd
Reportable pay only (column D), adjusted92nd
All sources (D + E + F), adjusted88th

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:

Ready-to-adopt board minutes — executive compensation

🔒 The complete minutes language — three numbered resolutions pre-filled with this organization, the 60-organization comparison, the date, and the percentile finding, ready to paste into your minutes — is included in the purchased report.

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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.