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

Smart Buildings Center Education Program

Executive Director / CEO

EIN 811970869
WA · NTEE C35
FY ending 2024-12-31
June 9, 2026

This analysis benchmarks the total compensation of Kerry Meade, Executive Director / CEO ($26,536) against every comparable organization that fit the selection criteria — 35 in total — drawn systematically from IRS Form 990 filings, not a hand-picked subset.

Compensation sits at approximately the 9th percentile of comparable organizationsbelow the typical range for comparable organizations

Benchmarked executive: Kerry Meade — reported title “Executive Director”, a direct title match to the Executive Director / CEO role.

How comparable organizations were selected

35 organizations qualified on sector, size, and geography 35 within the band form the benchmarked peer set.

Distribution of comparable compensation

$2,348 total compensation of comparable organizations → $215,725 $26,536
$31,33410th
$55,31425th
$93,220Median
$119,69475th
$153,16190th
$26,536This org · 9th
p10$31,334
p25$55,314
p50$93,220
p75$119,694
p90$153,161
$26,536

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 WA 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
Southern Star Medical Research Institute TX$396,384 Trustee/chairman & Pres $190,400 $212,731 2024
Us Research Impact Alliance Corp WV$406,795 Executive Director $173,262 $215,725 2023
Mason County Climate Justice WA$391,936 President $13,546 $13,546 2024
Slo Climate Coalition CA$418,019 Albers $105,499 $99,129 2025
Electrification Coalition Alliance Inc DC$421,500 Executive Director $38,801 $38,031 2024
Climate Collaborative WA$378,511 Executive Director $142,585 $146,797 2023
Tennessee Advanced Energy Business TN$378,450 Executive Di $2,000 $2,348 2024
Missouri Energy Initiative MO$421,763 Executive Di $122,100 $144,445 2024
Blue Planet Foundation HI$377,633 Executive Director $30,885 $30,885 2024
Efficiency Valuation Organization DC$429,723 Executive Director $146,752 $143,838 2024
Green Light New Orleans LA$368,293 Executive Dir. $99,000 $121,760 2024
Clean Energy Districts Of Iowa IA$368,249 Board Member $5,305 $6,680 2023
Four Corners Office For Resource Eff CO$438,494 Executive Director $62,922 $69,381 2023
Frack Action Fund Inc NY$354,000 Executive Director $120,000 $121,115 2024
Clean Energy Ventures OH$446,728 President $55,133 $65,223 2024
Smart Energy Consumer Collaborative GA$458,027 Deputy Director $105,313 $118,273 2024
Tulsa Bike Share Inc OK$338,763 Executive Dir. $73,620 $93,220 2023
Energy Action Network Inc VT$334,745 Executive Director $141,329 $158,885 2024
Massenergize Inc MA$468,469 Executive Director $100,730 $101,102 2024
Energy Smart Colorado Inc CO$471,593 Executive Di $105,706 $116,555 2023
Wyoming Petroleum Foundation WY$327,364 Ex-officio Member $76,831 $91,893 2024
Carbon Offsets To Alleviate Poverty CA$323,251 Ceo $59,583 $59,164 2023
Clean Air Institute DC$322,593 Director $78,500 $79,214 2023
Net-negative Co2 Baseload Power Inc WA$320,000 Ceo And President (Resigned 1/1/25 After Tax Year) $94,250 $94,250 2024
Blueenergy OR$316,956 Executive Director, Director, Secretary $45,000 $48,055 2023

Comp (reported) is the figure on each organization's Form 990 (columns D + F); Comp (adjusted) normalizes it to WA 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 WA 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 default9th
Total compensation (D + F), as reported (no adjustments)9th
Reportable pay only (column D), adjusted0th
All sources (D + E + F), adjusted83rd

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 (Kerry Meade) 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 35 similarly situated organizations (Same NTEE sector (C35), nationwide + budget 0.67–1.5× revenue).
  3. The authorized body determined that total compensation of $26,536 is reasonable (approximately the 9th 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.