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PeerBasis
Compensation Comparability Determination

Step Up To Justice

Executive Director / CEO

EIN 813776452
AZ · NTEE I80
FY ending 2024-12-31
June 9, 2026

This analysis benchmarks the total compensation of Michele Mirto, Executive Director / CEO ($90,176) against every comparable organization that fit the selection criteria — 112 in total — drawn systematically from IRS Form 990 filings, not a hand-picked subset.

Compensation sits at approximately the 46th percentile of comparable organizationswithin the typical range

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

How comparable organizations were selected

112 organizations qualified on sector, size, and geography 112 within the band form the benchmarked peer set.

Distribution of comparable compensation

$1,271 total compensation of comparable organizations → $348,673 $90,176
$50,76110th
$74,87125th
$92,931Median
$117,69475th
$151,40490th
$90,176This org · 46th
p10$50,761
p25$74,871
p50$92,931
p75$117,694
p90$151,404
$90,176

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 AZ 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
Software Freedom Law Center Inc NY$478,107 Pres, Exec Dir, & Chairman $61,584 $56,373 2025
Access The Law OR$472,403 Excutive Director $113,377 $112,712 2023
Steen Mountain Defenders OR$471,908 Ex Director $95,046 $91,778 2024
Student Legal Services NC$507,722 Director $174,472 $187,451 2024
Indian Legal Assistance Program MN$508,568 Executive Di $105,043 $105,143 2025
All For The Family Legal Clinic Inc CA$466,149 Managing Attorney Ceo $94,246 $84,621 2024
Szuba Guardian Care Solutions Inc FL$512,833 President $72,356 $70,678 2024
Restoring Justice TX$464,811 Ceo $122,405 $127,316 2024
Florida Defense Lawyers Association FL$513,952 Non Voting M $76,900 $75,117 2024
Utah Domestic Violence Legal Services UT$515,117 Executive Director $89,900 $98,498 2023
Triple Twelve Ministries Inc KY$461,984 Executive Director $85,231 $92,760 2025
William E Morris Institute For Justice AZ$517,862 Executive Dir. $119,300 $119,300 2024
University Student Legal Services NC$459,750 Attorney $128,596 $142,243 2023
Centro Legal Por Derechos Humanos Inc WI$519,279 Executive Director $79,900 $86,766 2024
Energy & Mineral Law Foundation KY$458,300 Executive Director $143,586 $160,404 2024
Casa Of Westmoreland Inc PA$519,547 Executive Director $77,450 $80,310 2024
South Alabama Volunteer Lawyers Program AL$455,874 Executive Director $70,449 $81,475 2023
Christian Legal Clinics Of Philadelphia PA$455,121 Executive Director $92,475 $95,889 2024
Innocent MI$452,829 President $88,000 $94,446 2024
Casa Of Grant County Inc IN$448,126 Executive Director $67,097 $75,747 2023
Legalcorps MN$530,599 Executive Director $110,248 $113,273 2024
Mississippi Volunteer Lawyers Project MS$532,246 Exec Director/general Coun $127,315 $147,440 2024
Greater Waco Legal Services TX$533,436 Executive Director $79,132 $84,738 2023
Amara Legal Center DC$534,522 Executive Director $107,117 $97,739 2024
Open Hands Legal Services Inc NY$443,206 Executive Director $107,981 $104,454 2023

Comp (reported) is the figure on each organization's Form 990 (columns D + F); Comp (adjusted) normalizes it to AZ 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 AZ 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 default46th
Total compensation (D + F), as reported (no adjustments)49th
Reportable pay only (column D), adjusted51st
All sources (D + E + F), adjusted42nd

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 (Michele Mirto) 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 112 similarly situated organizations (Same NTEE sector (I80), nationwide + budget 0.67–1.5× revenue).
  3. The authorized body determined that total compensation of $90,176 is reasonable (approximately the 46th 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.