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PeerBasis
Compensation Comparability Determination

Witnessing History Education

Executive Director / CEO

EIN 814305937
KY · NTEE A31
FY ending 2023-12-31
June 9, 2026

This analysis benchmarks the total compensation of Kent Masterson Brown, Executive Director / CEO ($175,426) against every comparable organization that fit the selection criteria — 66 in total — drawn systematically from IRS Form 990 filings, not a hand-picked subset.

Compensation sits at approximately the 98th percentile of comparable organizationsabove the 90th percentile — board review recommended

Benchmarked executive: Kent Masterson Brown — reported title “DIRECTOR”, selected as the organization's highest-paid individual — no exact title match, so confirm this is a comparable role.

How comparable organizations were selected

66 organizations qualified on sector, size, and geography 66 within the band form the benchmarked peer set.

Distribution of comparable compensation

$1,441 total compensation of comparable organizations → $182,348 $175,426
$8,76110th
$24,84425th
$46,582Median
$70,02275th
$99,75190th
$175,426This org · 98th
p10$8,761
p25$24,844
p50$46,582
p75$70,022
p90$99,751
$175,426

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 KY 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
Professional Development FL$281,728 President $136,576 $115,996 2024
Jewish Partisan Education Foundation CA$282,356 Foundation Mgr. $108,065 $84,364 2024
Mara Brock Akil's Writers' Colony CA$283,106 Foundation Director $125,000 $97,584 2024
Transgender Film Center Ltd KS$277,574 President/executive Director $11,500 $11,564 2023
The Generations Project Inc NY$288,484 Executive Dir. $68,000 $57,193 2023
Houston Cinema Arts Society TX$274,179 Executive Director $92,943 $84,053 2024
Cinemama CA$273,475 President $7,380 $5,932 2023
Writers Guild Of America East Foundation Inc NY$296,114 Founder And Director $2,800 $2,288 2024
Mirabel Pictures CA$262,326 President $56,000 $45,009 2023
Watsonville Film Festival CA$301,726 Executive Dir. $72,000 $56,208 2024
Filmforum Inc CA$303,502 Vice President $18,000 $14,467 2023
Aurora Picture Show TX$258,263 Executive Director $49,650 $44,902 2024
Clarity Educational Productions Inc CA$256,270 President $90,000 $72,336 2023
International Ocean Film Foundation Inc CA$308,708 Executive Director $76,000 $57,802 2025
Eastland Fine Arts Association TX$254,741 Coo $53,247 $49,577 2023
Screamfest Horror Film Festival CA$253,413 Co-director $41,600 $33,435 2023
Cinema Tropical Inc NY$252,198 Dir/officer $89,000 $70,834 2025
Make Your Mark Media Inc MD$251,060 Employee $125,700 $109,383 2023
Field Of Vision Inc NY$313,671 Executive Dir. $223,207 $182,348 2024
Southern Oregon Film Society OR$314,913 Executive Director $4,387 $3,588 2025
Women Photographers International Archive Inc FL$248,525 President $50,010 $42,474 2024
Myth Media OR$247,747 Executive Dir $28,182 $23,051 2025
Hollywood In Pixels Inc CA$243,170 President/chair $8,300 $6,480 2024
National Center For Jewish Film Inc MA$242,373 Co Director $95,000 $79,459 2023
James R Halsey Foundation Of The Arts NJ$323,352 Ceo $60,000 $49,862 2023

Comp (reported) is the figure on each organization's Form 990 (columns D + F); Comp (adjusted) normalizes it to KY cost of living and 2023 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 KY 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 default98th
Total compensation (D + F), as reported (no adjustments)98th
Reportable pay only (column D), adjusted100th
All sources (D + E + F), adjusted98th

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 (Kent Masterson Brown) 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 66 similarly situated organizations (Same NTEE sector (A31), nationwide + budget 0.67–1.5× revenue).
  3. The authorized body determined that total compensation of $175,426 is reasonable (approximately the 98th 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.