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PeerBasis
Compensation Comparability Determination

Gabriela Lena Frank Creative

Executive Director / CEO

EIN 822368558
CA · NTEE A6E
FY ending 2023-12-31
June 9, 2026

This analysis benchmarks the total compensation of Gabriela Lena Frank, Executive Director / CEO ($121,801) against every comparable organization that fit the selection criteria — 36 in total — drawn systematically from IRS Form 990 filings, not a hand-picked subset.

Compensation sits at approximately the 94th percentile of comparable organizationsabove the 90th percentile — board review recommended

Benchmarked executive: Gabriela Lena Frank — reported title “PRESIDENT”, a direct title match to the Executive Director / CEO role.

How comparable organizations were selected

36 organizations qualified on sector, size, and geography 36 within the band form the benchmarked peer set.

Distribution of comparable compensation

$4,939 total compensation of comparable organizations → $149,661 $121,801
$26,96910th
$39,97025th
$62,283Median
$73,41775th
$95,60990th
$121,801This org · 94th
p10$26,969
p25$39,970
p50$62,283
p75$73,417
p90$95,609
$121,801

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 CA 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
Summerbella CA$449,043 Trustee $24,000 $23,311 2024
Portland Actors Conservatory OR$433,940 Board Member $60,123 $64,660 2023
Csehy Summer School Of Music PA$455,372 Executive Director $62,237 $69,813 2024
Pierre Monteux Memorial Foundation ME$457,727 Executive Di $37,000 $41,675 2024
Labanbartenieff Institute Of Movement NY$418,184 Executive Dir. $35,000 $36,626 2023
Pakachoag Music School Of Greater MA$418,001 Interim Executive Director $62,107 $62,778 2024
Pioneer School Of Drama KY$470,967 Co-president/managing Director $20,800 $25,137 2024
Young Actors Theater Inc CA$476,689 Executive Director $67,981 $67,981 2023
Oregon International Ballet Academy OR$407,407 Executive Dir. $50,000 $52,230 2024
Wirth Center For The Performing Art MN$486,629 Executive Di $48,000 $51,976 2025
Oklahoma Youth Orchestras Inc OK$392,168 Executive Di $66,682 $82,593 2024
Pan American Dance Foundation Inc NY$496,732 Vice - President $28,800 $29,274 2024
Community Music School NY$498,574 Executive Director $61,750 $64,619 2023
Bronx School For Music Inc NY$501,301 President $59,044 $61,788 2023
Christian Youth Theater Fredericksburg VA$505,159 Director $55,935 $60,750 2024
Chehalis Ballet Center WA$379,402 Administrative Director $40,937 $40,165 2025
Ali Akbar College Of Music CA$377,532 President $39,386 $39,386 2023
Ascendance Pole And Aerial Arts WA$534,703 Vice Preside $64,769 $67,155 2023
Flying Gravity Circus Inc NH$345,186 Exec Director/trustee $53,000 $55,048 2024
Nebraska Music Education NE$338,431 Executive Di $56,650 $68,538 2024
Coro De Ninos De San Juan PR$550,163 Administrator $28,800 $28,800 2023
Community Music School Inc NC$550,768 Executive Director $94,750 $110,125 2024
Claude Mcneal's Musical Theatre Training IN$556,577 President And Ceo $73,000 $86,595 2024
The Center For Theater Arts PA$568,090 Executive Di $133,419 $149,661 2024
Crystal Theatre Inc CT$313,678 President, Artistic Director $29,140 $31,641 2023

Comp (reported) is the figure on each organization's Form 990 (columns D + F); Comp (adjusted) normalizes it to CA 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 CA 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 default94th
Total compensation (D + F), as reported (no adjustments)97th
Reportable pay only (column D), adjusted97th
All sources (D + E + F), adjusted94th

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 (Gabriela Lena Frank) 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 36 similarly situated organizations (Same NTEE sector (A6E), nationwide + budget 0.67–1.5× revenue).
  3. The authorized body determined that total compensation of $121,801 is reasonable (approximately the 94th 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.