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

Pharos The International Photo Archives Association

Executive Director / CEO

EIN 872582361
NY · NTEE A20
FY ending 2023-12-31
June 9, 2026

This analysis benchmarks the total compensation of Louisa Wood Ruby, Executive Director / CEO ($33,405) against every comparable organization that fit the selection criteria — 46 in total — drawn systematically from IRS Form 990 filings, not a hand-picked subset.

Compensation sits at approximately the 30th percentile of comparable organizationswithin the typical range

Benchmarked executive: Louisa Wood Ruby — reported title “Executive director”, a direct title match to the Executive Director / CEO role.

How comparable organizations were selected

46 organizations qualified on sector, size, and geography 46 within the band form the benchmarked peer set.

Distribution of comparable compensation

$2,720 total compensation of comparable organizations → $152,824 $33,405
$11,87510th
$26,97225th
$52,500Median
$68,85275th
$97,44390th
$33,405This org · 30th
p10$11,875
p25$26,972
p50$52,500
p75$68,852
p90$97,443
$33,405

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 NY 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
The Association For Cultural Equity Inc NY$337,589 Executive Director $68,436 $66,473 2024
Origami Usa Inc NY$337,288 President $30,000 $29,139 2024
Bailey's Cafe Inc NY$353,023 Executive Di $18,750 $18,750 2023
Inwood Art Works Inc NY$353,982 Chairman $55,000 $55,000 2023
Nars Foundation Inc NY$355,287 Founding Director $43,002 $43,002 2023
Jack Arts Inc NY$329,150 Co-director $68,896 $68,896 2023
The Brooklyn Steppers Inc NY$359,620 Executive Director $41,500 $39,270 2025
Space On The Farminc NY$359,689 Executive Director (Left 2024) $70,750 $68,720 2024
Raga Massive Inc NY$323,178 Executive Director $17,550 $17,550 2023
Ma's House & Bipoc Art Studio Inc NY$317,270 President $26,125 $25,375 2024
Dorill Initiative Inc NY$314,146 Executive Director $9,149 $9,149 2023
Statement Arts Inc NY$379,950 Secretary $60,818 $59,073 2024
Ugly Duckling Presse Ltd NY$381,176 Press Manager $58,125 $56,457 2024
Kindred Arts Inc NY$305,052 Executive Director $11,750 $11,750 2023
Buffalo Institute For Contemporary Art NY$301,221 Part Time Executive Director $12,000 $12,000 2023
Funoon NY$295,886 Executive Director $75,556 $75,556 2023
Artistic Freedom Initiative Inc NY$393,958 Co-executive Director & Secretary $157,338 $152,824 2024
Western Ny Book Arts Collaborative Inc NY$289,491 Executive Dir. $53,000 $53,000 2023
Coming Together Festival Of Dance & NY$399,596 Executive Director $25,064 $25,064 2023
Discovery Trail Inc NY$280,393 Executive Director $70,510 $66,722 2025
Next Edge Arts Inc NY$277,332 Artistic Dir $10,250 $10,250 2023
Catskill Art Society Inc NY$411,785 Executive Director $70,000 $70,000 2023
Pesvebi Inc NY$412,518 President $2,800 $2,720 2024
A Blade Of Grass Fund NY$268,734 Interim Executive Director $111,932 $111,932 2023
Main Street Arts Inc NY$424,719 Executive Director & Curat $81,818 $81,818 2023

Comp (reported) is the figure on each organization's Form 990 (columns D + F); Comp (adjusted) normalizes it to NY 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 NY 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 default30th
Total compensation (D + F), as reported (no adjustments)30th
Reportable pay only (column D), adjusted30th
All sources (D + E + F), adjusted30th

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 (Louisa Wood Ruby) 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 46 similarly situated organizations (Same NTEE sector (A20) + NY + budget 0.67–1.5× revenue).
  3. The authorized body determined that total compensation of $33,405 is reasonable (approximately the 30th 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.