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PeerBasis
Compensation Comparability Determination

Mara Brock Akil's Writers' Colony

Executive Director / CEO

EIN 872587502
CA · NTEE A31
FY ending 2024-12-31
June 9, 2026

This analysis benchmarks the total compensation of Natalie Guerrero, Executive Director / CEO ($125,000) against every comparable organization that fit the selection criteria — 20 in total — drawn systematically from IRS Form 990 filings, not a hand-picked subset.

Compensation sits at approximately the 85th percentile of comparable organizationswithin the typical range

Benchmarked executive: Natalie Guerrero — reported title “FOUNDATION DIRECTOR”, a direct title match to the Executive Director / CEO role.

How comparable organizations were selected

20 organizations qualified on sector, size, and geography 20 within the band form the benchmarked peer set.

Distribution of comparable compensation

$7,598 total compensation of comparable organizations → $175,540 $125,000
$9,63310th
$42,12225th
$71,019Median
$98,74875th
$139,40090th
$125,000This org · 85th
p10$9,633
p25$42,122
p50$71,019
p75$98,748
p90$139,400
$125,000

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
Jewish Partisan Education Foundation CA$282,356 Foundation Mgr. $108,065 $108,065 2024
Cinemama CA$273,475 President $7,380 $7,598 2023
Watsonville Film Festival CA$301,726 Executive Dir. $72,000 $72,000 2024
Filmforum Inc CA$303,502 Vice President $18,000 $18,532 2023
Mirabel Pictures CA$262,326 President $56,000 $57,654 2023
International Ocean Film Foundation Inc CA$308,708 Executive Director $76,000 $74,041 2025
Clarity Educational Productions Inc CA$256,270 President $90,000 $92,658 2023
Screamfest Horror Film Festival CA$253,413 Co-director $41,600 $42,829 2023
Hollywood In Pixels Inc CA$243,170 President/chair $8,300 $8,300 2024
Bravemaker CA$324,639 President $132,000 $135,899 2023
Monterey County Film Commission CA$238,200 Film Commissioner $92,898 $95,642 2023
Mendocino Film Festival Inc CA$330,313 Festival Administrator $71,890 $70,037 2025
Filmmakers United CA$221,196 President $44,780 $44,780 2024
Cinefemme CA$346,073 Executive Director $170,504 $175,540 2023
San Francisco Independent Film Festival CA$216,359 Director $40,000 $40,000 2024
Black Photographers Union CA$216,115 President $9,500 $9,781 2023
San Francisco Cinematheque CA$209,336 Exec. Dir./dir. $76,286 $76,286 2024
Association Of Film Commissioners CA$359,507 Executive Director $120,000 $123,544 2023
Aitysh Usa CA$386,691 Executive Director $68,000 $70,009 2023
Silicon Valley Jewish Film Festival CA$410,985 Executive Director $166,001 $170,904 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 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 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 default85th
Total compensation (D + F), as reported (no adjustments)85th
Reportable pay only (column D), adjusted85th
All sources (D + E + F), adjusted85th

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 (Natalie Guerrero) 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 20 similarly situated organizations (Same NTEE sector (A31) + CA + budget 0.67–1.5× revenue).
  3. The authorized body determined that total compensation of $125,000 is reasonable (approximately the 85th 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.