Executive Director / CEO
This analysis benchmarks the total compensation of Derek Lyons, Executive Director / CEO ($187,022) against every comparable organization that fit the selection criteria — 54 in total — drawn systematically from IRS Form 990 filings, not a hand-picked subset.
Compensation sits at approximately the 100th percentile of comparable organizationsabove the 90th percentile — board review recommended
Benchmarked executive: Derek Lyons — reported title “PRESIDENT AND CEO”, a direct title match to the Executive Director / CEO role.
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 AL cost of living (BEA RPP, 2023) and to its filing year (CPI-U); the reported amount is on each linked 990.
| Organization | State | Revenue | Matched title | Comp (reported) | Comp (adjusted) | FY |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Center For Digital Democracy | DC | $105,491 | President | $126,259 | $102,557 | 2024 |
| New York Civil Rights Coalition Inc | NY | $106,226 | President & Ceo | $95,000 | $81,808 | 2023 |
| Medgar And Myrlie Evers Institute | MS | $106,645 | Executive Director | $64,170 | $68,108 | 2023 |
| Unitarian Universalists For Social Justice | DC | $107,475 | Executive Director | $33,456 | $27,978 | 2023 |
| A Is For | NY | $107,850 | Executive Director | $26,000 | $22,390 | 2023 |
| League Of Women Voters Of | CA | $108,868 | Executive Director | $72,560 | $57,996 | 2024 |
| Virginia Coalition For Open | VA | $109,373 | Executive Di | $61,000 | $54,518 | 2024 |
| Illinois Alliance For Retired Americans | IL | $109,743 | Executive Dir. | $58,058 | $52,833 | 2024 |
| Center For The Healing Of Racism | TX | $112,124 | Executive Director | $75,000 | $71,495 | 2023 |
| The Wclp Endowment Foundation | CA | $97,190 | Executive Dir./president | $19,853 | $16,337 | 2023 |
| Sankofa Impact | WA | $113,817 | Executive Director | $123,013 | $104,955 | 2023 |
| The Fund For Northern Tier Development | PA | $114,107 | Executive Director | $56,000 | $51,692 | 2024 |
| Rhode Island State Right To Life Committee Inc | RI | $114,176 | Executive Director | $43,350 | $39,612 | 2023 |
| Institute For Research On Presidential Elections | CA | $94,829 | Vice President, Director | $84,000 | $69,123 | 2023 |
| Unity Women's Desk Inc | NC | $115,519 | Pres. / Coor | $64,828 | $62,003 | 2024 |
| Trunorth Foundation | CO | $115,536 | President & Ceo | $75,000 | $66,568 | 2024 |
| Progress Texas | TX | $116,557 | Executive Director | $12,138 | $11,571 | 2023 |
| Ka'ohana O Kalaupapa | HI | $93,050 | Executive Di | $28,850 | $23,909 | 2024 |
| Rhode Island Cross Disability Coalition | RI | $117,708 | Operations Manager | $4,641 | $4,119 | 2024 |
| We Are All Criminals | MN | $90,485 | Executive Director | $88,988 | $83,795 | 2023 |
| Grassroots Global Justice Action | CA | $90,460 | Secret. Trea | $92 | $76 | 2023 |
| Immigrant Hope | MN | $119,748 | Board Member | $28,252 | $26,603 | 2023 |
| Equalitymaine | ME | $120,560 | Pgm Director/exec Dir. | $17,666 | $16,374 | 2024 |
| Right To Life Of Southwest Indiana | IN | $120,757 | Executive Director | $82,323 | $82,733 | 2023 |
| Word Is Bond | OR | $120,761 | Executive Director | $68,895 | $60,971 | 2023 |
Comp (reported) is the figure on each organization's Form 990 (columns D + F); Comp (adjusted) normalizes it to AL cost of living and 2024 dollars. Click any organization to verify the figure on ProPublica.
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 AL 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.
Sensitivity — the subject's percentile under alternative compensation definitions:
| Basis | Subject percentile |
|---|---|
| Total compensation (D + F), cost-of-living + inflation adjusted — the PeerBasis default | 100th |
| Total compensation (D + F), as reported (no adjustments) | 100th |
| Reportable pay only (column D), adjusted | 100th |
| All sources (D + E + F), adjusted | 94th |
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.
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
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.