Executive Director / CEO
This analysis benchmarks the total compensation of Karen Zeman, Executive Director / CEO ($88,833) against every comparable organization that fit the selection criteria — 426 in total — drawn systematically from IRS Form 990 filings, not a hand-picked subset.
Compensation sits at approximately the 69th percentile of comparable organizationswithin the typical range
Benchmarked executive: Karen Zeman — reported title “Executive Dir.”, 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 AK 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 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Vermont Energy Education Program Inc | VT | $457,395 | Executive Director | $74,504 | $78,437 | 2024 |
| Science And Entrepreneurship Exchange | IL | $458,706 | Secretary | $73,655 | $77,978 | 2023 |
| Partners In Change Inc | GA | $455,719 | Ceo, Vice Board Chair | $5,000 | $5,414 | 2023 |
| Global Education Center | TN | $458,936 | Executive Director | $44,400 | $47,558 | 2025 |
| Botanical Bus | CA | $455,172 | Exec Direc/ Board Pres | $74,880 | $69,629 | 2023 |
| Communities In Schools | NC | $459,583 | Executive Dir. | $58,102 | $64,649 | 2023 |
| Heritage Museum Of Asian Art | IL | $459,798 | Treasurer | $62,500 | $64,269 | 2024 |
| Upper Valley Trails Alliance | VT | $460,319 | Executive Di | $79,508 | $83,706 | 2024 |
| Mychild'scancer Inc | NJ | $454,068 | President / Secretary / Executive Director | $26,000 | $24,998 | 2023 |
| Arbutus Folk School | WA | $460,522 | Executive Di | $51,093 | $47,847 | 2024 |
| Elevate Dallas | TX | $461,045 | Executive Di | $22,300 | $23,332 | 2024 |
| Empire 8 | NY | $453,359 | Commissioner | $181,158 | $171,225 | 2024 |
| New England Preparatory School | MA | $462,462 | Communicatio | $22,038 | $21,326 | 2023 |
| Business History Conference | DE | $451,653 | Secretary | $20,000 | $20,483 | 2024 |
| The Teachers Lounge Inc | MA | $463,525 | Executive Director | $87,502 | $84,675 | 2023 |
| Una Vida Esta Vida | CA | $464,152 | President | $14,500 | $13,096 | 2024 |
| Derry Preschool Inc | PA | $450,059 | Treasurer | $55,000 | $55,890 | 2025 |
| Steamimagine | VA | $464,600 | President | $20,000 | $20,199 | 2024 |
| The Conscious Kid | CA | $465,081 | Executive Dir. | $135,000 | $121,932 | 2024 |
| Hawkquest | CO | $465,359 | Executive Di | $110,475 | $110,802 | 2024 |
| Georgia Coalition For Higher | GA | $466,026 | Co-exec Dire | $123,476 | $126,513 | 2025 |
| Edina Education Fund | MN | $448,216 | Executive Director | $60,008 | $60,422 | 2025 |
| American Association Of Bovine | OH | $466,561 | Executive Di | $50,248 | $57,311 | 2023 |
| Romanza St Augustine Inc | FL | $446,105 | President | $4,000 | $4,046 | 2023 |
| Uncw Research Foundation | NC | $444,105 | President | $54,419 | $57,298 | 2025 |
Comp (reported) is the figure on each organization's Form 990 (columns D + F); Comp (adjusted) normalizes it to AK 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 AK 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 | 69th |
| Total compensation (D + F), as reported (no adjustments) | 71st |
| Reportable pay only (column D), adjusted | 64th |
| All sources (D + E + F), adjusted | 62nd |
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.