Executive Director / CEO
This analysis benchmarks the total compensation of Mara Gross, Executive Director / CEO ($61,270) against every comparable organization that fit the selection criteria — 32 in total — drawn systematically from IRS Form 990 filings, not a hand-picked subset.
Compensation sits at approximately the 50th percentile of comparable organizationswithin the typical range
Benchmarked executive: Mara Gross — reported title “Executive Dire”, 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 OR 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 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Upper Peninsula Land Conservancy | MI | $344,028 | Interim Exec | $20,508 | $22,794 | 2024 |
| Neighbors For Clean Air | OR | $372,899 | Co-executive Director | $67,059 | $67,059 | 2024 |
| Babb Creek Watershed Association | PA | $342,759 | Director | $14,400 | $15,463 | 2024 |
| Clean Air Coalition Of Western | NY | $338,710 | Executive Dir. | $64,223 | $62,492 | 2024 |
| Alliance For Nuclear Responsibility | CA | $337,058 | Executive Director | $22,770 | $21,798 | 2023 |
| Pacific Sound Resources Environmental | WA | $336,662 | Trustee | $2,382 | $2,364 | 2023 |
| Western Pa Coalition For Abandoned | PA | $330,871 | Executive Di | $73,442 | $81,195 | 2023 |
| Silicon Valley Youth Climate Action | CA | $396,132 | Interim Ed | $76,000 | $70,668 | 2024 |
| Sustainable Woodstock Inc | VT | $314,084 | Executive Director | $51,433 | $55,746 | 2024 |
| Champaign County Environmental Stewards | IL | $313,037 | Executive Director | $12,490 | $13,222 | 2024 |
| Sustainable Learning Inc | NY | $404,621 | Executive Director | $44,100 | $42,911 | 2024 |
| Orleans Land Restoration Corporation | NY | $303,646 | C.e.o./c.f.o. | $23,698 | $23,059 | 2024 |
| Santa Fe Watershed Association | NM | $412,814 | Executive Di | $50,195 | $59,853 | 2023 |
| Friends Of Bayou Lafourche Inc | LA | $290,045 | Executive Director | $51,458 | $62,818 | 2023 |
| Guadalupe-blanco River Trust | TX | $427,195 | Executive Director | $33,000 | $35,546 | 2024 |
| Local Environmental Action Demanded Agency Inc | OK | $277,875 | Executive Director | $4,917 | $5,830 | 2024 |
| Bikeventura | CA | $272,422 | Director | $43,108 | $40,084 | 2024 |
| Greater Indiana Clean Cities Inc | IN | $270,798 | Exec Director | $77,426 | $90,520 | 2023 |
| Charge Across Town | CA | $456,411 | Executive Dir. | $95,833 | $89,109 | 2024 |
| Friends Of The Kaw Inc | KS | $457,690 | Executive Di | $78,700 | $91,554 | 2024 |
| Community Climate Solutions | CA | $257,065 | President And Program Manager | $89,625 | $81,189 | 2025 |
| San Bruno Mountain Watch | CA | $256,427 | Executive Dir. | $85,293 | $79,309 | 2024 |
| American Society Of Adaptation | MI | $464,079 | Contracted Exec. Dir (Thru 10/22) | $118,463 | $135,556 | 2023 |
| Tejas Roadrunners Non Profit | TX | $247,008 | Director | $28,058 | $30,223 | 2024 |
| Cottonwood Environmental Law Center Inc | MT | $242,672 | Executive Director | $120,000 | $143,404 | 2023 |
Comp (reported) is the figure on each organization's Form 990 (columns D + F); Comp (adjusted) normalizes it to OR 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 OR 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 | 50th |
| Total compensation (D + F), as reported (no adjustments) | 53rd |
| Reportable pay only (column D), adjusted | 50th |
| All sources (D + E + F), adjusted | 44th |
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.