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PeerBasis
Compensation Comparability Determination

East-west Center Foundation

Executive Director / CEO

EIN 990218752
HI · NTEE Q99
FY ending 2024-09-30
June 13, 2026

This analysis benchmarks the total compensation of Suzanne Vares-lum, Executive Director / CEO ($36,741) against every comparable organization that fit the selection criteria — 432 in total — drawn systematically from IRS Form 990 filings, not a hand-picked subset.

Compensation sits at approximately the 7th percentile of comparable organizationsbelow the typical range for comparable organizations

Benchmarked executive: Suzanne Vares-lum — reported title “PRESIDENT”, a direct title match to the Executive Director / CEO role.

How comparable organizations were selected

432 organizations qualified on sector, size, and geography 432 within the band form the benchmarked peer set.

Distribution of comparable compensation

$1,352 total compensation of comparable organizations → $698,031 $36,741
$46,87410th
$81,33925th
$123,564Median
$173,92775th
$240,46390th
$36,741This org · 7th
p10$46,874
p25$81,339
p50$123,564
p75$173,927
p90$240,463
$36,741

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 HI 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
Intelehealth Inc MD$1,788,632 Ceo $82,003 $85,630 2024
Attack Poverty TX$1,787,446 Ceo $135,454 $155,811 2023
Glocalnet Inc TX$1,790,970 President $94,000 $105,025 2024
Children's Emergency Relief International TX$1,794,452 Executive Director $121,840 $136,130 2024
Scholars For Peace In The Middle East PA$1,780,914 Executive Dir. $209,175 $232,989 2024
🔒 427 more comparable organizations — included in the purchased report

Comp (reported) is the figure on each organization's Form 990 (columns D + F); Comp (adjusted) normalizes it to HI 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 HI 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 default7th
Total compensation (D + F), as reported (no adjustments)8th
Reportable pay only (column D), adjusted0th
All sources (D + E + F), adjusted99th

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:

Ready-to-adopt board minutes — executive compensation

🔒 The complete minutes language — three numbered resolutions pre-filled with this organization, the 432-organization comparison, the date, and the percentile finding, ready to paste into your minutes — is included in the purchased report.

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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 13, 2026.