Innovative Network of Knowledge

“Per the irs instructions, certain business relationships between the organization's current officers, directors, trustees, or key employees, as reported in part vii, section a, must be disclosed. Because of the interrelated nature of the filing organization with its related entities (as disclosed on schedule r), all of the officers and directors with overlapping responsibilities have business relationships with each other.”

“Other officer compensation is reviewed on an annual basis utilizing national and regional salary survey data for equivalent positions with similar nonprofit organizations. The market analysis is examined by the chief operating officer of the parent organization and any compensation modification is recommended and discussed with the chairman of the board of directors. With the concurrence of the board chairman, the compensation is included in the annual operating budget which is contemplated and acted on by the entire board of directors. Approved compensation adjustments are recorded in the personnel record of the president along with the rationale for any compensation modification.”

“The board of directors shall designate an executive committee, which shall consist of the following: the chairman, vice chairman, secretary, and treasurer and up to three persons appointed by the chairman. Subject to the bylaws and the general policies prescribed by the board of directors, the executive committee shall have and shall execute the authority of the management of the corporation. A majority of the members of the executive committee shall constitute a quorum.”

“The board of trustees of firstday foundation, as the parent company of the organization, has the power to elect members of the organization's governing body.”

“The managed services provider generates and reviews the 990 by comparing prior return with current return. In addition, all financial data on the 990 is reconciled to the financial statements. After review is made with the president the return is filed.”

“All members of the governing board and officers are covered with the conflict of interest and compliance policy and requirements. All members of the governing board and officers must complete a conflict-of-interest disclosure on an annual basis. If a conflict of interest should arise, the person associated with the conflict is excluded from discussion, debate and decision making on the matter. This shall include the person with the conflict being excluded from a meeting where any matter associated with the conflict is discussed.”

“The president's compensation is reviewed utilizing national and regional salary survey data for equivalent positions with similar nonprofit organizations. The market analysis is examined by the chief operating officer of the parent organization and any compensation modification is recommended and discussed with the chairman of the board of directors. The compensation analysis is presented to the board of directors by the chief operating officer of the parent company for discussion. Deliberation and a board decision is made regarding the compensation for the president by the board of directors. If a compensation is approved, the compensation is included in the annual operating budget. Approved compensation adjustments are recorded in the personnel record of the president along with the rationale for any compensation modification.”

“The form 990, governing documents, conflict of interest policy, and financial statements are made available to the public upon request by contacting the firstday foundation corporate office.”

“George cowden, chairman, receives compensation from a related organization for legal services provided to the organization. No part of his compensation was provided for his service as a board member.”

“The JVLCDG grant provided educational services to 317 children during the 2024-2025 school year. The locations included Victoria ISD, Waelder ISD, Yoakum ISD, Nixon-Smiley ISD, Victoria HS and EHS, Cuero EHS, Edna HS, and Port Lavaca EHS. During the 2024-2025 academic year, the EHS CCP grant had a total of 120 children served. The centers that were open were Victoria, Boerne, Edna, Cuero, Port Lavaca, Yoakum under this grant. Partnerships with local libraries were made. Center managers partnered with the libraries in their areas and had a literacy program established where parents could get library cards and join events. The libraries donated backpacks and books to our center locations. Parents were involved with committees, events, and parent meetings at each center. Our Policy Council was established by a parent at every location, and many new ideas were suggested and implemented. Parades in this area are exciting and families participate by creating floats and dressing up. Toys for Tots is a big event sponsored in Victoria where many of our Family Specialists helped families sign-up and participate. We have many community partners, but this year one stood out above the rest. The HEB Buddy Event took place which was a fun way to engage all of our centers with local HEB's that we partner with. Families completed activities as well as took Fall pictures with HEB Buddy. The education team set in motion more family engagement by launching Ready Rosie for parents. Through our growing partnerships with the ISD's, we have seen an increase in engagement to help prepare our children to be school ready.”

“The Alabama grant provided educational services to 80 children during the 2024-2025 school year. These children were Early Head Start ages birth to 3. Alabama served these children in 5 locations in Walker County: Jasper, Cordova, Dora, Curry, Townley. Partnerships with our local Capstone Clinic and Child Dentistry allowed us to provide medical and dental checkups for the children. We were able to form partnerships with our local school districts, Adam Bishop Center, and ARC of Walker County to provide speech, OT, and mental health services to our children and families. We partnered with The City of Lights, a recovery program for females and have been able to serve their children in our program while the mothers are learning a workforce skill. The policy council has been very involved in our program and voted to allow an expansion which added 6 more classrooms for this upcoming year for ages 3-5. Our family specialists provided recruiting activities each month and worked with our education coaches to provide families with information at monthly meetings to accommodate their needs. The partnerships formed have proven to be a great asset to our area.”

“(Expenses $ 4,018,368 including grants of $ 962) During the 2024-2025 academic school year, the AKW Grant continued to serve children. Our Early Head Start program enrolled 80 children in our 3 standalone sites and our Head Start program continued serving 134 children through our partnerships with Floresville ISD and Charlotte ISD. We wanted to make sure our families continued to feel involved in their child's education by providing monthly parent meetings followed by family engagement activities. During the family engagement activities, families are invited to come to the center and join their child for a creative activity. During this time, families can see what the children have been learning about in the classroom as well. This year AKW added a by-monthly Father Engagement classroom activity to have more father and/or father figures involved in the children's education. AKW also added the Let's Read Together take-home activities to enhance reading at home with a family member. Parents also continued to volunteer and attend Policy Council meetings via zoom. Teachers continue to send home educational activities daily; this gives parents the opportunity to spend some time with their child at home extending on what they are learning at school. This school year we had 214 parent volunteers. AKW grant continues to implement the parent curriculum called Ready Rosie. Ready Rosie delivers parenting curriculum videos via text. The City of Poteet continued to provide volunteers services each month by mowing the yard, paying for water and trash services. The City of Poteet included in their yearly donations the opportunity to house AKW's mains office, training room and storage shed while donating the rental cost, water and trash services. Our stand-alone sites continue working with the local community partnerships to provide resources and referrals to our families on as needed basis.”