Nextstage

“The 990 is reviewed by the ceo once received from the accountants. After the review is complete the 990 is emailed to all board members for their review and approval prior to filing the return.”

“Board members or any interested/related person must disclose the existence of any potential conflicts of interest and is given the opportunity to disclose all material facts to the directors of the board considering the transaction or arrangement. After disclosure of the facts related to the conflict, and after any discussion with the person with the conflict, he/she shall leave the meeting while the determination of a conflict of interest is discussed and voted upon. The chairperson of the board shall, if appropriate, appoint a disinterested person or committee to investigate alternatives to the proposed transaction or arrangement. After exercising due diligence, the board or committee shall determine whether the organization can obtain with reasonable efforts a more advantageous transaction or arrangement from a person or entity that would not give rise to a conflict of interest. If a more advantageous transaction or arrangement is not reasonably possible under the circumstances not producing a conflict of interest, the board or committee shall determine by a majority vote of the disinterested directors whether the transaction or arrangement is in the organization's best interest, for its own benefit, and whether it is fair and reasonable.”

“The organization does not make its governing documents, conflict of interest policy, and financial statements available to the public. However, the form 990 and form 1023 are provided upon request.”

“The nextstage for entrepreneurs program offers technical and financial assistance to entrepreneurs - particularly non-traditional and disadvantaged entrepreneurs - during the pre-start planning, start-up, and growth phases. We believe that entrepreneurship presents unique opportunities for individuals to find personal satisfaction in their work, build wealth and equity, and to improve the collective economic outlook of their communities. However, that opportunity isn't equal. Certain individuals - including persons of color and lower income individuals - face consistent barriers to accessing traditional capital markets. Nextstage seeks to address this disparity by providing access to capital at rates and terms that are competitive in the marketplace through an underwriting process that strongly weights an entrepreneur's creativity, commitment, and growth, with reduced dependence on traditional credit standards of collateral, equity contribution and credit score. In 2024, nextstage provided $1,817,040. Of direct financing to 30 new and growing small business borrowers- leveraging nearly $7.8 million of other financing, investment, and equity, and creating at least 101 new jobs. Nextstage seeks to pair its lending activities with no-cost, direct technical assistance to emerging entrepreneurs. Rather than providing structured or curriculum-based training, as is common among entrepreneur support programs, nextstage's technical assistance is typically offered one-on-one, with a focus on identifying specific needs and solutions to address the specific challenges of each entrepreneur. In 2024, nextstage staff worked with more than 409 new and emerging entrepreneurs, providing approximately 3419.50 hours of direct training and technical assistance.”

“The organization did not change either its oversight process or selection process during the current tax year.”