African Institute for Children Studies

“AICS USA is affiliated with African Institute for Children Studies (AICS Kenya), which serves as the organization's operational headquarters. While programs are developed and implemented primarily through the Kenya office, AICS USA provides oversight, fundraising, and governance support to ensure alignment with U.S. nonprofit compliance standards. To maintain consistency between entities, AICS USA and AICS Kenya operate under a shared mission, respective roles, financial and programmatic accountability structures, and governance coordination mechanisms. AICS Kenya operates under standardized policies for financial management, safeguarding, child protection, and program implementation. These policies are developed collaboratively and approved by both AICS Kenya and AICS USA. All programs are delivered under a unified strategic framework-including flagship initiatives like Malnutrition-Free Villages, Child Labor-Free Villages, and Child Online Safety-ensuring consistency in vision and execution. To further ensure alignment: AICS USA receives quarterly narrative and financial reports from AICS Kenya; Projects are implemented through separate bank accounts and subject to independent audits; Regular board-level coordination meetings are held; The Executive Director (based in Kenya) provides regular updates to the U.S. board. These procedures ensure that the affiliate's operations remain consistent with AICS USA's exempt purposes and comply with all necessary oversight requirements.”

“The process for reviewing Form 990 at AICS involves multiple levels of oversight to ensure accuracy, transparency, and accountability. Once the draft Form 990 is prepared by the organization's accounting team, it is first reviewed internally by the Executive Director and the senior finance staff to verify the correctness of programmatic and financial disclosures. The draft is then shared with members of the AICS USA Board of Directors prior to submission. Board members are given adequate time to review the document and raise any questions or request clarifications. The designated finance officer presents a summary of key items in the Form 990, including compensation disclosures, program accomplishments, and financial summaries, during a scheduled board meeting or via email circulation. Any feedback from board members is incorporated into the final version before submission to the IRS. This process ensures that the governing body is fully informed and involved in the review of the Form 990.”

“The compensation for the Executive Director was reviewed and approved by the AICS USA Board of Directors using a documented process that included: (1) review of comparable compensation data for similar roles in nonprofit organizations operating internationally; (2) performance evaluation; and (3) board discussion and approval, with the decision recorded in official meeting minutes. This process was last undertaken for the Executive Director position in 2025. No other officers received compensation requiring this review process during the reporting year.”

“AICS makes its governing documents, conflict of interest policy, and financial statements available to the public upon request. Interested individuals may request these documents by contacting the organization through its official email or mailing address as listed on the AICS website. In addition, key information about the organization's governance, mission, and program activities is publicly available at www.institutechildstudies.org. Financial highlights are also shared in annual reports and donor updates distributed both digitally and in print.”

“The services which included consultancy services in monitoring and evaluation, data collection, analysis and verification took place in Kenya.”