Ten Strands
Public records show a registered, tax-exempt organization in good standing.
What it says it does
We strengthen the partnerships, strategies, and systems that advance environmental literacy, ensuring all California TK12 students thrive in sustainable, resilient schools and engage in meaningful environmental learning experiences, both in and beyond the classroom.
- Income
- $4.4 million
- Spending
- $3.8 million
- Spent on programs
- 83%
- Reserves
- 10.1 months of spending
- Largest source of income
- government grants, 57%
- Employees
- 17
- Volunteers
- 12
- Highest pay
- $248,905, ceo
Source: Form 990 for the year ending June 30, 2025, filed with the Internal Revenue Service. Rating method 2026.2. How we rate
Financial health
Strong: 93 out of 100. Higher than 74% of charities in its peer group (environment, $1m to $10m).
Reserves
28 of 35Spendable reserves would cover 10.1 months of spending.
Debt
20 of 20It owes 9% of what it owns.
Living within its means
15 of 15Income exceeded spending by 14% of income.
Income trend
15 of 15Income rose 11% on the year before.
Spending floor
15 of 1583% of spending went to programs and raising each dollar of donations cost 9 cents.
Source: Form 990 for the year ending June 30, 2025, filed with the Internal Revenue Service. Rating method 2026.2. How we rate
Governance
Strong: 100 out of 100. Higher than 60% of charities in its peer group (environment, $1m to $10m).
Independent board
25 of 2512 of 12 voting board members are independent.
Conflict of interest policy
15 of 15Has a written conflict of interest policy.
Whistleblower policy
8 of 8Has a written whistleblower policy.
Record keeping policy
7 of 7Has a written policy on keeping and destroying records.
Board minutes
5 of 5Keeps minutes of board meetings.
Board sees the tax return
10 of 10Gave the board a copy of this return before filing it.
Pay set independently
5 of 5Sets its chief executive's pay through independent review and comparison.
Independent check of accounts
15 of 15Its accounts were audited by an independent accountant.
No reported misuse
10 of 10Reports no diversion of assets, excess benefits or loans to insiders.
Source: Form 990 for the year ending June 30, 2025, filed with the Internal Revenue Service. Rating method 2026.2. How we rate
Impact evidence
Describes programs. Its tax return describes what it does but we have found no measurable results in it.
Programs described in its return (4)
- $1.5 million spent. Climate Change and Environmental Justice Program (CCEJP), now known as Seeds to Solutions: Ten Strands served as the lead consultant for the Climate Change and Environmental Justice Program (CCEJP), now known as Seeds to Solutions, a statewide initiative to develop standards-based K12 instructional resources focused on climate change and environmental justice. The program is led by the San Mateo County Office of Education in partnership with the California Department of Education. Between FY23 and FY25, Ten Strands coordinated community-based writing teams and subject matter experts to complete development of the curriculum. With the publication of the materials, Ten Strands is now supporting the statewide rollout of Seeds to Solutions to ensure the resources reach educators and students across California. Found at: https://seedstosolutions.org/
- $745,313 spent. Youth engagement: Ten Strands advanced youth engagement through the California Youth Climate Policy Leadership Program (CYCP) and a student internship program. During FY25, more than forty high school students from nine regions across California participated in CYCP, receiving training and mentorship to design and lead local civic engagement and leadership projects related to climate literacy and school sustainability. Ten Strands also provided internship opportunities for high school and college students to gain hands-on experience supporting research, communications, and policy education work, strengthening a statewide youth leadership pipeline. Partners in this work include Sierra Club California and UndauntedK12. Found at: https://tenstrands.org/work/youth-engagement/Technical assistance services: Ten Strands provided targeted technical assistance to school districts and county offices of education to support planning and implementation of whole-school sustainability strategies, including environmental and climate literacy, youth leadership, and sustainable practices. These services helped education leaders overcome implementation barriers, scale promising practices, and build long-term capacity. Found at: https://tenstrands.org/work/technical-assistance-services/Public engagement and communications: Ten Strands conducted statewide communications and outreach to advance public understanding of environmental and climate literacy, including publication of a twice-monthly newsletter, feature articles, annual reporting, website management, and engagement through social media and partner events. Newsletters at: https://tenstrands.org/category/newsletters/
- $472,584 spent. Outdoor learning initiatives: Ten Strands advanced three interconnected initiatives related to outdoor learning, with a primary focus on the California Campaign for Outdoor Learning. Through this campaign, Ten Strands convened leaders across education, health, research, and community organizations to establish a shared vision that every child in California should have regular opportunities to learn outdoors. Activities included cross-sector convenings, research and evaluation coordination, and development of exemplars to support integration of outdoor learning into everyday schooling. Ten Strands, in partnership with Green Schoolyards America, is a founding partner of and continues to support the California Schoolyard Forest System, which seeks to ensure that all public school grounds achieve at least 30 percent tree canopy cover to protect students from extreme heat and the impacts of climate change. In addition, Ten Strands is a member of the statewide California School Garden Coalition and supports advocacy efforts to ensure that every school has a garden, further supporting equitable access to outdoor learning and environmental literacy. Found at: https://tenstrands.org/work/outdoor-learning-initiatives/Sustainable and climate-ready schools: Ten Strands advanced work to support sustainable and climate-ready schools through coalition leadership, professional learning, and systems support. In partnership with UndauntedK12 and the California Collaborative for Educational Excellence, Ten Strands launched a professional learning series for district and county leaders focused on climate adaptation strategies, including extreme heat mitigation, energy resilience, stormwater management, and emergency planning. This work culminated in the release of a resilience and adaptation toolkit and a recommendations brief to support climate-ready planning statewide. Ten Strands also contributed to coalition efforts supporting implementation of Californias Proposition 2 school facilities bond by informing guidance that integrates climate readiness, energy efficiency, and student health into school facility upgrades. Found at: https://www.climatereadyschoolscoalition.org/Data initiative for environmental and climate action in Californias TK12 schools: Ten Strands advanced a statewide, data-driven initiative to support county and district leaders in assessing and strengthening whole-school sustainability across curriculum, campus, community, and culture. During FY25, the initiative released a first-of-its-kind baseline assessment drawing on data from approximately 1,000 school districts and all 58 county offices of education, establishing a historic statewide picture of environmental literacy and climate action in California schools. Contributing partners include the California Environmental Literacy Initiative (CAELI), UndauntedK12, UC Berkeleys Master of Computational Social Science program, UC Berkeley Computing, Data Science, and Society, and the University of Washington eScience Institute. Found at: https://tenstrands.org/work/data-initiative/
- $384,937 spent. California Environmental Literacy Initiative (CAELI): For the tenth year, Ten Strands led and managed the California Environmental Literacy Initiative (CAELI), a statewide collective action network focused on advancing environmental literacy across Californias education system. During the fiscal year, Ten Strands supported network coordination, leadership development, and cross-sector collaboration among educators, administrators, and community partners to continue to implement recommendations from Californias 2015 Blueprint for Environmental Literacy. These efforts strengthened systems of support enabling students to engage in local, standards- and environment-based learning experiences statewide. CAELIs website can be found at: https://ca-eli.org/
Source: Form 990 for the year ending June 30, 2025, filed with the Internal Revenue Service. Rating method 2026.2. How we rate
Legitimacy checks
Is it registered with the IRS? Passed.
Listed in the IRS master file of tax-exempt organizations as a 501(c)(3) charitable organization.
Source: Exempt Organizations Business Master File, Internal Revenue Service, file dated October 13, 2026.
Has the IRS revoked its tax-exempt status? Passed.
Not on the IRS automatic revocation list.
Source: Automatic revocation of exemption list, Internal Revenue Service, file dated October 13, 2026.
Are donations tax-deductible? Passed.
On the IRS list of organizations eligible to receive tax-deductible contributions.
Source: Publication 78 data: organizations eligible for tax-deductible contributions, Internal Revenue Service, file dated October 13, 2026.
Is it keeping up with its IRS filings? Passed.
Most recent return on file covers the year ending June 2025.
Source: Exempt Organizations Business Master File, Internal Revenue Service, file dated October 13, 2026.
How long has it been tax-exempt? Passed.
Recognized by the IRS since February 2011.
Source: Exempt Organizations Business Master File, Internal Revenue Service, file dated October 13, 2026.
Is it in good standing with state regulators? Passed.
Not on California's list of charities barred from soliciting. Other states are not yet checked.
Source: May Not Operate or Solicit for Charitable Purposes list, California Attorney General, Registry of Charities and Fundraisers, file dated October 21, 2026.
Ratings and checks are our reading of public records, using the published method. They are not a statement about anyone's honesty. If you work for this organization, you can send corrections or results, confirm you want gifts through Veridonate, or ask to be removed from giving.