Partnership for Economic Policy Inc
Public records show a registered, tax-exempt organization in good standing.
What it says it does
PEP'S CORE MISSION IS TO PROVIDE TRAINING AND SUPPORT TO DEVELOPING COUNTRY RESEARCHERS TO PRODUCE RELIABLE SCIENTIFIC EVIDENCE AND INFORM RELEVANT SCIENTIFIC DEBATES ABOUT ECONOMIC POLICY, POVERTY, GENDER, AND SUSTAINABLE DEVELOPMENT.
- Income
- $5.0 million
- Spending
- $4.9 million
- Spent on programs
- 76%
- Reserves
- 0.9 months of spending
- Largest source of income
- donations and private grants, 71%
- Employees
- 0
- Volunteers
- 0
- Highest pay
- $270,950, executive director
Source: Form 990 for the year ending December 31, 2024, filed with the Internal Revenue Service. Rating method 2026.2. How we rate
Financial health
Fair: 51 out of 100. Higher than 18% of charities in its peer group (public benefit, $1m to $10m).
Reserves
4 of 35Spendable reserves would cover 0.9 months of spending.
Debt
2 of 20It owes 88% of what it owns.
Living within its means
15 of 15Income exceeded spending by 3% of income.
Income trend
15 of 15Income rose 56% on the year before.
Spending floor
15 of 1576% of spending went to programs and raising each dollar of donations cost 0 cents.
Source: Form 990 for the year ending December 31, 2024, filed with the Internal Revenue Service. Rating method 2026.2. How we rate
Governance
Strong: 100 out of 100. Higher than 70% of charities in its peer group (public benefit, $1m to $10m).
Independent board
25 of 257 of 7 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 December 31, 2024, 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 (1)
- $3.7 million spent. PEP 2024 PROGRAM ACCOMPLISHMENTS - IN LINE WITH PEP'S COMMITMENT TO PROMOTING LOCAL RESEARCH LEADERSHIP IN THE GLOBAL SOUTH, WE COMPLETED SEVERAL MAJOR RESEARCH PROGRAMS THIS YEAR, FOCUSING ON VARIOUS SUBJECTS. THESE INCLUDED FACILITATING WOMEN'S ECONOMIC EMPOWERMENT; ANSWERING THE CRITICAL QUESTION OF FINANCING GREEN ENERGY TRANSITION IN THE GLOBAL SOUTH; UNDERSTANDING THE IMPACT OF THE RUSSIA-UKRAINE WAR ON AFRICAN ECONOMIES, ESPECIALLY WOMEN; CREATING MEANINGFUL EMPLOYMENT FOR YOUTH IN AFRICA; AND BUILDING CAPACITY TO CONDUCT HIGH QUALITY IMPACT EVALUATIONS.WE ALSO EXPLORED TWO NEW AREAS OF RESEARCH IN THE YEAR. FIRST, PEP AIMED TO BUILD ITS THOUGHT LEADERSHIP IN THE EMERGING AREA OF HOW ARTIFICIAL INTELLIGENCE IS AFFECTING JOBS GLOBALLY WITH A FOCUS ON DEVELOPING NATIONS, WHICH WAS ONE OF THE THEMES OF OUR ANNUAL POLICY CONFERENCE ORGANIZED IN JUNE 2024 PHYSICALLY IN NAIROBI. THE CONFERENCE ALSO FEATURED A DIALOGUE FROM A RESEARCH PROGRAM REVIEWING POLICIES TO CREATE DIGNIFIED AND FULFILLING WORK FOR YOUNG MEN AND WOMEN ACROSS THE AFRICAN CONTINENT, IN PARTNERSHIP WITH THE MASTERCARD FOUNDATION. SECOND, LOCAL PEP RESEARCHERS IN PAKISTAN AND SOUTH AFRICA, SUPPORTED BY THE CENTRE, EXPLORED THE CRUCIAL ROLE OF LOCAL AND FOREIGN INVESTMENT, INCLUDING THAT BY MULTILATERAL DEVELOPMENT BANKS (MDBS), IN PARTICULAR, IN FINANCING GREEN ENERGY TRANSITION IN THE GLOBAL SOUTH.PEP ALSO CONTINUED TO FOCUS ITS RESEARCH ON EMPOWERING WOMEN IN SOUTHERN COUNTRIES WITH SUPPORT FROM FUNDERS LIKE THE HEWLETT FOUNDATION AND CANADA'S INTERNATIONAL DEVELOPMENT RESEARCH CENTRE (IDRC). A RECENTLY CONCLUDED PROGRAM EXPLORED MACROECONOMIC POLICIES TO PROMOTE GENDER EQUALITY IN AFRICA, WHILE ANOTHER STUDIED HOW SOFT SKILLS TRAINING IN KENYA COULD BOOST WOMEN'S EMPLOYMENT IN THE FORMAL ECONOMY. AS PART OF THE ONGOING RESEARCH ON HOW THE RUSSIA-UKRAINE WAR IMPACTED AFRICAN ECONOMIES, RESEARCHERS ANALYSED HOW THE WAR AFFECTED WOMEN IN THE LABOUR MARKET. FURTHER, WITH THE HEWLETT FOUNDATION'S SUPPORT, LOCAL RESEARCHERS CONCLUDED TWO RESEARCH PROGRAMS ON STRENGTHENING LOCAL CAPACITY TO CONDUCT HIGH-QUALITY IMPACT EVALUATIONS IN FIVE AFRICAN COUNTRIES.TO BUILD THE CAPACITY OF YOUNG RESEARCHERS, PEP CONTINUED TO OFFER ITS ONLINE TRAINING IN DEVELOPMENT ECONOMICS IN PARTNERSHIP WITH THE UNIVERSITY OF FLORENCE AND OFFERED A NEW COURSE IN LEVERAGING MONITORING, EVALUATION, AND LEARNING (MEL) TOOLS TO LKMP RESEARCHERS. IMPORTANTLY, IT DEVELOPED AND LAUNCHED A SELF-PACED, INTERACTIVE, BILINGUAL ONLINE COURSE TO STRENGTHEN RESEARCHERS' CAPACITY TO INTEGRATE GENDER EQUALITY AND INCLUSION (GEI) PRINCIPLES IN THEIR RESEARCH, SUPPORTED BY IDRC. PEP ALSO SUPPORTED MULTIPLE SCHOLARSHIPS IN 2024, INCLUDING THE AFRICA FELLOWS IN EDUCATION PROGRAM (AFEP), WHICH ADMITTED 10 NEW FELLOWS; A FELLOWSHIP WITH THE CENTRE FOR EFFECTIVE GLOBAL ACTION (CEGA), AND THE STRUCTURAL TRANSFORMATION OF AFRICAN AGRICULTURE AND RURAL SPACES (STARS) FELLOWS PROGRAM IN COLLABORATION WITH CORNELL UNIVERSITY.AS PART OF ITS ONGOING PROGRAMS, LOCAL PEP RESEARCHERS ARE EXPLORING THE CHALLENGES IN IMPLEMENTING THE UPTAKE OF RENEWABLE ENERGY BY RURAL MICRO, SMALL AND MEDIUM-SIZED ENTERPRISES (MSMES) FOR MODERNIZING AGRICULTURE IN SUB-SAHARAN AFRICA AND SOUTH-EAST ASIA, SUPPORTED BY IDRC. LOCAL RESEARCHERS ARE ALSO BUILDING THE CAPACITY OF CANADIAN SMALL ORGANIZATIONS (SMOS) AND THEIR COUNTRY-LEVEL PARTNERS IN CONDUCTING EFFECTIVE MONITORING AND EVALUATION TO INFORM DECISION-MAKING, SUPPORTED BY GLOBAL AFFAIRS CANADA. PEP RESEARCHERS ARE ANALYSING THE CHALLENGE OF ACCESS TO EQUITABLE HEALTH CARE IN ETHIOPIA, SUPPORTED BY THE FUND FOR INNOVATION IN DEVELOPMENT, AND WILL COMPLETE THE PROGRAM ON REVIEW OF POLICIES CREATING DECENT EMPLOYMENT FOR YOUTH IN 10 AFRICAN COUNTRIES IN EARLY 2025.PEP CONTINUES TO WORK WITH EXISTING PARTNERS AND TO BUILD COLLABORATION FOR CAPACITY BUILDING IN RESEARCH AND POLICY ENGAGEMENT IN THE GLOBAL SOUTH. FURTHER, PEP WELCOMED ITS COHORT OF SIX NEW RESEARCH FELLOWS FROM THE GLOBAL SOUTH THIS YEAR AND CONTINUED TO PARTICIPATE IN MULTIPLE INTERNATIONAL FORA TO STRENGTHEN THE VOICE OF SOUTHERN RESEARCHERS IN DEVELOPMENT DEBATES. IN PARTICULAR, PEP INCREASED ITS EFFORTS AT MAKING CRITICAL RESEARCH ACCESSIBLE TO ITS GLOBAL AUDIENCE THROUGH A NEW PEP BLOG AND THE EXECUTIVE DIRECTOR'S NEWSLETTER SOUTHERN LENS ON DEVELOPMENT.NEW RESEARCH INITIATIVES GET UNDERWAY: PROJECT ON INCLUSIVE AND SUSTAINABLE PROCUREMENT COOKING MODELS TO SUPPORT HOME-GROWN SCHOOL FEEDING IN ETHIOPIA, SUPPORTED BY IDRC. SUPPORT OF IN-COUNTRY RESEARCH CENTRES AND THEIR POLICY COUNTERPARTS IN EAST AND WEST AFRICA IN EVIDENCE INFORMED POLICY MAKING (EIPM), SUPPORTED BY THE HEWLETT FOUNDATION. SUPPORT OF EXPANDING WOMEN'S ECONOMIC EMPOWERMENT IN CAMEROON, BURKINA FASO, AND TANZANIA, SUPPORTED BY THE HEWLETT FOUNDATION. SUPPORT TO STRENGTHEN ORGANIZATIONAL EFFECTIVENESS BY THE HEWLETT FOUNDATION.
Source: Form 990 for the year ending December 31, 2024, 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 December 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 September 2014.
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.
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