PLATINUM2024

Mentes Puertorriqueñas en Acción, Inc.

Haz de tu proyecto de vida, un proyecto de país.

aka DMPA Corp.   |   San Juan, PR   |  http://www.mentespuertorriquenas.org

Mission

Develop a community of youth leadership engaged in civic affairs that make Puerto Rico their life's project.

Ruling year info

2017

Executive Director

Carolina Mejias Rivera

Main address

PO BOX 30518

San Juan, PR 00929 USA

Show more contact info

EIN

66-0728293

NTEE code info

Leadership Development (W70)

IRS filing requirement

This organization is required to file an IRS Form 990 or 990-EZ.

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Communication

Blog

Programs and results

What we aim to solve

SOURCE: Self-reported by organization

Puerto Rico lacks a culture of strong civic engagement and has a gap of leadership opportunities. This translates into: 24.34% youth between 16 and 25 are unemployed, 28.6% of young adults 25 to 34 years never completed a college degree, 52.4% of young adults between 18 and 24 years of age live below the poverty rate.

Our programs

SOURCE: Self-reported by organization

What are the organization's current programs, how do they measure success, and who do the programs serve?

PARACa

A summer program for university students and alumni recognized for their academic performance, leadership and sense of responsibility with Puerto Rico. The experience consists on an internship with different organizations lasting 8 weeks.

Population(s) Served
Students

Our main brands for our events are:
Café Conciencia- a series of round table conversations about important topics for our generation. We aim to lead the public discourse on these issues.
Creando Enlaces- A series of networking events where youth can meet professionals in their field of interest.

Population(s) Served
Adults

A Civic Action Laboratory for our members and collaborators to design and implement solutions to social problems. Each group consists of a group of people interested in working in a specific subject in which they propose and implement their work plans to achieve the set goals. MPA provides mentorship and facilitates the creation of these working groups. Some current projects are #ElectionsLab2020, #EnvironmentalLab, #GbVLab and #LaborSceneLab.

Population(s) Served
Adults
Young adults

Where we work

Our results

SOURCE: Self-reported by organization

How does this organization measure their results? It's a hard question but an important one.

Number of hours of training

This metric is no longer tracked.
Totals By Year
Population(s) Served

Students

Related Program

PARACa

Type of Metric

Output - describing our activities and reach

Direction of Success

Increasing

Context Notes

Total accumulated contact hours for all participants. The program consists of nine 8-hour sessions and two or three field visits. The program did not take place in 2015.

Number of training workshops

This metric is no longer tracked.
Totals By Year
Population(s) Served

Students

Related Program

PARACa

Type of Metric

Output - describing our activities and reach

Direction of Success

Increasing

Context Notes

PARACa modules may have anywhere between 2-6 workshops, divided up in 9 days on a weekly basis. The topics cover professional development, socio-economic issues and environmental awareness.

Number of participants engaged in programs

This metric is no longer tracked.
Totals By Year
Population(s) Served

Students

Related Program

PARACa

Type of Metric

Output - describing our activities and reach

Direction of Success

Increasing

Context Notes

Participants on a yearly basis for our summer civic engagement and leadership development program.

Number of public events held to further mission

This metric is no longer tracked.
Totals By Year
Related Program

Events

Type of Metric

Output - describing our activities and reach

Direction of Success

Increasing

Context Notes

We hold events to further the public discourse on topics that are important for young citizens. Our main brands are "Caf Conciencia" and "Creando Enlaces", though we hold other forums during the year

Number of organizational partners

This metric is no longer tracked.
Totals By Year
Type of Metric

Output - describing our activities and reach

Direction of Success

Increasing

Context Notes

At MPA, we are constantly growing alliances, be it internship centers or collaboration strategies for the operational growth of both organizations.

Number of volunteers

This metric is no longer tracked.
Totals By Year
Type of Metric

Output - describing our activities and reach

Direction of Success

Increasing

Context Notes

In 2022 after hurricane Fiona we mobilized 362 volunteers through 28 brigades in 8 municipalities, contributing 2,109 hours of work.

Total number of volunteer hours contributed to the organization

This metric is no longer tracked.
Totals By Year
Related Program

PARACa

Type of Metric

Input - describing resources we use

Direction of Success

Increasing

Our Sustainable Development Goals

SOURCE: Self-reported by organization

Learn more about Sustainable Development Goals.

Goals & Strategy

SOURCE: Self-reported by organization

Learn about the organization's key goals, strategies, capabilities, and progress.

Charting impact

Four powerful questions that require reflection about what really matters - results.

Our goals are to increase the base of social agents through volunteering for social causes, as well as young college graduates who seek employment on social, environmental or economic jobs. We're also looking to build a network of social agents who help each other in their projects, and increase each other's value in the sector.

Our programs create spaces for youth to develop as leaders and engage in social causes while they develop professionally. We do this through: College transition mentorship interactions, networking events, volunteer events at local communities, internship pairing, raising awareness curriculum and professional development workshops.

We count with office space, an average annual base of 20 volunteers, staff trained on Social Entrepreneurship, members with expertise in legal, accounting, administrative, communications and social issues, a network of over 40 allies.

We have accomplished a 71% retention rate at summer internships, 100% college attendance for our high school students, over 2,000 volunteer hours in phase 1 of our hurricane relief efforts. For the next phase, we're looking to increase the opportunities to do volunteer work, and work with communities such that high school and college students can engage long term in community reconstruction after Hurricane María.

How we listen

SOURCE: Self-reported by organization

Seeking feedback from people served makes programs more responsive and effective. Here’s how this organization is listening.

done We demonstrated a willingness to learn more by reviewing resources about feedback practice.
done We shared information about our current feedback practices.
  • How is your organization using feedback from the people you serve?

    To identify and remedy poor client service experiences, To identify bright spots and enhance positive service experiences, To make fundamental changes to our programs and/or operations, To inform the development of new programs/projects, To identify where we are less inclusive or equitable across demographic groups, To strengthen relationships with the people we serve, To understand people's needs and how we can help them achieve their goals

  • Which of the following feedback practices does your organization routinely carry out?

    We collect feedback from the people we serve at least annually, We take steps to get feedback from marginalized or under-represented people, We aim to collect feedback from as many people we serve as possible, We take steps to ensure people feel comfortable being honest with us, We look for patterns in feedback based on demographics (e.g., race, age, gender, etc.), We look for patterns in feedback based on people’s interactions with us (e.g., site, frequency of service, etc.), We engage the people who provide feedback in looking for ways we can improve in response, We act on the feedback we receive, We tell the people who gave us feedback how we acted on their feedback, We ask the people who gave us feedback how well they think we responded

  • What challenges does the organization face when collecting feedback?

    The people we serve tell us they find data collection burdensome, It is difficult to find the ongoing funding to support feedback collection

Financials

Mentes Puertorriqueñas en Acción, Inc.
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Operations

The people, governance practices, and partners that make the organization tick.

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Connect with nonprofit leaders

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lock

Connect with nonprofit leaders

Subscribe

Build relationships with key people who manage and lead nonprofit organizations with GuideStar Pro. Try a low commitment monthly plan today.

  • Analyze a variety of pre-calculated financial metrics
  • Access beautifully interactive analysis and comparison tools
  • Compare nonprofit financials to similar organizations

Want to see how you can enhance your nonprofit research and unlock more insights? Learn More about GuideStar Pro.

Mentes Puertorriqueñas en Acción, Inc.

Board of directors
as of 08/26/2024
SOURCE: Self-reported by organization
Board chair

Daniel Matos

Glenisse Pagan

Julio Prieto

René Vargas

Zaira Vallenilla

Daniel Matos

Brayan Rosa

Adriana Rivera

Ismael Vélez

Laura Alejandra Laura Alejandra Mattei

Natacha Solá

Board leadership practices

SOURCE: Self-reported by organization

GuideStar worked with BoardSource, the national leader in nonprofit board leadership and governance, to create this section.

  • Board orientation and education
    Does the board conduct a formal orientation for new board members and require all board members to sign a written agreement regarding their roles, responsibilities, and expectations? Yes
  • CEO oversight
    Has the board conducted a formal, written assessment of the chief executive within the past year ? Yes
  • Ethics and transparency
    Have the board and senior staff reviewed the conflict-of-interest policy and completed and signed disclosure statements in the past year? Yes
  • Board composition
    Does the board ensure an inclusive board member recruitment process that results in diversity of thought and leadership? Yes
  • Board performance
    Has the board conducted a formal, written self-assessment of its performance within the past three years? Yes

Organizational demographics

SOURCE: Self-reported; last updated 2/17/2023

Who works and leads organizations that serve our diverse communities? Candid partnered with CHANGE Philanthropy on this demographic section.

Leadership

The organization's leader identifies as:

Race & ethnicity
Hispanic/Latino/Latina/Latinx
Gender identity
Female, Not transgender

Race & ethnicity

Gender identity

Transgender Identity

Sexual orientation

Disability

We do not display disability information for organizations with fewer than 15 staff.

Equity strategies

Last updated: 02/17/2023

GuideStar partnered with Equity in the Center - an organization that works to shift mindsets, practices, and systems to increase racial equity - to create this section. Learn more

Data
  • We ask team members to identify racial disparities in their programs and / or portfolios.
  • We disaggregate data to adjust programming goals to keep pace with changing needs of the communities we support.
  • We employ non-traditional ways of gathering feedback on programs and trainings, which may include interviews, roundtables, and external reviews with/by community stakeholders.
  • We disaggregate data by demographics, including race, in every policy and program measured.
Policies and processes
  • We use a vetting process to identify vendors and partners that share our commitment to race equity.
  • We have a promotion process that anticipates and mitigates implicit and explicit biases about people of color serving in leadership positions.
  • We seek individuals from various race backgrounds for board and executive director/CEO positions within our organization.
  • We have community representation at the board level, either on the board itself or through a community advisory board.
  • We help senior leadership understand how to be inclusive leaders with learning approaches that emphasize reflection, iteration, and adaptability.
  • We engage everyone, from the board to staff levels of the organization, in race equity work and ensure that individuals understand their roles in creating culture such that one’s race identity has no influence on how they fare within the organization.