Amizade, Ltd.
Global service and learning for a more just and joyful world
Amizade, Ltd.
EIN: 36-3974227
Mission
Amizade inspires empathy, catalyzes social action, and links diverse communities through Fair Trade Learning.
Notes from the nonprofit
We believe in building a more relevant, collaborative, and responsible classroom. Amizade is the product of hundreds of service-learning pioneers who have engaged in over two decades of programmatic and academic development; it is the result of never-ending efforts by communities around the world to welcome others; and it is an ongoing global movement by over 27,000 alums, and hundreds of thousands of others, to create a more joyful and just world. Amizade collaborates with universities, high schools, community groups, and companies to design and manage safe, empowering global service-learning and volunteer programs; works closely with communities all over the world to develop and manage sustainable, empowering initiatives that create cross-cultural bonds and global citizens; and acts as a catalyst for improvement in international education, developing innovative curriculum and sector changing ideals like Fair Trade Learning, and sharing best practices with others through consulting.
Ruling year
1995
Executive Director
Brandon Blache-Cohen
Main address
2211 Lesnett Rd. #12539
Pittsburgh, PA 15241 USA
EIN
36-3974227
Arts exchange
Environmental justice
Natural resources
Community improvement
Basic and emergency aid
Population served
Adolescents
Adults
Students
NTEE code
International Cultural Exchange (Q21)
Community, Neighborhood Development, Improvement (S20)
IRS subsection
501(c)(3) Public Charity
IRS filing requirement
This organization is required to file an IRS Form 990 or 990-EZ.
Tax forms
Communication
Programs and results
Reports and documents
Download annual reportsWhat we aim to solve
Every year hundreds of thousands of American youth travel the world to participate in study and volunteer abroad programs. There are many different types of these programs – each offering their own level of community engagement and voice. Many of these programs operate by focusing solely on the participant experience and rarely consider the important value and sacrifice of the communities they work in. Still others engage community leaders and organizations they operate in, but still fail to recognize the importance and power of a mutual learning partnership, based on dialogue, transparency and respect. We believe in building a more relevant, collaborative, and responsible classroom that addresses these issues through Fair Trade Learning.
Our programs
What are the organization's current programs, how do they measure success, and who do the programs serve?
Fair Trade Learning Programs
Modeled after Amizade's partnership in Jamaica, Fair Trade Learning recognizes that the individuals and communities that host students and volunteers are uniquely impacted by visitors and should be offered fair working conditions and compensation, hold significant voice in the orchestration of programming, and be offered proper professional development opportunities.
Pioneered by Amizade, the Fair Trade Learning framework commits volunteer sending organizations to transparency, community-driven service, commitment and sustainability, deliberate diversity, intercultural contact, community preparation, local sourcing, reciprocity, and reflection. Each ideal is broken into specific standards that have been vetted by community members, staff members across several VSOs, and a broad coalition of academics.
Fair Trade Learning programs take place in more than 20 communities around the world, where Amizade maintains long-term partnerships.
Equity in Global Education Coalition
The Equity in Global Education Coalition aims to cultivate globally engaged and civically active youth throughout Pittsburgh through a city-wide movement that will
expose a groundswell of teenagers to international, reflective, and experiential global
experiences. This Coalition enables underrepresented youth of low socioeconomic status to gain access to global educational and volunteer opportunities previously denied them due to the growing disparities in education between the wealthy and the poor.
Projects include the Hill District Global Engagement Coalition, which saw 30 young people and their mentors to travel to Ghana, Jamaica, and Trinidad for immersive global service-learning, and Building Community Bridges, which breaks down barriers through a series of workshops with young adults from urban and rural communities and provides them with a safe space to explore issues of of identity, power, and privilege together.
Virtual Service Learning
Amizade virtual global engagements translate in-person transformative elements, such as reflective practice, into a digital space. In a synchronous environment, participants explore culture and global issues by engaging with Amizade community partners. They deepen their knowledge of global issues by participating in service with community partners or in their home. Throughout the program, participants are guided through reflective practice activities to fully harness the power of the experience as it relates to empathy and civic engagement.
Just like our Fair Trade Learning programs, these programs take many forms, can be many different lengths, and serve many different types of participants.
Consulting
Amizade recognizes that we alone cannot meet our bold mission. As such, we’ve chosen to be as open-source of an organization as possible. It’s why we’ve catalyzed, but not owned, such sector changing concepts as Fair Trade Learning and The Global Switchboard. We offer our skills and time as consultants to other mission-driven organizations so that our innovative ideas and expertise in global service-learning, solidarity building, experiential education, and socially active and responsible educational travel can be shared far and wide.
Over the last two decades, Amizade has led hundreds of workshops, trainings, and retreats. Amizade can assist with many elements of planning for new global initiatives, mission alignment, ethical partnership integration, and global service-learning curriculum development.
Where we work
External reviews
Videos
Goals & Strategy
Learn about the organization's key goals, strategies, capabilities, and progress.
Charting impact
Four powerful questions that require reflection about what really matters - results.
What is the organization aiming to accomplish?
Amizade inspires empathy, catalyzes social action, and links diverse communities through Fair Trade Learning.
What are the organization's key strategies for making this happen?
Amizade's strategies to achieve our mission include: Improving the consistency and quality of our Fair Trade Learning curriculum implementation, Piloting opportunities and training for participants and community members to cultivate social action, Improving alumni post-program engagement, and facilitating the linking of diverse and unlikely networks.
What are the organization's capabilities for doing this?
Amizade has been working on global education and connecting communities since 1994 and, in the past year, are working to more specifically target our new strategic goals.
What have they accomplished so far and what's next?
This new strategic plan was just launched in the fall of 2017. Measurable results and progress are now being monitored and analyzed.
Financials
Financial documents
Download audited financialsRevenue vs. expenses: breakdown
Liquidity in 2020 info
6.62
Months of cash in 2020 info
5.7
Fringe rate in 2020 info
8%
Funding sources info
Assets & liabilities info
Amizade, Ltd.
Revenue & expensesFiscal Year: Sep 01 - Aug 31
SOURCE: IRS Form 990
Amizade, Ltd.
Balance sheetFiscal Year: Sep 01 - Aug 31
SOURCE: IRS Form 990
The balance sheet gives a snapshot of the financial health of an organization at a particular point in time. An organization's total assets should generally exceed its total liabilities, or it cannot survive long, but the types of assets and liabilities must also be considered. For instance, an organization's current assets (cash, receivables, securities, etc.) should be sufficient to cover its current liabilities (payables, deferred revenue, current year loan, and note payments). Otherwise, the organization may face solvency problems. On the other hand, an organization whose cash and equivalents greatly exceed its current liabilities might not be putting its money to best use.
Fiscal Year: Sep 01 - Aug 31
SOURCE: IRS Form 990
This snapshot of Amizade, Ltd.’s financial trends applies Nonprofit Finance Fund® analysis to data hosted by GuideStar. While it highlights the data that matter most, remember that context is key – numbers only tell part of any story.
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Business model indicators
| Profitability info | 2015 | 2016 | 2017 | 2019 | 2020 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Unrestricted surplus (deficit) before depreciation | $30,994 | -$49,340 | $83,674 | $133,790 | -$77,727 |
| As % of expenses | 2.2% | -3.5% | 4.9% | 6.8% | -3.6% |
| Unrestricted surplus (deficit) after depreciation | $23,255 | -$52,840 | $81,558 | $133,460 | -$77,805 |
| As % of expenses | 1.6% | -3.7% | 4.7% | 6.8% | -3.6% |
| Revenue composition info | |||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Total revenue (unrestricted & restricted) | $1,472,742 | $1,350,046 | $1,803,168 | $2,284,817 | $2,051,894 |
| Total revenue, % change over prior year | 6.7% | -8.3% | 33.6% | 0.0% | -10.2% |
| Program services revenue | 70.8% | 82.4% | 79.0% | 66.3% | 88.4% |
| Membership dues | 0.0% | 0.0% | 0.0% | 0.0% | 0.0% |
| Investment income | 0.0% | 0.0% | 0.0% | 0.0% | 0.0% |
| Government grants | 0.0% | 11.3% | 15.6% | 0.0% | 0.0% |
| All other grants and contributions | 26.7% | 1.8% | 4.2% | 33.0% | 11.6% |
| Other revenue | 2.5% | 4.5% | 1.2% | 0.7% | 0.0% |
| Expense composition info | |||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Total expenses before depreciation | $1,439,106 | $1,408,028 | $1,717,494 | $1,955,933 | $2,182,268 |
| Total expenses, % change over prior year | 29.7% | -2.2% | 22.0% | 0.0% | 11.6% |
| Personnel | 23.1% | 17.4% | 18.2% | 20.5% | 22.1% |
| Professional fees | 0.4% | 1.9% | 0.7% | 0.5% | 0.5% |
| Occupancy | 2.5% | 1.9% | 1.0% | 1.1% | 1.0% |
| Interest | 0.0% | 0.0% | 0.0% | 0.0% | 0.0% |
| Pass-through | 0.0% | 0.0% | 0.0% | 0.0% | 0.0% |
| All other expenses | 74.1% | 78.8% | 80.1% | 77.9% | 76.3% |
| Full cost components (estimated) info | 2015 | 2016 | 2017 | 2019 | 2020 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Total expenses (after depreciation) | $1,446,845 | $1,411,528 | $1,719,610 | $1,956,263 | $2,182,346 |
| One month of savings | $119,926 | $117,336 | $143,125 | $162,994 | $181,856 |
| Debt principal payment | $0 | $0 | $0 | $0 | $0 |
| Fixed asset additions | $0 | $0 | $0 | $0 | $2,484 |
| Total full costs (estimated) | $1,566,771 | $1,528,864 | $1,862,735 | $2,119,257 | $2,366,686 |
Capital structure indicators
| Liquidity info | 2015 | 2016 | 2017 | 2019 | 2020 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Months of cash | 3.2 | 3.4 | 3.8 | 6.2 | 5.7 |
| Months of cash and investments | 3.2 | 3.4 | 3.8 | 6.2 | 5.7 |
| Months of estimated liquid unrestricted net assets | 4.3 | 4.1 | 3.9 | 4.4 | 3.5 |
| Balance sheet composition info | 2015 | 2016 | 2017 | 2019 | 2020 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Cash | $382,921 | $397,149 | $539,306 | $1,015,311 | $1,044,091 |
| Investments | $0 | $0 | $0 | $0 | $0 |
| Receivables | $214,271 | $163,120 | $168,077 | $74,688 | $0 |
| Gross land, buildings, equipment (LBE) | $44,277 | $15,718 | $15,718 | $8,718 | $11,202 |
| Accumulated depreciation (as a % of LBE) | 50.0% | 65.1% | 78.6% | 100.0% | 78.5% |
| Liabilities (as a % of assets) | 15.5% | 17.8% | 23.5% | 8.0% | 14.7% |
| Unrestricted net assets | $537,365 | $484,525 | $566,083 | $724,744 | $646,939 |
| Temporarily restricted net assets | $29,642 | $21,000 | $23,000 | $320,874 | N/A |
| Permanently restricted net assets | $0 | $0 | $0 | $0 | N/A |
| Total restricted net assets | $29,642 | $21,000 | $23,000 | $320,874 | $268,227 |
| Total net assets | $567,007 | $505,525 | $589,083 | $1,045,618 | $915,166 |
Key data checks
| Key data checks info | 2015 | 2016 | 2017 | 2019 | 2020 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Material data errors | No | No | No | No | No |
Operations
The people, governance practices, and partners that make the organization tick.
Documents
Executive Director
Brandon Blache-Cohen
Named one of “Pittsburgh’s 40 under 40” in 2012 and a “Rising Education Leader” in 2017 – Brandon has nearly 20 years of experience in the nonprofit, service-learning, and international education sectors. In his work as Executive Director of Amizade, Brandon has organized over 700 global service-learning programs, overseeing life-changing global experiences for nearly 10,000 students, and spearheading sector-changing innovations like The Global Switchboard and the concept of Fair Trade Learning.
In addition to his work with Amizade, Blache-Cohen was a US delegate to the One Young World Summit in Zurich, Switzerland in 2011, has published several articles on responsible global service-learning in peer-reviewed journals, has sat on a planning committee for the Pittsburgh Holocaust Center, and was the President of the Pennsylvania Council on International Education (PACIE).
Number of employees
Source: IRS Form 990
Amizade, Ltd.
Officers, directors, trustees, and key employeesSOURCE: IRS Form 990
Compensation data
There are no highest paid employees recorded for this organization.
Amizade, Ltd.
Board of directorsas of 02/22/2023
Board of directors data
Ronnell Perry
AfroBuenaventura Transformative Travel
Term: 2022 - 2025
Brandon Blache-Cohen
Amizade
Dan Weiss
Cody M Paris
University of Middlesex, Dubai
Julia Posteraro
The Midwife Center for Birth & Women's Health
Greg Payne
Rhiannon Tomtishen
Jorge Caraballo Cordovez
Christopher Carr
Elizabeth Fu
Rebecca Johnson
Ivi Kolasi
Dennis McCunney
Board leadership practices
GuideStar worked with BoardSource, the national leader in nonprofit board leadership and governance, to create this section.
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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? No
Organizational demographics
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
No data
Gender identity
No data
No data
Sexual orientation
No data
Disability
No data
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- Letter of Determination
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- Contractor and/or Paid Preparer data for 2020, 2019, 2017
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