Momentous Institute
Changing the Odds for Children and Families
Momentous Institute
EIN: 75-1855620
Mission
Momentous Institute, established by Salesmanship Club of Dallas in 1920, is dedicated to innovative mental health services, education, and professional training to strengthen children, families, and communities. As the only Dallas nonprofit offering mental health services and operating an elementary school, Momentous strives to build a world of emotionally thriving people, reaching their full potential.
Notes from the nonprofit
In regard to Board diversity, Momentous Institute is owned by Salesmanship Club of Dallas, a 98-year-old non-profit with more than 600 members from the North Texas business community. Momentous Institute is governed by a Board of 32 rotating Salesmanship Club members and outside community leaders.
Ruling year
1932
Executive Director
Dr. Jessica Gomez
Main address
106 E. Tenth Street
Dallas, TX 75203 USA
EIN
75-1855620
Elementary education
Early childhood education
Community mental health care
Family services
Population served
Children and youth
Adults
Families
Caregivers
NTEE code
Community Mental Health Center (F32)
Kindergarten, Nursery Schools, Preschool, Early Admissions (B21)
Primary/Elementary Schools (B24)
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
Affiliations
Programs and results
Reports and documents
Download annual reportsWhat we aim to solve
More than a decade of clinical research indicates that poverty poses significant threats to young children’s emotional and behavioral development, as well as their academic success (Morales & Guerra, 2006). Statistics below point to the crucial need for proven effective interventions: According to the latest research (2016) from the Kids Count Data Center, 22% of Texas children and 31% of Dallas county children are currently living in poverty. Literature indicates that adverse circumstances and environments inhibit learning and memory and act as barriers to developing healthy decision-making and problem-solving skills (Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, 2008). In even our youngest of children in the U.S., two to eight years of age, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention indicates that 14% had a diagnosed developmental, behavioral or mental disorder in the 2011 to 2012 National Survey of Children’s Health.
Our programs
What are the organization's current programs, how do they measure success, and who do the programs serve?
Mental Health Services
Momentous Institute’s Mental Health Services meet critical needs and narrow the gap in mental health care for children who are experiencing social, emotional, and/or behavioral difficulties due to trauma, abuse, and disrupted or insecure parental attachment, and compounding stressors of racial and economic inequities. Our experienced, multidisciplinary staff, over 50% of whom are bilingual, build trusted relationships with approximately 3,000 Dallas area children and family members from under-championed communities, regardless of their ability to pay. Licensed clinicians provide individual, group and family therapy, using a strength-based approach that involves the entire family in the programming. In addition to parent education programming directly tied to clinical practice with client families, Momentous Institute offers parent education in the broader community to promote safe and effective parenting practices.
Momentous School
Momentous School, founded in 1997 and located in Oak Cliff, is a nationally recognized laboratory school for children from three years of age through fifth grade. 97% of our student population identify as Latino, and 79% qualify for free or reduced lunch.
School programming is informed by Momentous Institute’s decades of work as a local leader in mental health, and school culture is grounded in practices and postures that create a positive student-centered environment based on safe relationships. In addition to high quality academic curricula and resources, all grade levels utilize our own evidence based and accredited Changemakers: A Social Emotional Learning Curriculum.
Longitudinal research on Momentous School alumni, who consistently meet or surpass their more affluent peers in high-school graduation and college enrollment rates, demonstrates that weaving social, emotional, and mental health with rigorous academics can close the opportunity gap for under-championed students.
Impact and Innovation
By investing in research and training, including the annual Changing the Odds conference, we are able to impact hundreds of thousands of children we will never meet.
Where we work
Awards
Ashoka Changemaker School 2013
Ashoka Changemakers
Affiliations & memberships
American Psychological Association 2000
External reviews
Photos
Videos
Our results
How does this organization measure their results? It's a hard question but an important one.
Evaluation documents
Download evaluation reports90% of the most recent 12th grade cohort of Momentous School alumni will graduate from high school on time, as measured by a review of school records and individual follow-up with each student by external research team.
This metric is no longer tracked.Totals By Year
Population(s) Served
Children and youth, Economically disadvantaged people
Type of Metric
Outcome - describing the effects on people or issues
Direction of Success
Increasing
Context Notes
Numbers in the "Total" column are recorded as percentages pertaining to the metric.
85% of Momentous School alumni who graduated from high school will enroll in post-secondary education.
This metric is no longer tracked.Totals By Year
Population(s) Served
Children and youth, Economically disadvantaged people
Type of Metric
Outcome - describing the effects on people or issues
Direction of Success
Increasing
Context Notes
Numbers in the "Total" column are recorded as percentages pertaining to the metric.
85% of Momentous School alumni who enrolled in post-secondary education the first year after high school graduation will persist in their studies for a second year.
This metric is no longer tracked.Totals By Year
Population(s) Served
Children and youth, Economically disadvantaged people
Type of Metric
Outcome - describing the effects on people or issues
Direction of Success
Increasing
Context Notes
Numbers in the "Total" column are recorded as percentages pertaining to the metric.
Number of mental health and education professionals who attend training conducted by Momentous Institute
This metric is no longer tracked.Totals By Year
Population(s) Served
Adults
Related Program
Momentous School
Type of Metric
Outcome - describing the effects on people or issues
Direction of Success
Increasing
65% of individuals with an identified family or household challenge will significantly improve their functioning
This metric is no longer tracked.Totals By Year
Related Program
Mental Health Services
Type of Metric
Output - describing our activities and reach
Direction of Success
Increasing
Context Notes
Numbers in the "Total" column are recorded as percentages pertaining to the metric.
Goals & Strategy
Reports and documents
Download strategic planLearn 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?
1. STRENGTHEN and sustain the social emotional health of children and
families impacted by poverty, trauma, or abuse, through core services in
education and mental health.
2. INNOVATE at the intersection of education and mental health, emphasizing
the importance of interdisciplinary collaboration and research.
3. INVEST in partnerships that align with our mission, vision and core values.
4. INSPIRE people, organizations and communities to strengthen the social
emotional health of kids, families and communities.
5. STRENGTHEN the culture and infrastructure of Momentous Institute to
support improved education, therapy, research, outreach and training.
What are the organization's key strategies for making this happen?
Momentous Institute prioritizes developing Social Emotional Health (SEH), to ensure that children achieve their full potential. Promoting social emotional learning (SEL) in children creates a buffer to toxic stress. Advancements in neuroscience indicate that the impact of early toxic stress on the brain is reversible. SEL ensures the development of self-regulation, awareness of others, empathy, optimism and perseverance.
Our Mental Health Services offer a wide variety of mental health services to more than 5,000 children and family members annually who exhibit social, emotional and behavioral difficulties.
Our Momentous School is an urban laboratory school, serving 248 children from age three through fifth grade and providing a rigorous academic experience with a focus on SEH.
Our Training and Research is conducted to broadly disseminate our education and mental health practices, with a focus on building skills and knowledge to integrate our trauma-sensitive strategies into the existing system.
What are the organization's capabilities for doing this?
Momentous Institute broadly disseminates our Changemakers: A Social Emotional Learning Curriculum that is now fully accredited by the Collaborative for Academic, Social and Emotional Learning (CASEL) as CASEL SELect, the highest accreditation rating. In order to receive this rating, curricula must demonstrate quality design, deliver high-quality training and ongoing implementation support, be evidence-based with research showing positive impact on student behavior and/or academic performance. It is one of only 40 curricula with such designation in the country, and the only one created in Texas. The curriculum aligns with all Texas Essential Knowledge and Skills (TEKS) standards and is on the list for Texas Education Agency’s best practices for grief, trauma, building skills and managing emotions.
The curriculum is organized to match the Momentous Institute model of social emotional health and contains five themes and a total of 15 units. The five themes are: safe relationships, self-regulation, awareness of self, understanding others and changemaker. Each unit gives educators a deeper understanding of neuroscience, stress, trauma, and inequity, equipping them to view students with empathy, thereby reducing reactive and punitive discipline methods. Over 35 free-standing lessons per grade level allow teachers to engage with students respectfully, build their social emotional skills, and instruct them in their academic work more effectively. Included with each curriculum box is a series of training and support, which includes training on Brain Basics, Trauma 101 and 10 Proven Paths to Classroom Connection; access to training on lesson implementation for curriculum users; and training on how administrators can support social emotional learning in their school.
Research conducted on our Changemakers curriculum during multi-year intensive training partnerships with various early childhood classrooms, where the curriculum was implemented with fidelity, showed that 91% of teachers improved in their sense of self-efficacy around behavior management and 86% of teachers considered a trauma-lens in their work with students. Students, in turn, benefitted from both the improvement of the teacher’s posture and Changemakers lessons: on average, 70% of students showed improvement in social emotional skills such as self-awareness, self-management, social awareness, relationships, and responsible decision-making; the same percentage also improved on an executive functioning assessment.
As of January 2023, Changemakers has been implemented in 980 classrooms, positively impacting the social emotional health of students in 17 U.S states and four countries (Brazil, Canada, India and Zambia).
What have they accomplished so far and what's next?
Momentous Institute’s results show that our focused approach — building and repairing social emotional health through education and mental health programs — is a game changer for children and their long-term success. Each year we help over 5,000 children and family members directly in our Therapeutic Services and at Momentous School. By investing in research and training, including the annual Changing the Odds conference, we are able to impact hundreds of thousands of children we will never meet.
How we listen
Seeking feedback from people served makes programs more responsive and effective. Here’s how this organization is listening.
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Who are the people you serve with your mission?
In Momentous School: Most families served by Momentous Institute do not have equitable access to resources and opportunities. More than a decade of clinical research indicates that poverty poses significant threats to young children's emotional and behavioral development and academic success. In Therapeutic Services: We offer both mental health services and parent education classes to children ages 0 to 15 and their families. Both in-person and telehealth appointments are available for therapy and parent education classes are offered through virtual webinars. With a focus on sustainable change, we do not limit the number of sessions clients may participate in. All programming is offered in both English and Spanish and there is no requirement to live in a specific zip code.
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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
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What significant change resulted from feedback?
Where appropriate, teachers involve upper-level students in leadership and decision-making opportunities. One recent example is teachers engaging the 4th grade cohort in the location, layout, and design of an outdoor learning pavilion and equipment to play and explore. Students conducted student surveys, met with operations staff, and worked with teachers across subject areas before making their final recommendation to Momentous School leadership for final approval.
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Which of the following feedback practices does your organization routinely carry out?
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What challenges does the organization face when collecting feedback?
Financials
Financial documents
Download audited financialsRevenue vs. expenses: breakdown
Liquidity in 2020 info
1.80
Months of cash in 2020 info
4.4
Fringe rate in 2020 info
24%
Funding sources info
Assets & liabilities info
Momentous Institute
Revenue & expensesFiscal Year: Nov 01 - Oct 31
SOURCE: IRS Form 990
Momentous Institute
Balance sheetFiscal Year: Nov 01 - Oct 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: Nov 01 - Oct 31
SOURCE: IRS Form 990
This snapshot of Momentous Institute’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.
Created in partnership with
Business model indicators
| Profitability info | 2016 | 2017 | 2018 | 2019 | 2020 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Unrestricted surplus (deficit) before depreciation | $1,473,972 | $1,231,375 | $1,199,370 | $864,879 | -$1,064,713 |
| As % of expenses | 11.9% | 9.3% | 8.8% | 6.1% | -8.4% |
| Unrestricted surplus (deficit) after depreciation | $561,404 | $267,151 | -$636,478 | -$62,745 | -$1,879,380 |
| As % of expenses | 4.2% | 1.9% | -4.1% | -0.4% | -14.0% |
| Revenue composition info | |||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Total revenue (unrestricted & restricted) | $13,108,800 | $14,340,063 | $14,586,795 | $14,981,151 | $11,793,188 |
| Total revenue, % change over prior year | -5.5% | 9.4% | 1.7% | 2.7% | -21.3% |
| Program services revenue | 10.6% | 8.3% | 7.8% | 7.5% | 4.3% |
| Membership dues | 0.0% | 0.0% | 0.0% | 0.0% | 0.0% |
| Investment income | 0.1% | 0.1% | 0.3% | 0.5% | 0.2% |
| Government grants | 0.0% | 0.0% | 0.0% | 0.0% | 0.0% |
| All other grants and contributions | 89.2% | 91.6% | 91.9% | 92.0% | 95.6% |
| Other revenue | 0.0% | 0.0% | 0.0% | 0.0% | 0.0% |
| Expense composition info | |||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Total expenses before depreciation | $12,369,893 | $13,264,313 | $13,600,572 | $14,107,674 | $12,643,823 |
| Total expenses, % change over prior year | 8.7% | 7.2% | 2.5% | 3.7% | -10.4% |
| Personnel | 70.7% | 68.2% | 70.1% | 74.3% | 79.9% |
| Professional fees | 3.7% | 0.6% | 2.8% | 3.7% | 2.9% |
| Occupancy | 5.3% | 4.8% | 5.3% | 4.9% | 6.2% |
| Interest | 0.0% | 0.0% | 0.0% | 0.0% | 0.0% |
| Pass-through | 1.7% | 1.7% | 1.7% | 1.7% | 2.4% |
| All other expenses | 18.6% | 24.7% | 20.1% | 15.3% | 8.6% |
| Full cost components (estimated) info | 2016 | 2017 | 2018 | 2019 | 2020 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Total expenses (after depreciation) | $13,282,461 | $14,228,537 | $15,436,420 | $15,035,298 | $13,458,490 |
| One month of savings | $1,030,824 | $1,105,359 | $1,133,381 | $1,175,640 | $1,053,652 |
| Debt principal payment | $0 | $0 | $0 | $0 | $0 |
| Fixed asset additions | $1,218,894 | $0 | $0 | $0 | $0 |
| Total full costs (estimated) | $15,532,179 | $15,333,896 | $16,569,801 | $16,210,938 | $14,512,142 |
Capital structure indicators
| Liquidity info | 2016 | 2017 | 2018 | 2019 | 2020 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Months of cash | 2.8 | 3.5 | 3.7 | 3.2 | 4.4 |
| Months of cash and investments | 2.8 | 3.5 | 3.7 | 3.2 | 4.4 |
| Months of estimated liquid unrestricted net assets | 1.6 | 2.2 | 2.8 | 2.6 | 1.5 |
| Balance sheet composition info | 2016 | 2017 | 2018 | 2019 | 2020 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Cash | $2,912,414 | $3,839,513 | $4,166,484 | $3,712,643 | $4,649,041 |
| Investments | $0 | $0 | $0 | $0 | $0 |
| Receivables | $828,192 | $630,477 | $729,868 | $746,274 | $521,197 |
| Gross land, buildings, equipment (LBE) | $19,824,457 | $20,126,397 | $20,468,311 | $19,632,301 | $19,642,807 |
| Accumulated depreciation (as a % of LBE) | 42.7% | 45.8% | 53.3% | 51.4% | 53.2% |
| Liabilities (as a % of assets) | 5.2% | 6.0% | 6.8% | 3.1% | 18.8% |
| Unrestricted net assets | $13,061,019 | $13,328,170 | $12,691,692 | $12,628,947 | $10,749,567 |
| Temporarily restricted net assets | $1,434,231 | $1,278,606 | $1,065,459 | $1,074,057 | N/A |
| Permanently restricted net assets | $0 | $0 | $0 | $0 | N/A |
| Total restricted net assets | $1,434,231 | $1,278,606 | $1,065,459 | $1,074,057 | $1,288,135 |
| Total net assets | $14,495,250 | $14,606,776 | $13,757,151 | $13,703,004 | $12,037,702 |
Key data checks
| Key data checks info | 2016 | 2017 | 2018 | 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
Dr. Jessica Gomez
Dr. Jessica Gomez is a Bilingual Licensed Psychologist and Executive Director of Momentous Institute. She has worked with children and families for over 15 years and is dedicated to building healthy communities where children have access to quality education and mental health services.
Dr. Gomez is an active thought leader in mental health through publications, presentations, and collaboration with community leaders. She also served as a clinical and assessment supervisor on the APA Training Committee that oversees doctoral and post-doctoral psychology fellows. Dr. Gomez received her doctorate in clinical psychology and master’s degree in counseling psychology from the Adler School of Professional Psychology in Chicago, Illinois. She specializes in community mental health, staff development/training, family therapy and the treatment of complex trauma.
Number of employees
Source: IRS Form 990
Momentous Institute
Officers, directors, trustees, and key employeesSOURCE: IRS Form 990
Compensation data
Momentous Institute
Highest paid employeesSOURCE: IRS Form 990
Compensation data
Momentous Institute
Board of directorsas of 03/27/2023
Board of directors data
Mr. Joe K. Young
Lancaster Distributing
Term: 2022 - 2023
Tony Dona
Greystar
Ryan Moss
Lucid Energy Group
Scott Wood
True North Advisors, LLC
Brock Bailey
Bracewell LLP
Jeff Barnes
Brian Ficke
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Mark Gehlbach
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Mike George
Bilbo Transports, Inc
Chris Groves
Egan Nelson
Larry Haynes
Ricky Jimmerson
Guy Kerr
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Payne Lancaster
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Leonor Marquez
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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? Not applicable -
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? Not applicable
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
Gender identity
Sexual orientation
No data
Disability
No data
Contractors
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