The Founder's Trap
The Founder's Trap
The Founder's Trap Market Archetype Mechanical Natural
Tier
Developing
Trajectory Thumbprint

The Founder's Trap

What does this mean?

10-year flat revenue, below-market executive comp, and a small board. The organization survives purely on the sweat equity of a founder, making it utterly un-transferable.

The Path Forward

The Dispersal

Forces succession planning and structural maturity. It requires raising capacity-building funds to decouple the organization's survival from the founder's personal sacrifice.

The Dispersal
The Dispersal
Institutional Health Scores
5-yr trend: The Founder's Trap ↑
Overall
55
Score
Governance
58
Score
Financial
50
Score
Program
60
Score

Institutional Epochs

2010
2011
2012
2013
2014
2015
2016
2017
2018
2019
2020
2021
2022
2023
2024
Financial Era
Governance Era
Trajectory Era
Founders Trap

Historical Performance

Year Revenue Top Comp Comp % Rev Score Phase Label Outlook Details
2024 Hidden Hidden — — Unknown —
2023 — — 1.4% 55 Fragile Stable Watch
2022 — — 3.0% 55 Fragile Recovery
2021 — — 7.4% 50 Fragile Decline Risk
2020 — — 6.8% 54 Fragile Recovery
2019 — — 5.4% 50 Fragile Decline Risk
2018 — — 2.9% 55 Fragile Stable Watch
2017 — — 3.1% 55 Fragile Recovery
2016 — — 5.2% 50 Fragile Decline Risk
2015 — — 3.3% 55 Fragile Stable Watch
2014 — — 1.7% 55 Fragile Stable Watch
2013 — — 1.9% 55 Fragile Recovery
2012 — — 6.3% 50 Fragile Stable Watch
2011 — — 3.7% 51 Fragile Stable Watch

Officer compensation history

Tax year 2025

Name Title Phone Email Compensation
PAUL D'AMBROSIO Board President 1.9% of Rev
JOSEPH SIRACUSA Board President 1.0% of Rev
JANE FORBES CLARK Board Member —
LAURENE KRASNY BROWN Board Member —
THOMAS MORGAN Board Member —
JEFFREY PRESSMAN Board Member —
REGINALD KNIGHT Board Member —
KATHLEEN FLANAGAN Board Member —
GARY CASSINELLI Board Member —
HENRY FC WEIL Board Member —
FRANCESCA ZAMBELLO Board Member —
CHARLES KIELER Board Member —
STEPHEN M DUFF Board Member —
ERNA MCREYNOLDS Board Member —
SHELLEY GRAHAM Board Member —
DOUGLAS E EVELYN Board Member —
ROBERT S HANFT Board Member —
DORIS FISCHER MALESARDI Board Member —
ANDREW MARIETTA Secretary —
ANTHONY FASANO Treasurer —

Tax year 2023

Name Title Phone Email Compensation
PAUL D'AMBROSIO Board President 1.7% of Rev
JOSEPH SIRACUSA Board President 0.9% of Rev
JANE FORBES CLARK Board Member —
JAMES PATRICK Treasurer —
LAURENE KRASNY BROWN Board Member —
THOMAS MORGAN Board Member —
JEFFREY PRESSMAN Board Member —
REGINALD KNIGHT Board Member —
KATHLEEN FLANAGAN Board Member —
GARY CASSINELLI Board Member —
HENRY FC WEIL Board Member —
THOMAS PUTNAM Board Member —
FRANCESCA ZAMBELLO Board Member —
CHARLES KIELER Board Member —
DORIS FISCHER MALESARDI Board Member —
ERNA MCREYNOLDS Board Member —
SHELLEY GRAHAM Board Member —
ANDREW MARIETTA Secretary —
ANTHONY FASANO Treasurer —

Tax year 2021

Name Title Phone Email Compensation
PAUL D'AMBROSIO Board President 1.6% of Rev
JOSEPH SIRACUSA Board President 0.8% of Rev
JANE FORBES CLARK Board Member —
STEPHEN DUFF Treasurer —
DOUGLAS EVELYN Board Member —
THOMAS MORGAN Board Member —
JEFFREY PRESSMAN Board Member —
REGINAL KNIGHT Board Member —
KATHLEEN FLANAGAN Board Member —
JOANNE SHENANDOAH Board Member —
HENRY FC WEIL Board Member —
NELLIE GIPSON Board Member —
ROBERT HANFT Board Member —
JOSEF JELINEK Board Member —
CHARLES KIELER Board Member —
ANNE OLDER Board Member —
DORIS FISCHER MALESARDI Board Member —
ERNA MCREYNOLDS Board Member —
SHELLEY GRAHAM Board Member —
ALEXANDER CHARLTON Secretary —
ANTHONY FASANO Treasurer —
Officer contact details, exact compensation figures, and active litigation are available to verified members.
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Score breakdown

Score breakdown

Financial resilience
50 / 100
weight 40%
Governance risk
58 / 100
weight 40%
Program scale
60 / 100
weight 20%
Overall
55 / 100
Developing

The three components combine into a single 0–100 score weighted as shown. Full methodology →

Peer comparison

Compared to 281 other orgs in NY with NTEE prefix A5.

Most-divergent component: financial score sits 24 points below the peer median (50 vs. 74).

5-year trend: The Founder's Trap

10-year flat revenue, below-market executive comp, and a small board. The organization survives purely on the sweat equity of a founder, making it utterly un-transferable.

What's driving this score

What would change this score

No specific high-impact levers identified — this org's score is balanced across components.

Improving governance is a board decision. These are the levers.