About Poised Gentlemen Institute
Poised Gentlemen Institute is a Louisiana nonprofit corporation and a tax-exempt public charity under Section 501(c)(3) of the Internal Revenue Code. We provide character development, mentorship, leadership education, and emotional intelligence training to boys and young men ages 10 to 17, with priority service to underserved communities.
Why this exists
I grew up figuring it out. Most men I know did. We were handed the expectation of manhood without the instruction, and we filled the gap with performance. That is the reason this organization exists. A boy should not have to guess his way into becoming a man, and a mother should not have to carry a son’s manhood by herself.
Poised Gentlemen Institute puts trained men in the room with boys, on a structured schedule, with a curriculum that can be measured. We are not an assembly. We are not a one-day speaker. We run cohorts and we hand our partners the data.
David Rachal III, Founder and President
Our governing pillars
All programmatic work is grounded in four pillars. They are the standard we hold boys to and the standard we hold ourselves to.
- Integrity. Alignment between what a young man says and what he does.
- Strength. The capacity to carry responsibility for himself and for others.
- Emotional Intelligence. Recognizing his own emotional state and choosing a response.
- Discipline. Consistency that does not depend on how he feels that day.
Governance
Poised Gentlemen Institute is governed by a Board of Directors. The Corporation has no members, and all corporate powers are exercised by or under the authority of the Board. A majority of Directors serve independently, meaning they are not compensated employees, hold no material financial relationship with the Corporation, and are not related to any compensated employee or other Director.
The Board maintains a written Conflict of Interest Policy consistent with IRS guidance for 501(c)(3) organizations. Every Director, officer, and key employee signs an annual disclosure statement. The Board reviews the organization’s annual IRS Form 990 filing prior to submission, and the filed return is made available to the public as required by law.
The Board is advised by a non-voting Advisory Council of subject-matter experts and community leaders. Advisory Council members hold no governance authority and no fiduciary duty to the Corporation.
Legal and organizational facts
- Legal name: Poised Gentlemen Institute
- Entity type: Louisiana nonprofit corporation
- EIN / Charity ID: 42-3430743
- Louisiana Entity Number: 47085992N
- Articles of Incorporation effective: June 19, 2026
- Federal tax status: 501(c)(3) public charity, classified under 170(b)(1)(A)(vi)
- Fiscal year: January 1 through December 31
- Principal office: Orleans Parish, Louisiana
Our organizational records, including the Articles of Incorporation, Bylaws, Conflict of Interest Policy, and annual filings, are maintained at our principal office and available for public inspection as required by Section 6104 of the Internal Revenue Code and applicable Louisiana law.