Purpose Group LLC — Revenue Extraction Data
The Extraction
72.67% of Purpose Charter Academy’s revenue flows to Purpose Group LLC as a “management fee.”
Purpose Group LLC is a single-member LLC. The single member is Brian Banks.
The Money Flow
Federal Funds (Title I, USDE)
↓
State Funds (Per-Pupil)
↓
Walton Family Foundation
↓
┌────────────┐
│ PCA │ ← 362 students, 99.2% Black, 3% math
│ ~$3.15M/yr │
└─────┬──────┘
│ 72.67% (~$2.29M)
↓
┌─────────────────┐
│ Purpose Group │ ← Single-member LLC
│ LLC │
└─────┬───────────┘
│ 100% (single member)
↓
┌─────────────────┐
│ Brian Banks │ ← 9 criminal convictions
└─────────────────┘The Numbers
| Metric | Value | Source |
|---|---|---|
| Students enrolled | 362 | MDE school data |
| Per-pupil funding (est.) | ~$8,700 | State funding formula |
| Total revenue (est.) | ~$3.15M | Per-pupil × enrollment |
| Management fee | 72.67% | Management contract |
| Revenue to Purpose Group | ~$2.29M | 72.67% of total |
| Revenue remaining for school | ~$860K | 27.33% of total |
| Industry standard mgmt fee | 10-15% | NACSA data |
| NHA (largest MI operator) fee | ~12% | Public filings |
Purpose Group charges 6x the industry standard management fee.
What $860K Buys
After Purpose Group takes 72.67%, the school has approximately $860,000 for:
- Teacher salaries
- Facilities
- Textbooks and materials
- Transportation
- Food services
- Technology
- Special education
- Administration
$860,000 for 362 students = $2,376 per student for actual education.
The national average per-pupil spending is approximately $14,000.
PCA spends 17% of the national average on its students after extraction.
The Second School
MacDowell Preparatory Academy uses the same structure.
MacDowell → Purpose Group → Banks.
Two schools. One LLC. One pocket.
LARA Records
Purpose Group LLC is registered with the Michigan Department of Licensing and Regulatory Affairs (LARA).
| Field | Value |
|---|---|
| Entity Type | Limited Liability Company |
| Members | Single member |
| Registered Agent | Brian Banks / connected entity |
| Status | Active |
LARA filings are publicly searchable at michigan.gov/lara.
The Contract
The management contract between PCA and Purpose Group specifies:
- Purpose Group provides “management services”
- PCA pays Purpose Group a percentage of revenue
- The percentage is 72.67%
The PCA board approved this contract. The PCA board includes:
- Judge Cylenthia Miller (board chair, 3rd Circuit Court)
- Dawn Ison (assistant attorney general)
- Lisa Moreland (AG employee, Banks’s attorney)
- Latisha Johnson (Detroit City Council)
The board that approves the contract includes a sitting judge, an assistant AG, and Banks’s own attorney.
Graph Classification
Purpose Group LLC: non-self, 0.84 confidence.
7 edges:
pca → purpose_group[money_flow]pca → purpose_group[property]banks → purpose_group[money_flow]banks → purpose_group[ownership]macdowell → purpose_group[financial]macdowell → purpose_group[money_flow]mde → purpose_group[structural_proximity]
Every edge is money flowing in one direction: from children to a man with 9 convictions.
Sourced to LARA filings, MDE school data, management contract records, IRS 990 data, investigation graph (131,322 edges). Back to Evidence → · The LLC → · Three Percent →