About Clooney Foundation for Justice
The Clooney Foundation for Justice wages justice by providing free legal aid in defense of free speech and women’s rights in over 40 countries.
Focus Areas
human rightsfreedom of expression / free speechwomen's rights and gender justicetrial monitoringstrategic litigationlegal aid clinicscapacity building and fellowshipsanti-SLAPP / legal protections for journalists
Who They Fund
victims/survivors of human rights abuseswomen seeking reproductive justiceLGBTQ+ individuals facing rights violationspeople subject to unfair trials
About Clooney Foundation for Justice
The Clooney Foundation for Justice’s recent grantmaking is anchored by a single large award: $555,000 in 2025 to the Fund for Global Human Rights for the WJW Fellowship Program. That grant fits the foundation’s broader approach of pairing funding with legal training, technical assistance, and capacity-building, rather than only making conventional operating grants. Across its active programs, CFJ supports women-led local organizations, mobile legal aid clinics, strategic litigation, and trial monitoring, with a strong emphasis on women’s rights, free expression, and fair-trial protections. The foundation’s structure also points to a targeted, programmatic style of giving. It operates as a public charity with annual grants of $555,000 and total assets of $9,698,565. Its initiatives reach across Africa and globally through legal aid clinics, fellowships for early-career African women lawyers, and training tied to fair-trial standards. The presence of a fully funded fellowship and support for host organizations shows that CFJ funds legal infrastructure as well as direct advocacy. In practice, that means the foundation backs partners working on women’s and girls’ rights, human rights defense, and legal remedies for people facing rights violations.
What Clooney Foundation for Justice Funds
Women’s rights and gender justice are central to CFJ’s grantmaking. Through Waging Justice for Women, the foundation funds women-led local organizations and host partners to expand mobile legal aid clinics, support strategic litigation, and build capacity for women’s rights work across Africa. It also supports legal training and fair-trial work. TrialWatch Training is an online course developed with and approved by the UN Office of the High Commissioner for Human Rights, and it teaches trial monitoring basics and international standards for fair trials. A third thread is fellowship support. The Waging Justice for Women Fellowship places early-career African women lawyers with leading human rights organizations in Africa, combining mentoring, training, and a fully funded lawyer for one year for host organizations working on women’s and girls’ rights.
How Clooney Foundation for Justice Gives
The available grant-size data show a single recent award at $555,000, which also matches the foundation’s annual grants total. CFJ is structured as a public charity, and its giving appears program-driven rather than asset-distribution driven, with total assets of $9,698,565. The recent grant list shows one 2025 grant, so the provided data does not show repeat recipients across multiple years. Application access is mixed: at least two programs accept unsolicited applications, including TrialWatch Training and the Waging Justice for Women Fellowship.
Financial Snapshot
Annual Giving
$555K
Total Assets
$9.7M
Total Revenue
$5.5M
Total Expenses
$12.2M
Geographic Reach
Regional1 state funded
About 0% of grants go to recipients in DC.
Funding intensity
LowHigh
Headquarters
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