We believe that a community of lawyers committed to public service can fulfill our nation’s promise of equal justice for all. We create opportunities for lawyers to transform their passion for equal justice into a lifelong commitment to public service.
Equal Justice Works centers its grantmaking on funded legal fellowships that place lawyers and law students with host organizations to address unmet civil legal needs. Its programs are built around public-interest legal work rather than traditional operating grants, with two-year placements showing up across design-your-own, disaster resilience, opioid crisis response, financial empowerment, and crime victims advocacy. Recent awards show that model at scale: New Mexico Immigrant Law Center received $315,052 for fellowship support, while Neighborhood Legal Services of Los Angeles County received $278,288 for fellowship support. Other large fellowships have supported organizations such as Lawndale Christian Legal Center and Greater Boston Legal Services. The foundation’s stated purpose is to create opportunities for lawyers to turn a commitment to equal justice into a lifelong public-service career, and the grant record reflects that through restricted support tied to specific fellowship placements. The portfolio also includes summer service tracks and student fellowships, including a rural access-to-justice program. Across the listed grants, the support is directed to legal aid, civil rights, disaster recovery, housing, immigration, and related access-to-justice work.
Immigrant legal services appear in the recent grants through fellowship support to New Mexico Immigrant Law Center for $315,052 and another award of $193,637 to the same organization. Housing and legal aid work also shows up in awards to Southeast Louisiana Legal Services for $215,932 and $153,550, both listed as fellowship support. In civil rights and public-interest litigation, the foundation gave $229,900 to the American Civil Liberties Union Foundation and $172,917 to Texas Civil Rights Project. Youth and community legal services are present as well: National Center for Youth Law received $238,334, and Girls for Gender Equity received $157,000. The active program list adds disaster resilience, opioid crisis response, financial empowerment, crime victims advocacy, and a design-your-own fellowship structure, all focused on legal services delivered through fellows at host organizations.
Typical grant size is tightly clustered: the p25 is $49,646, the median is $56,028, and the p75 is $64,259. That suggests a common fellowship-support range, even though the recent list also includes larger multi-year awards tied to host organizations. The grant file shows repeated support to the same recipients across multiple years, including New Mexico Immigrant Law Center, Texas Riogrande Legal Aid Inc, New York Legal Assistance Group, Southeast Louisiana Legal Services, Legal Aid Chicago, and Legal Aid Foundation of Los Angeles. The foundation is a regular funder and does not make program-related investments. Several active programs accept unsolicited applications, including the Design-Your-Own Fellowship, Disaster Resilience Program, Opioid Crisis Response Program, Financial Empowerment Project, Crime Victims Advocacy Program, and Rural Summer Legal Corps.
$12.5M
$41M
$23.4M
$24M
Most grants fall between $50K and $64K, with a median of $56K.
25th Percentile
$50K
Median
$56K
75th Percentile
$64K
About 7% of grants go to recipients in NY.
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Giving is national, and every listed grant recipient is in the United States. New York has the highest grant count, and the recent grants include recipients in New York, Bronx, Brooklyn, and Geneva. Other recurring locations include Chicago, Los Angeles area grantees in Glendale and Los Angeles, and New Orleans. Washington, DC accounts for 7% of grants to recipients in the HQ state, but the grantmaking reaches far beyond the headquarters region, with awards also going to places such as Albuquerque, Weslaco, Baltimore, Anchorage, and Philadelphia.
The foundation funds fellowship support tied to public-interest legal work, including immigrant legal services, housing and eviction defense, criminal justice reform, disaster recovery and resilience, opioid crisis response, financial empowerment, crime victims advocacy, civil rights, and legal services capacity building.
Its recent grants are listed as fellowship support, and its active programs are structured as two-year attorney fellowships, student service placements, or fellowship-based programs with host organizations.
The typical grant size is concentrated around the mid-$50,000 range: p25 is $49,646, median is $56,028, and p75 is $64,259.
The grantmaking is national. All listed recipients are in the United States, and the top state by grant count is New York. Washington, DC recipients account for 7% of grants.
Several active programs accept unsolicited applications, including the Design-Your-Own Fellowship, Disaster Resilience Program, Opioid Crisis Response Program, Financial Empowerment Project, Crime Victims Advocacy Program, and Rural Summer Legal Corps.
VERNA L WILLIAMS
2026
Source: IRS Form 990-PF, fiscal year 2026.
Most recent grants reported to the IRS.
| Recipient | Location | Amount | Year | Purpose |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| NEW MEXICO IMMIGRANT LAW CENTER | ALBUQUERQUE, NM | $251,877 | 2026 | FELLOWSHIP SUPPORT |
| AMERICAN CIVIL LIBERTIES UNION FOUNDATION | NEW YORK, NY | $245,000 | 2026 | FELLOWSHIP SUPPORT |
| RODERICK AND SOLANGE MACARTHUR JUSTICE CENTER | CHICAGO, IL | $205,317 | 2026 | FELLOWSHIP SUPPORT |
| LEGAL AID CHICAGO | CHICAGO, IL | $186,000 | 2026 | FELLOWSHIP SUPPORT |
| PUBLIC COUNSEL | LOS ANGELES, CA | $183,000 | 2026 | FELLOWSHIP SUPPORT |
| NEW YORK LEGAL ASSISTANCE GROUP | NEW YORK, NY | $180,000 | 2026 | FELLOWSHIP SUPPORT |
| EQUIP FOR EQUALITY | CHICAGO, IL | $180,000 | 2026 | FELLOWSHIP SUPPORT |
| TEXAS RIOGRANDE LEGAL AID INC | WESLACO, TX | $175,646 | 2026 | FELLOWSHIP SUPPORT |
| COMMUNITY LEGAL SERVICES OF PRINCE GEORGE'S COUNTY | GREENBELT, MD | $163,223 | 2026 | FELLOWSHIP SUPPORT |
| SOUTHEAST LOUISIANA LEGAL SERVICES | NEW ORLEANS, LA | $135,571 | 2026 | FELLOWSHIP SUPPORT |
| LEGAL AID BUREAU INC | BALTIMORE, MD | $131,298 | 2026 | FELLOWSHIP SUPPORT |
| NEIGHBORHOOD LEGAL SERVICES OF LOS ANGELES COUNTY | GLENDALE, CA | $131,000 | 2026 | FELLOWSHIP SUPPORT |
| THE LEGAL AID SOCIETY | NEW YORK, NY | $124,000 | 2026 | FELLOWSHIP SUPPORT |
| TEXAS APPLESEED | AUSTIN, TX | $124,000 | 2026 | FELLOWSHIP SUPPORT |
| LATINOJUSTICE PDLDEF | NEW YORK, NY | $121,885 | 2026 | FELLOWSHIP SUPPORT |
| CAMPAIGN LEGAL CENTER | WASHINGTON, DC | $121,000 | 2026 | FELLOWSHIP SUPPORT |
| DISABILITY RIGHTS TEXAS | AUSTIN, TX | $121,000 | 2026 | FELLOWSHIP SUPPORT |
| CHILDREN'S LAW CENTER INC | WASHINGTON, DC | $121,000 | 2026 | FELLOWSHIP SUPPORT |
| JUDGE DAVID L BAZELON CENTER FOR MENTAL HEALTH LAW | WASHINGTON, DC | $121,000 | 2026 | FELLOWSHIP SUPPORT |
| NAACP LEGAL DEFENSE & EDUCATIONAL FUND INC | NEW YORK, NY | $121,000 | 2026 | FELLOWSHIP SUPPORT |
| NATIONAL CENTER FOR YOUTH LAW | OAKLAND, CA | $121,000 | 2026 | FELLOWSHIP SUPPORT |
| CATHOLIC CHARITIES OF THE ARCHDIOCESE OF G-H | HOUSTON, TX | $118,885 | 2026 | FELLOWSHIP SUPPORT |
| LEGAL AID FOUNDATION OF LOS ANGELES | LOS ANGELES, CA | $107,759 | 2026 | FELLOWSHIP SUPPORT |
| SAN ANTONIO LEGAL SERVICES ASSN | SAN ANTONIO, TX | $105,500 | 2026 | FELLOWSHIP SUPPORT |
| UNCOMMON LAW | OAKLAND, CA | $103,250 | 2026 | FELLOWSHIP SUPPORT |
| LEGAL ACTION OF WISCONSIN | MILWAUKEE, WI | $100,616 | 2026 | FELLOWSHIP SUPPORT |
| NATIVE HAWAIIAN LEGAL CORPORATION | HONOLULU, HI | $100,253 | 2026 | FELLOWSHIP SUPPORT |
| LEGAL AID SOCIETY OF LOUISVILLE | LOUISVILLE, KY | $96,391 | 2026 | FELLOWSHIP SUPPORT |
| ONE-EIGHTY PLACE | CHARLESTON, SC | $93,731 | 2026 | FELLOWSHIP SUPPORT |
| NORTHWEST JUSTICE PROJECT | SEATTLE, WA | $89,934 | 2026 | FELLOWSHIP SUPPORT |
| TENNESSEE ALLIANCE FOR LEGAL SERVICES | NASHVILLE, TN | $88,350 | 2026 | FELLOWSHIP SUPPORT |
| LEGAL AID OF THE BLUEGRASS | COVINGTON, KY | $84,677 | 2026 | FELLOWSHIP SUPPORT |
| CHICAGO ALLIANCE AGAINST SEXUAL EXPLOITATION | CHICAGO, IL | $83,176 | 2026 | FELLOWSHIP SUPPORT |
| LEGAL SERVICES NYC | NEW YORK, NY | $80,260 | 2026 | FELLOWSHIP SUPPORT |
| COLORADO LEGAL SERVICES | DENVER, CO | $73,000 | 2026 | FELLOWSHIP SUPPORT |
| LAND OF LINCOLN LEGAL AID | EAST ST LOUIS, IL | $69,000 | 2026 | FELLOWSHIP SUPPORT |
| CALIFORNIA RURAL LEGAL ASSISTANCE INC | OAKLAND, CA | $69,000 | 2026 | FELLOWSHIP SUPPORT |
| UNITED POLICYHOLDERS | SAN FRANCISCO, CA | $68,585 | 2026 | FELLOWSHIP SUPPORT |
| DISABILITY RIGHTS MARYLAND INC | BALTIMORE, MD | $67,569 | 2026 | FELLOWSHIP SUPPORT |
| LEGAL AID OF NORTHWEST TEXAS | FORTH WORTH, TX | $66,000 | 2026 | FELLOWSHIP SUPPORT |
| DISABILITY RIGHTS PENNSYLVANIA | HARRISBURG, PA | $62,000 | 2026 | FELLOWSHIP SUPPORT |
| BREAD FOR THE CITY | WASHINGTON, DC | $62,000 | 2026 | FELLOWSHIP SUPPORT |
| THE TEXAS FAIR DEFENSE PROJECT | AUSTIN, TX | $62,000 | 2026 | FELLOWSHIP SUPPORT |
| BROOKLYN LEGAL SERVICES CORPA | BROOKLYN, NY | $62,000 | 2026 | FELLOWSHIP SUPPORT |
| ACLU OF SOUTHERN CALIFORNIA | LOS ANGELES, CA | $62,000 | 2026 | FELLOWSHIP SUPPORT |
| OHIO JUSTICE & POLICY CENTER | CINCINNATI, OH | $62,000 | 2026 | FELLOWSHIP SUPPORT |
| AMERICAN CIVIL LIBERTIES UNION FOUNDATION LOUISIANA | NEW ORLEANS, LA | $62,000 | 2026 | FELLOWSHIP SUPPORT |
| ANTI-DEFAMATION LEAGUE | NEW YORK, NY | $62,000 | 2026 | FELLOWSHIP SUPPORT |
| NORTHWEST IMMIGRANT RIGHTS PROJECT | SEATTLE, WA | $62,000 | 2026 | FELLOWSHIP SUPPORT |
| VOLUNTEERS OF LEGAL SERVICE | NEW YORK, NY | $62,000 | 2026 | FELLOWSHIP SUPPORT |
RODERICK AND SOLANGE MACARTHUR JUSTICE CENTER
$205,317FELLOWSHIP SUPPORT
EQUIP FOR EQUALITY
$180,000FELLOWSHIP SUPPORT
COMMUNITY LEGAL SERVICES OF PRINCE GEORGE'S COUNTY
$163,223FELLOWSHIP SUPPORT
LATINOJUSTICE PDLDEF
$121,885FELLOWSHIP SUPPORT
CATHOLIC CHARITIES OF THE ARCHDIOCESE OF G-H
$118,885FELLOWSHIP SUPPORT
DISABILITY RIGHTS PENNSYLVANIA
$62,000FELLOWSHIP SUPPORT
BROOKLYN LEGAL SERVICES CORPA
$62,000FELLOWSHIP SUPPORT
Current and upcoming funding from Equal Justice Works that your nonprofit may be able to apply for.
Who can apply: Applicants participate through eligible host organizations and provide comprehensive legal services to communities before, during, and after disasters.
Deadline: No current deadline was provided in the scraped content.
Who can apply: Host organizations apply to host fellows; applicants for fellow positions are typically recent law graduates or attorneys meeting program requirements.
Deadline: Program cycles have specific deadlines; past cycle example showed applications close March 16 (annual).
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Create a free accountDeadlines and eligibility are summarized from public sources and may change — always confirm the details on the funder's official application page before applying.