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    Justice Catalyst

    ActivePublic CharityCivil Rights & AdvocacyMakes PRIs
    NEW YORK, NYWebsiteEIN: 81-43165063 filings on record

    About Justice Catalyst

    Leverage the legal system to bring accountability to powerful actors and advance social, economic, and racial justice for marginalized communities through fellowships, grantmaking, partnerships, and litigation financing.

    Focus Areas

    social & economic justicecorporate & government accountabilitycivil rightsaccess to justiceantitrustlabor and workers' rightsdisability rightschild welfare litigationpublic healthclimate and environmental justice

    Who They Fund

    workers / employees (labor rights beneficiaries)labor advocacy organizations / public interest legal groups

    About Justice Catalyst

    Justice Catalyst Inc channels most of its giving into litigation finance and public-interest legal work, including a $5,000,000 grant in 2025 to Justice Catalyst Access Fund Inc for public interest litigation funding projects. That scale fits a broader model built around recoverable grants, non-recourse financing, fellowships, and partnerships that support strategic cases and the organizations bringing them. The funder’s recent grants show it backing both case-specific litigation and the infrastructure around it, from the Access Fund in Charlottesville to legal groups pursuing impact litigation in civil rights, labor, and accountability cases. The foundation’s work is organized around legal tools rather than direct service delivery. It supports projects that use the courts to address corporate and government power, social and economic justice, and rights-based litigation for marginalized communities. Among the recent recipients are The Access Fund and The Impact Fund, both tied to litigation finance, alongside advocacy-oriented legal organizations such as Promise of Justice Initiative and Equal Justice Under Law. Justice Catalyst Inc also operates fellowships and seeded partnerships, indicating a grantmaking strategy that pairs funding with project formation and attorney placement.

    What Justice Catalyst Funds

    A major part of Justice Catalyst Inc’s work is litigation finance for public-interest cases. It gave $315,270 to The Access Fund for litigation finance projects, and in 2024 it added $167,913 to Justice Catalyst Access Fund for litigation finance projects. That pattern points to repeated support for case funding rather than one-off awards. The foundation also backs impact litigation organizations directly. It awarded $282,459 to Promise of Justice Initiative for conducting impact litigation and $100,000 to Equal Justice Under Law for the same purpose. Worker-focused litigation appears in a restricted grant of $85,000 to Altshuler Berzon LLP for impact litigation and advocacy to support workers rights. Its portfolio also includes grantmaking to legal intermediaries: $210,000 went to The Impact Fund for litigation grants, showing support for organizations that pass resources into the field.

    How Justice Catalyst Gives

    Justice Catalyst Inc’s typical grant size sits in the six-figure range: p25 is $96,250, median is $133,956, and p75 is $228,115. The recent list also includes one very large outlier at $5,000,000, alongside several awards clustered between roughly $100,000 and $315,270. The pattern is repeated support to the same entities across years, especially Justice Catalyst Access Fund and related litigation-finance vehicles. It is a public charity and a regular funder, and it also makes program-related investments. Both unsolicited fellowship applications and unsolicited Access Fund requests appear in the program list, while some specialized funds are invitation-based or RFP-driven.

    Financial Snapshot

    Annual Giving

    $5M

    Total Assets

    $5M

    Total Revenue

    $2.8M

    Total Expenses

    $5M

    Typical Grant Size

    Most grants fall between $96K and $228K, with a median of $134K.

    25th Percentile

    $96K

    Median

    $134K

    75th Percentile

    $228K

    Geographic Reach

    National6 states funded

    About 0% of grants go to recipients in VA.

    Funding intensity
    Low
    High
    Headquarters

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    individual litigants in employment-related cases

    Funding Style

    litigation finance / fee supportproject-specific / restricted grantsimpact litigation fundingadvocacy‑linked legal support

    Topics

    public interest litigationimpact litigationlitigation grantmaking and fund administrationworkers' rights and labor advocacystrategic impact/precedent-setting cases

    Where Justice Catalyst Makes Grants

    Justice Catalyst Inc gives nationally, and all recent grants in the provided list went to U.S. recipients. Charlottesville, Virginia appears repeatedly through Justice Catalyst Access Fund and The Access Fund, making it the clearest recipient hub in the data. Other recent recipients are spread across New Orleans, Berkeley, Washington, DC, Helena, San Francisco, and Austin, showing a national litigation network rather than a single-state concentration. The foundation’s HQ is New York, but the grants listed do not go to New York recipients.

    Frequently Asked Questions About Justice Catalyst

    What kinds of work does Justice Catalyst Inc fund?

    It funds litigation and litigation infrastructure tied to public interest law, including social and economic justice, civil rights, access to justice, antitrust, labor and workers’ rights, disability rights, child welfare litigation, public health, and climate and environmental justice. Its program descriptions also emphasize recoverable grants, fellowships, and partnerships.

    What is the foundation’s typical grant size?

    Its grant size distribution is in the six-figure range: the 25th percentile is $96,250, the median is $133,956, and the 75th percentile is $228,115. The recent grant list also includes a $5,000,000 award at the high end.

    Does Justice Catalyst Inc accept unsolicited applications?

    Yes for some programs. The Justice Catalyst Fellowships and the Justice Catalyst Access Fund are marked as accepting unsolicited requests, while the 1890 Fund for Workers, Farmers, and Small Businesses, the Fund for Disability Rights partnership, and the Child Welfare Litigation Fund are not.

    What geography does the foundation serve?

    Its giving is national. The recipient country distribution in the recent grants is 100% U.S., and the recent grantees are spread across places including Charlottesville, New Orleans, Berkeley, Washington, DC, Helena, San Francisco, and Austin.

    Does Justice Catalyst Inc fund the same organizations more than once?

    Yes. Justice Catalyst Access Fund appears in multiple years and at multiple amounts, including $315,270 in 2023 and $167,913 in 2024. That indicates repeated support for the same litigation-finance platform rather than only one-time awards.

    Latest 990 Filing

    2025

    Source: IRS Form 990-PF, fiscal year 2025.

    Open Grant Opportunities

    Current and upcoming funding from Justice Catalyst that your nonprofit may be able to apply for.

    Opening soonAward: Up to $75K

    Justice Catalyst Fellowship (JC Fellowship)

    social justicecivil rightsaccess to justice+9 more

    Who can apply: Applicant must be in the final year of a U.S. JD or LLM program, or have graduated within 2 years of applying; in limited cases, non-attorneys are accepted. Applicant must partner with an eligible host organization (501(c)(3) nonprofit, plaintiff-side/public interest law firm, union, or tribal/local/state/federal government agency). Project must fit Justice Catalyst's nonprofit, tax-exempt mission and have strong potential for structural or broad-scale change.

    Deadline: Prospectus submissions closed for this cycle; application submissions closed for the 2026-2027 cycle. Site says check back in Summer 2026.

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    Deadlines and eligibility are summarized from public sources and may change — always confirm the details on the funder's official application page before applying.

    Recent Grants

    Most recent grants reported to the IRS.

    RecipientLocationAmountYearPurpose
    JUSTICE CATALYST ACCESS FUND INCCHARLOTTESVILLE, VA$5,000,0002025PUBLIC INTEREST LITIGATION FUNDING PROJECTS
    JUSTICE CATALYST ACCESS FUNDCHARLOTTESVILLE, VA$167,9132024LITIGATION FINANCE PROJECTS
    THE ACCESS FUNDCHARLOTTESVILLE, VA$315,2702023SUPPORT FOR LITIGATION FINANCE PROJECTS
    PROMISE OF JUSTICE INITIATIVENEW ORLEANS, LA$282,4592023SUPPORT FOR CONDUCTING IMPACT LITIGATION
    THE IMPACT FUNDBERKELEY, CA$210,0002023SUPPORT FOR LITIGATION GRANTS
    EQUAL JUSTICE UNDER LAWWASHINGTON, DC$100,0002023SUPPORT FOR CONDUCTING IMPACT LITIGATION
    UPPER SEVEN LAWHELENA, MT$100,0002023SUPPORT FOR CONDUCTING IMPACT LITIGATION
    ALTSHULER BERZON LLPSAN FRANCISCO, CA$85,0002023RESTRICTED SUPPORT FOR IMPACT LITIGATION AND ADVOCACY TO SUPPORT WORKERS RIGHTS
    EQUAL JUSTICE CENTERAUSTIN, TX$21,3382023SUPPORT FOR CONDUCTING IMPACT LITIGATION

    JUSTICE CATALYST ACCESS FUND INC

    $5,000,000
    CHARLOTTESVILLE, VA2025

    PUBLIC INTEREST LITIGATION FUNDING PROJECTS

    JUSTICE CATALYST ACCESS FUND

    $167,913
    CHARLOTTESVILLE, VA2024

    LITIGATION FINANCE PROJECTS

    THE ACCESS FUND

    $315,270
    CHARLOTTESVILLE, VA2023

    SUPPORT FOR LITIGATION FINANCE PROJECTS

    PROMISE OF JUSTICE INITIATIVE

    $282,459
    NEW ORLEANS, LA2023

    SUPPORT FOR CONDUCTING IMPACT LITIGATION

    THE IMPACT FUND

    $210,000
    BERKELEY, CA2023

    SUPPORT FOR LITIGATION GRANTS

    EQUAL JUSTICE UNDER LAW

    $100,000
    WASHINGTON, DC2023

    SUPPORT FOR CONDUCTING IMPACT LITIGATION

    UPPER SEVEN LAW

    $100,000
    HELENA, MT2023

    SUPPORT FOR CONDUCTING IMPACT LITIGATION

    ALTSHULER BERZON LLP

    $85,000
    SAN FRANCISCO, CA2023

    RESTRICTED SUPPORT FOR IMPACT LITIGATION AND ADVOCACY TO SUPPORT WORKERS RIGHTS

    EQUAL JUSTICE CENTER

    $21,338
    AUSTIN, TX2023

    SUPPORT FOR CONDUCTING IMPACT LITIGATION