THE JUST IMPACT FUND
The Just Impact Fund is a 501(c)(3) intermediary fund managed by Chloe Cockburn, built on the strategy and track record Chloe developed over the course of six years at Open Philanthropy.
Chloe has recommended over $150 million in grants to more than 90 local and national organizations, and advised on over $100 million in additional grants by independent donor partners. Chloe is one of the most experienced and strategic investors in the effort to end mass incarceration, and one of the few expert fund managers in the field.
OUR STRATEGY
The fund combines long-term strategy with opportunistic giving to achieve the greatest impact over time.
Our funding principles:
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There are thousands of policies that make up the criminal justice system, and changing them piecemeal is a recipe for going in circles. We focus on positioning leaders to make transformative changes to long-term conditions.
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We make bets on projects and leaders who are ready for bigger funding but are still seen as a risk by other funders. Many of the most dynamic and well respected organizations in the field today received their first major funding from us.
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No one organization can create public will, beat the opposition, shape technical policies, and execute on political campaigns to win. We fund organizations that bolster each others’ work across local, regional, and national ecosystems. Our grants resource a mix of policy reform, organizing, narrative change, technical assistance, and future alternatives.
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To achieve high impact, we track where other funding is moving, and focus on resourcing gaps and big opportunities.
GRANTEES
We are guided by principles of movement ecology and racial justice, and partner with the most trailblazing pioneers of criminal justice reform-focused philanthropy.
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Beats Overdose
Center for Just Journalism (fiscally sponsored by Hopewell Fund)
Center for the Working Poor
Colorado Criminal Justice Reform Coalition
Community Based Public Safety Collective (fiscally sponsored by Newark Community Street Team)
Community Justice Exchange (fiscally sponsored by Tides Center)
Court Watch NOLA
Designing Justice & Designing Spaces
Dignity and Power Now
East Valley Bible Church (dba Surge Network)
Equity and Transformation
Fair and Just Prosecution (fiscally sponsored by Tides Center)
Free Hearts (fiscally sponsored by the Praxis Project Inc.)
Fund for Guaranteed Income
Galaxy Gives (fiscally sponsored by the Good Nation Foundation)
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International Muslim Women’s Initiative for Self Empowerment (dba Malikah)
Interrupting Criminalization (fiscally sponsored by Social and Environmental Entrepreneurs)
Jubilee Justice
Kilometro 0
Laura Flanders Show
Look2Justice
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National Council for Incarcerated and Formerly Incarcerated Women and Girls
Partners for Justice
People's Advocacy Institute
Prison Policy Initiative
Protect Black Women Fund (fiscally sponsored by Social and Environmental Entrepreneurs)
Question Culture (fiscally sponsored by Possibility Labs)
Riverside Justice Table (a project of Starting Over, Inc)
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Safer Cities (fiscally sponsored by Player's Philanthropy Fund)
Scrutinize (fiscally sponsored by Civil Rights Corp)
Smart Justice California Education Fund (fiscally sponsored by Tides Foundation)
Solidaire Network
Southsiders Organized for Unity and Liberation
Success Stories
The Ahimsa Collective
The Chicago Community Bond Fund
The Garrison Project (fiscally sponsored by Investigative Reporters and Editors)
The Life Comes From It (fiscally sponsored by Youth Passageways)
The Political Report (dba Bolts Magazine)
The Promise of Justice Initiative
Unheard Voices Outreach
Worth Rises
Wren Collective (fiscally sponsored by Social and Environmental Entrepreneurs)
Zealous (fiscally sponsored by Tides Center)
OUR IMPACT
Our team has advised on more than $250 million in grantmaking to the field. These funds have launched and scaled organizations that are now key leaders in the national ecosystem of this work.
Some examples include:
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Founding capital for the creation of the JusticeLA coalition, which delivered on its purpose of stopping construction on a $3.4 billion jail facility in LA County, and which continues to this day as one of the most influential, effective, and innovative coalitions in the country.
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Founding capital for the Community Based Public Safety Collective (CBPS). CBPS is currently providing training and technical assistance to 63 organizations doing community violence intervention work in over a dozen cities across the country, where trusted community leaders intervene to stop serious violence before it happens. CBPS has secured over $11 million in federal grants over the last two years, and their work is largely responsible for the White House granting over $100 million in 2022 for CVI work nationwide.
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Early growth capital for Norris Henderson’s Voice of the Experienced (VOTE, based in Louisiana) with $550,000 in 2016, helping the organization grow from a team of three people into one of the most influential advocacy and organizing groups in the South. VOTE’s formerly-incarcerated led work has driven legislation restoring voting rights for 70,000 people, led the successful 2018 campaign to abolish Jim Crow era non-unanimous juries, and has been a constant presence of pressure in passing massive sentencing reforms and other bills.
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Founding capital to launch Life Comes From It, the only practitioner-led fund that’s resourcing restorative justice, indigenous peacemaking, and land-based healing work. The fund has since raised over $10 million from other donors.
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Early growth capital for Gina Clayton-Johnson’s Essie Justice Group with $600,000 2016. Essie has since become a powerful and respected national player, supporting women who have incarcerated loved ones and training them to engage in local and state advocacy, which has a strategic growth plan to engage millions of women.
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Founding capital for Fair and Just Prosecution (FJP), which supports elected prosecutors to implement fair and effective justice policies, while providing peer support across their network of dozens of prosecutors. FJP has trained and networked dozens of newly elected prosecutors in the largest jurisdictions in the country, ensuring the adoption of high quality policies and building resilience against regressive attacks on their leadership.
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Early growth capital for Bianca Tylek’s Worth Rises in 2017. Worth Rises has become the strongest singular force opposing bad actors in jail and prison industries in America. They’ve won a series of campaigns to make jail and prison calls free, which have thus far saved some of the poorest families in America $300 million, and counting.
HOW TO JOIN
The Just Impact Fund is a donor-advised fund administered by the National Philanthropic Trust. Thanks to the generous support of existing donors, all contributions go directly to strategic investments. Legal compliance, due diligence logistics, and grant management operations are provided without cost to donors, so that every dollar given goes to the work. Financial support can be publicly acknowledged or can remain anonymous.
FAQ
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No. We accept contributions of any size.
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No. Thanks to the generous support of existing donors, your dollars go directly to strategic investments.
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Money is held in the Just Impact DAF at the National Philanthropic Trust. Legal compliance, due diligence logistics and grant management operations are provided without cost to fund donors.
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There are multiple funds available to donors interested in racial and criminal justice. Just Impact is unique due to: our ecosystem approach, our focus on tracking and prioritizing impact and a high rate of return on investment, and our focus on making bets on organizations, campaigns and leaders at early stages. We regularly communicate with our donor colleagues to ensure we are sourcing the best opportunities and filling gaps to achieve the most impact.
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This is up to you. Donors who wish to be acknowledged will be named, and those that don’t will remain anonymous.
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We can support broad topical preferences (such as wanting to focus on women, or certain regions of the country).
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Yes, we will provide updates on grants upon request, and an annual report on giving.
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No, we will take care of the details for you. If you would like opportunities to engage directly with grantees or partake in learning sessions, we will work with you on a case by case basis to support that.