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The FurtherJustice Legal Accelerator Grant is not intended to support legal service organizations. The Legal Accelerator Grant will support community-based organizations that primarily provide non-legal services to community members and have decided to launch or expand a direct civil legal services program within the organization. The grant program is currently focused on getting legal services into non-traditional or intersecting settings (e.g., immigration advocacy organizations, homeless shelters, domestic violence agencies, community health centers, etc.).
However, if your organization is a legal services organization and is interested in partnering with a community-based organization that provides non-legal services to community members, we invite you to submit a joint application (see the Joint Applications section below).
See Selection Process.
No, the FurtherJustice Legal Accelerator Grant is intended to support the growth of a direct civil legal services program. The purpose of the grant is to support the program itself, and not any one aspect of the program. While in many cases, the hiring of a lawyers will be the first necessary step in the creation of a legal services program, the grant may be used to fund any expenses in creating (or expanding) a legal services program at a community-based organization including, without limitation, the salaries of non-lawyers, rent for private space for client meetings, legal research, court costs, the purchases of needed equipment, and certain fees for service.
FurtherJustice wants to support practical legal solutions that address the unmet civil legal needs of low-income and/or underserved individuals. We value pragmatic, targeted and client-centered solutions in addition to innovative solutions and view the community-based organizations as the experts in designing a legal services program that will best address the needs of their clients.
No, FurtherJustice has not limited its Legal Accelerator Grant program to any particular civil legal issue areas. We welcome applications from community-based organizations that have identified unmet civil legal needs in their community and plan to launch or expand a legal program to better address those needs, whatever the needs may be.
It depends. The Legal Accelerator Grant supports direct civil legal services within community-based organizations; it does not support other social services. If the reentry program will primarily involve direct civil legal services, such as advice with respect to employment or housing discrimination or assistance with government benefit denials, the program is eligible to apply for a FurtherJustice Legal Accelerator Grant. However, if the reentry program will primarily provide social services, such as job training or mental health counseling, it is not eligible for a FurtherJustice Legal Accelerator Grant.
No. The FurtherJustice Legal Accelerator Grant is intended to help organizations launch or expand direct civil legal services. We do not not fund programs to represent individuals in criminal cases.
Yes. As long as your organization intends to provide direct civil legal services to clients on their rights, your organization is eligible to apply for the Grant.
Yes. FurtherJustice does not require that the community members being helped have legal status in the United States. As long as the organization wants to provide direct civil legal services, such as assistance with immigration matters, the organization can apply for a FurtherJustice Legal Accelerator Grant.
The FurtherJustice Legal Accelerator Grant will fund organizations that include policy advocacy and community education in their direct civil legal services programs, but the Grant does not fund organizations that wish to create or expand programs that are solely focused on policy advocacy and community education and do not provide direct legal services.
At this time, the FurtherJustice Legal Accelerator Grant will only support organizations working with clients within Connecticut, New Jersey, and New York (excluding the Bronx, Brooklyn, Manhattan, Queens, and Staten Island). It is possible our geographic requirements will change in subsequent years. If so, our application and website will be updated at that time.
Yes, as long as the legal services program for which the organization is seeking support will significantly service one or more counties outside of the five boroughs of New York City, the organization is eligible for a Legal Accelerator Grant. For example, if the organization has been operating in and servicing the Bronx, but plans to offer or expand civil legal services for the Hudson Valley due to increased community ties and unmet needs within the region, then that organization is eligible to apply for a Grant.
Yes, but only if your organization has a fiscal sponsor that has 501(c)(3) charitable status.
Yes, your organization is eligible to apply for a Legal Accelerator Grant.
Your organization will only be eligible to apply for a Legal Accelerator Grant once it receives its exemption determination letter from the IRS, recognizing your organization’s tax-exempt charitable status, or if your organization is fiscally sponsored by an organization with 501(c)(3) charitable status.
Yes, FurtherJustice welcomes joint applications for the Legal Accelerator Grant from more than one organization working together. For example, if your community-based organization is interested in partnering with other community-based organizations with the intent of creating or expanding a legal program that will support your collective communities, we would accept a joint application.
If joint applicants are selected as semi-finalists after their first interview, FurtherJustice will work with applicants to assess and determine how funds will be distributed between and amongst the various organizations if selected as a grantee.
Yes. FurtherJustice welcomes applications from community-based organizations partnering with legal service organizations for the purpose of creating or expanding a legal program. Please note, however, that the Legal Accelerator Grant program is currently focused on expanding legal services into non-traditional or intersecting settings. Therefore, if a community-based organizations partners with a legal services organization, it is generally expected that the grant will be used to support a legal program that is primarily housed within the community-based organization or an intersecting setting, even if, for example, the lawyer works for the legal services organization.
Yes, every co-applicant in a joint application must have 501(c)(3) charitable status or have a fiscal sponsor with 501(c)(3) charitable status.
FurtherJustice provides $150,000 in support for each of the first two years of the grant, for a total of $300,000. FurtherJustice may additionally provide $75,000 as a matching grant in the third year.
After grantees are selected, FurtherJustice will work with grantees to determine the best payment schedule. Generally, however, funds will be disbursed four times during the two-year grant cycle.
Each year, FurtherJustice expects to select approximately 4 grantees for its Legal Accelerator Grant program.
If FurtherJustice selects joint applications to receive a Legal Accelerator Grant, FurtherJustice will work with the organizations that joined the submission to assess and determine how funds will be distributed between and amongst the various organizations if selected as a grantee. FurtherJustice is open to splitting grant funds between organizations as well as sub-grant structures provided that any organization receiving any portion of the grant has 501(c)(3) charitable status or has a fiscal sponsor with 501(c)(3) charitable status.
See Funding Plus
The co-founders of FurtherJustice, Jennifer Kroman and Akilah Browne, have experience in working with organizations to expand access to justice for low-income and underserved communities. Jennifer and Akilah are adept at working collaboratively with organizations to understand their plan and goals for establishing a legal services program, helping to test that plan and leveraging additional resources and partnerships with various stakeholders to bring that plan to fruition. Jennifer and Akilah worked closely together in respectively leading and coordinating the global pro bono practice at Cleary Gottlieb. During that time, Jennifer helped launch numerous pro bono legal services programs including in New Jersey to provide lawyers to detained immigrants seeking bond and a national program to provide lawyers to human trafficking survivors seeking to vacate criminal convictions. Akilah has coordinated several pro bono projects and helped bring them to scale, including clinics to assist individuals with naturalization applications and a partnership to collect data and represent individuals facing low-level marijuana convictions in Bronx Criminal Court.
Yes, our Legal Accelerator Grantees will be selected as a cohort and have the opportunity to connect with each other throughout the designated grant cycle. As additional Legal Accelerator Grantees are selected in subsequent years, FurtherJustice will make available to Grantees relevant capacity-building trainings and communication platforms to facilitate shared learning.
There are no character or word limits for the narrative questions on the Legal Accelerator Grant online application.