“Urgent” is not a strong enough word to describe our current circumstances. This summer, people most impacted by the criminal legal system face death by murder and disease, inhumane conditions of incarceration, empty wallets and empty cupboards. As we scramble to protect ourselves and one another, our government doubles down on mass incarceration, spending billions…
Like many of you, we started off 2020 with hope—gearing up for our 20th anniversary, celebrating over $6.7 million awarded in grants, and the first round of grants totaling $400,000 awarded through our newest Circle, the FreeHER Circle. But then a raging, uncontrolled pandemic ravaged our low-income communities, left a trail of infections and deaths…
On Tuesday, July 14, 2020 at 9:30 AM, the NYC Landmarks Preservation Commission will hold a public hearing by teleconference with respect to the property located at 227 Duffield Street and which will be followed by a public meeting. The final order and estimated times for each application will be posted on the Landmarks Preservation…
CJI is proud to announce its 20th year of grant-making to grassroot organizations working to transform the current U.S. criminal legal system. The present moment in history places our movement at a critical juncture. CJI believes that formerly incarcerated and directly impacted movement leaders and their organizations, working at the grassroots and drawing from experience,…
April 1, 2020 Beloved CJI Friends & Supporters, On behalf of CJI, I would like to send my most heartfelt well-wishes for your safety and health during this unprecedented public health catastrophe. Here at CJI, we are taking some very difficult steps to ensure the safety and health of our staff, Funding…
CJI Launches Campaign to Support Formerly Incarcerated Women & Girls who are Transforming the Movement to End Mass Incarceration Brooklyn, NEW YORK, February 1, 2020 – The Circle for Justice Innovations (CJI) is an organization that works to end mass incarceration and criminalization throughout the country. It does this by forming giving circles…
CJI welcomes a new fiscal sponsor, NEO Philanthropy in January 2019! We’re excited that our partnership with NEO will make it possible for us to work with organizations that don’t have 501(c)(3)s! Wider reach and faster processing of grants will allow CJI to better impact the movement! Welcome to your blog post. Use this space…
From October 2-6, 2019 the CJI team was in Montgomery, Alabama, to launch the newest and first fund of its kind in CJI history, the FreeHer Circle. Focused on ending the mass criminalization and incarceration of women and girls, the CJI FreeHer Circle commenced at the third annual FreeHer National Conference, organized by Andrea James…
CJI Celebrates Andrea James & the National Council of Incarcerated and Formerly Incarcerated Women & Girls Deborah Peterson Small Last week, CJI staff and FreeHer Circle members traveled to Montgomery, Alabama to join more than 500 formerly incarcerated women and girls and other criminal justice activists at the Second Annual Conference of the…
227 Duffield St., located on Abolitionist Place in downtown Brooklyn, is the last known standing historic site in Brooklyn where well-known abolitionists lived and where people found freedom through the Underground Railroad. Its demolition is imminent. Since the City’s downtown Brooklyn development plan demolished all other Duffield Street historic residences, 227 Duffield represents the last…