CJI’s singular Funding Model is grounded in the core belief that—when it comes to criminal justice—transformational change begins by supporting organizations that are amplifying the leadership of directly impacted people.
Our grantmaking prioritizes project proposals that directly addresses issues affecting marginalized populations, including Black and Brown communities, women, young people, indigenous people, immigrants, LGBTQ+, incarcerated and formerly incarcerated people, low-income communities, and others most harmed by the U.S. criminal legal and immigration systems.
CJI provides an alternative, progressive model for giving that institutionalizes a commitment to cross-class accountability and power-sharing that appeals to the next generation of donors. CJI’s model supports the leadership of those directly impacted by incarceration and criminalization in directing movement resources while also engaging the deep support of those not directly impacted.
CJI looks for organizations with a clear vision for how their work will bring about systemic change and strengthen the larger movement to transform the criminal legal system, including through intersectional coalitions building power for transformational change. By serving as a national incubator for seedling organizations that build community power and awareness from the bottom up, CJI funding decisions are creative and transformative in how they shift resources to critical and under-resourced areas of the movement.
