Criminal Justice Philanthropy News
Most Recent
The California Endowment’s Big New Brick-and-Mortar Project
The funder broke ground on a multi-use center aimed at serving some of L.A.’s most vulnerable.
Cannabis Philanthropy: A Tale of Two Landscapes
Rescheduling has opened doors for cannabis research, but many of the organizations working on criminal justice weren’t in the room. Here’s a look at the landscape, and where the money isn’t going.
A Look Back at MacArthur’s Big Bet to Reduce Jail Populations
Over 10 years, the Safety and Justice Challenge supported more than 100 communities to find solutions to overreliance on jails. Here’s a closer look.
5 Things to Know About Philanthropy in Chicago
With a well-established culture of giving and lots of prominent funders, the nation’s third-most populous city is a philanthropy hotspot.
The Artificial Incarceration-Immigration Funding Divide
Two funding leaders make a forceful case that siloed grantmaking is holding advocates back from confronting Trump-era immigrant detention and solitary confinement.
Community-Based Violence Prevention Gets a $63 Million Boost from The Audacious Project
The Scaling Safety program aims to reduce crime rates in select cities by 50% in five years and improve public health in the process.
7 Questions with Arnold Ventures’ Criminal Justice Head Jennifer Doleac
Arnold Ventures’ sometimes-controversial executive vice president of criminal justice talks funding for science-based reform.
After DOJ Cuts, Everytown for Gun Safety Steps Up to Keep Communities Safe
The Trump administration has slashed evidence-based community intervention programs that have been shown to prevent gun violence. Can funding from Everytown and others help?
Agnes Gund Was Much More than Your Archetypal “Old World” Arts Patron
The collector and philanthropist, who passed away this month at 87, launched the Art for Justice Fund to reduce mass incarceration in the U.S.
This Philanthropic Partnership Aims to Reduce Youth Incarceration in L.A. How Is It Faring?
With a renewed contract and an injection of philanthropic dollars, Ready to Rise will continue its work to support youth in Los Angeles for another seven years.
Meet a New Billion-Dollar Fund from a Billionaire Crypto-Science Power Couple
With a distinctive funding process and asset base, the Navigation Fund offers one more glimpse at where the giving of the rising mega-rich may be headed. Also, it’s looking into sentient AI.
The Elevate Prize Foundation: From Humble Beginnings to “Making Good Famous”
Joseph Deitch discusses his philanthropy and how it aims to build visibility for social sector leaders, in part by just “giving them the ball” and letting them run with it.
Many Boys and Men of Color Struggle. This California Funder Network Is on the Case
California Funders for Boys and Men of Color has been around since 2014 and has notched wins in the state, despite ongoing national setbacks.
Crankstart Steps Up to Defend Immigrants in San Francisco
Chalk up the billionaire-backed grantmaker as one that’s willing to act amid Trump’s mass deportation campaign.
The Roy and Patricia Disney Family Foundation’s New Era of Intergenerational Philanthropy
One of the most prominent Disney clan philanthropies has gone through a generational changing of the guard over the past several years. We dig into how this family grantmaker is evolving.
Mellon and Haymarket Books Back Justice-System-Impacted Writers
The foundation and the nonprofit book publisher are partnering to expand the Writing Freedom Fellowship — positive news as federal funding for the arts is gutted.
ReImagine Freedom Wants to Move Past “Nonprofiting Our Way to Freedom”
Thanks to a recent partnership with the Liberty Hill Foundation, the group is getting into impact investing and incubating local businesses to benefit and empower formerly incarcerated young women and girls.
Arnold Ventures’ Grand Experiment in Making Prison Less Awful
The funder is backing research into alternative ways of treating incarcerated people, including a more Scandinavian approach to imprisonment.
The Just Trust Is Becoming a Justice Reform Funding Intermediary
Approaching the end of its five-year, $350 million commitment from the Chan Zuckerberg Initiative, The Just Trust is pivoting to intermediary funding and other efforts.
Meet the Midwest’s Four Largest Criminal Justice Funders
Foundations active in Indiana, Michigan and Nebraska are funding nonprofits in this often philanthropically overlooked region.
Philanthropy Has a Key Role to Play in Reimagining Public Safety
Guest authors Quintin Williams and Vikrant Reddy make a cross-ideological case for alternative first response as a path forward for public safety giving.
The Real Story Behind the San Francisco DA’s Spats with Foundation Funders
An inflammatory open letter from the San Francisco DA’s office to the MacArthur Foundation was just the tip of the iceberg.
Incarcerated Firefighters Spark Redoubled Effort to End Prison Slavery and Slave Wages
California’s incarcerated firefighters are playing a vital role in combating the L.A. wildfires. Funders and nonprofits are looking for ways to support them and prison workers more generally.
25 Philanthropy Predictions for 2025
“May you live in interesting times,” goes the old proverb. Here we offer some of our best guesses about what the year has in store.
How the Laughing Gull Foundation Backs Progressive Work in the Deep South
Drawing on a savvy Berkshire Hathaway investment, the family foundation aims to spend down all its assets by 2036. Here’s what family members and leaders had to say.
Four Questions for Barry Segal, Founder of the Segal Family Foundation
We sat down with octogenarian Barry Segal, the force behind three foundations, to ask about what drives his giving, why he’s critical of DAFs, his advice for other wealthy people, and more.
Are Smaller Funders the Future of Criminal Justice Giving?
Focus for Health Foundation and Ashley Pettus started their criminal justice giving when the field was the next hot new thing for funders. Unlike others, they’ve kept giving.
Glenn and Amanda Fuhrman Give for the Arts, Justice Reform and More
The financier and his wife are major art collectors, and the visual arts are a big focus for them — along with giving for justice reform, education and film.
This Quiet Network of Criminal Justice Funders Moved $500 Million Last Year
In a field where philanthropic spending has plummeted recently, the Criminal Justice Funders Forum is a low-radar hub for grantmakers that move a substantial portion of all national support.
How a New Microgrant Project Is Empowering Incarcerated People
The Inside Impact Fund, a collaboration between two California criminal justice nonprofits, is distributing its first round of grants to support projects designed by and for people living in California prisons.
