California · Nonprofit
California Access to Justice Commission
California Access to Justice Commission (California) receives grants from 3 organizations whose IRS filings report $1,204,300 to it, the largest being THE CALIFORNIA ENDOWMENT ($1,150,000). 2 of them have funded it in more than one year.
- Revenue FY2025
- $7.2M
- Funders on record
- 3
- Grants received
- $1.2M
- Net assets
- $513k
What California Access to Justice Commission does
Mission
The California Access to Justice Commission advances access to justice for all Californians by expanding resources, removing barriers, and developing innovations so everyone can effectively and efficiently resolve their civil legal issues.
As stated on its FY2025 Form 990.
Programs
On its FY2024 return the organization reported starting a significant new program.
1. The Legislature funded a one-time $5 million program that we administered for free legal help to immigrants and other vulnerable groups. 2. We completed and published an Issue Brief on shortages of court-employed certified shorthand reporters, and the consequence denial of access to official transcripts.
Its own explanation, from Schedule O of that return (Part III, line 2).
With funding from the State Budget Act, our Infrastructure and Innovation grants strengthen legal aid nonprofits and start new forms of legal help for low-income Californians. Year 3 (one-year grants beginning April 2023) & Year 4 (one-year grants beginning April 2024) and Supplemental (one-year grants beginning May 2025) were each awarded $4,875,000 in four quarterly installments spanning the fiscal year ended June 30, 2025, with 44, 49, and 43 grants respectively. The projects funded by the grants provided legal help to thousands of Californians. Reports on the grants are available at https://calatj.org/grants/legal-aid-infrastructure-innovation-grants.
$6,148,407 spentof which $6,093,750 as grants93% of program spendingResponding to the need highlighted by the Legal Aid Association of California and in our report about the crisis in legal aid recruitment and retention (https://calatj.org/publications/legal-aid-recruitment-retention-and-diversity), the Legislature in 2023 authorized legal aid programs to use Interest on Lawyers Trust Account and Equal Access Funds for a tax-advantaged Loan Repayment Assistance Program administered by CalATJ. CalATJ obtained its license from the Department of Financial Protection and innovation in mid-April, and began operations before June 30, 2024. As of June 30, 2025, fourteen contributing legal aid organizations had donated over $650,000 ($354,571 in the calendar year) and nominated 300 participants to receive distributions. As federal loan interest rates and monthly payments increase, LRAP programs are all the more important.
$466,199 spentof which $354,571 as grants7% of program spending- We released a report about the current challenges California litigants face because too few court reporters are employed by trial courts.(https://calatj.org/publications/a2r ) One million Superior Court hearings a year are conducted without providing an official transcript. The report described the rights and interests at stake, the harms this causes, and options for addressing it. It has been widely quoted in submissions to the ongoing writ proceeding on the issue in the California Supreme Court, FVAP v. Superior Courts, S288176, and in submissions to the Legislature regarding a bill to allow greater use of electronic recording subject to conditions. - LRS/Nonprofit Collaborations Last year, CalATJ supported the proposed amendments to Business and Professions Code Section 6155. The amendments permit nonprofits to participate in lawyer referrals, under a new exception to the prohibition against an entity that is not a Certified Lawyer Referral Service (LRS) from making referrals to specific lawyers. CalATJ has provided the State Bar with a report that provides suggested regulations, as well as suggestions, and questions for further consideration on ways for LRSs to enhance…
$13,268 spent$50,000 earned by the program0% of program spendingWith a grant from the California Lawyers Foundation, we have developed a project, Your Life, Your Plan, to connect individuals with serious health conditions referred by health care providers to County Law Librarians, and then to pro bono and affordable lawyers to locate and complete the following documents (as needed): Advance Health-care Directive, Psychiatric Advance Directive, Statutory Will, Simple Revocable Trust, Power of Attorney.
$4,103 spent0% of program spending
The 4 programs described on its FY2024 Form 990, listed largest first by expense. Program spending in total: $6,631,977.
The organization over time
Each line starts at 100 in 2021, so what you read is the shape rather than the size: 150 means half as much again as 2021, 50 means half. The number beside each label in the key is where it ended.
Balance sheet
Total assets and total liabilities at each year end, in dollars. The largest one-year move in total assets was 2024 to 2025, from $3.0M to $6.7M (+127%).
How it's funded, over time
Each bar is one year's revenue split into where it came from, and every bar is the same height — these are shares, not amounts, so a year that raised twice as much looks the same size. Hover a bar for the split.
Government-grant reliance: 2021 0% · 2022 63% · 2023 95% · 2024 92% · 2025 91%. Grants only. Government contracts and fees sit inside program revenue.
Surplus & reserves
Operating surplus or deficit each year, and months of liquidity in hand. 1 of the last 5 reported years ran a deficit.
reserve
Leadership and staff
The officers, directors, trustees and key employees listed on each return. Joined and no longer listed compare each filing with the year before, matching people by surname and first initial; a year after a gap, or a roster under three people, has no comparison.
Board chair
Catherine Blakemore
Chair
As listed on its FY2025 Form 990.
Who funds it, year by year
2022 → 2023: the base held at 1 funder, grant income fell $750k → $400k.
From the IRS filings of California Access to Justice Commission’s funders (the co-funder graph). Association, not causation. Trends are read to FY2023, the last fiscal year that has finished arriving. FY2024–FY2026 are still being filed and are shown unshaded; they do not move any figure on this page.
How concentrated its funding is
California Access to Justice Commission leans on a few funders — its largest provides 95% of grant income and the top three 100%; half comes from just 1 funder.
the vertical line marks half of all grant income — 1 funder to its left
Largest funder’s share by year: 2022 100% · 2023 100% — broadly stable.
“Effective funders” = inverse Herfindahl index (1 / Σ shareᵢ²) — the number of equal-sized funders that would give the same concentration. Trends are read to FY2023, the last fiscal year that has finished arriving. FY2024–FY2026 are still being filed and are shown unshaded; they do not move any figure on this page.
Where its funders are
100% of California Access to Justice Commission's grant income comes from California funders.
In-state vs out-of-state, by year
Funder states come from each funder’s own filing. Trends are read to FY2023, the last fiscal year that has finished arriving. FY2024–FY2026 are still being filed and are shown unshaded; they do not move any figure on this page.
Organizations like California Access to Justice Commission
Organizations whose mission and program text most resemble this one, by semantic similarity over every organization in the US filings — the closest peers, and often the clearest route to shared or prospective funders.
In California
Nationally
Read directly from this organization’s own Form 990, as neutral context.
Where the money goes
94% of spending goes to programs.
Governance
Public support
96%
Share of support from the public (Schedule A) — the basis for its public-charity status.
Footprint & structure
Files a return copy in 1 state
Screen this organization
A dated, signed PDF of the compliance screen for California Access to Justice Commission: IRS status (Business Master File, Publication 78, auto-revocation), the OFAC sanctions lists, the Internal Revenue Bulletin, and California registration, with the Rev. Proc. 2018-32 §8.01 reliance elements stated element by element. Generated from the current files at the moment you download it.
Screens are triage, not determinations; a source that cannot be read reports not screened, never clear. Screen this nonprofit · How the screen works · on the API as GET /api/screening/{ein}?format=pdf
Questions and answers
- Who funds California Access to Justice Commission?
- California Access to Justice Commission (California) receives grants from 3 organizations whose IRS filings report $1,204,300 to it, the largest being THE CALIFORNIA ENDOWMENT ($1,150,000). 2 of them have funded it in more than one year.
- How many funders does California Access to Justice Commission have?
- IRS filings report 3 organizations giving $1,204,300 in grants to California Access to Justice Commission, 2 of which have funded it in more than one year.
- Who is the largest funder of California Access to Justice Commission?
- THE CALIFORNIA ENDOWMENT is the largest funder on record, with $1,150,000 in grants. The full list of funders is on this page.
- How can an organization like California Access to Justice Commission find more funders?
- Start with the funders already giving here, then look at the foundations that back similar organizations in California. The funding by cause and by state pages list the largest funders for a given area and how to approach them.
These figures are read directly from IRS Form 990 / 990-PF e-file XML: this organization’s own return for FY2025 (financials across 2021–2025), and the filings of 3 funders that report grants to it. “On record” means captured in the filings we have parsed — a funder that does not e-file, or whose grant detail is not itemized, will not appear. Filings run roughly 12–24 months behind. Trends on this page end at FY2023, the last fiscal year that has finished arriving; later years are shown and marked, and move no figure. Data on this page was exported October 14, 2026. What this page cannot tell you · view filing