New York · Nonprofit
EMPIRE JUSTICE CENTER
EMPIRE JUSTICE CENTER (New York) receives grants from 25 organizations whose IRS filings report $5,671,988 to it, the largest being UNITED WAY OF GREATER ROCHESTER AND THE FINGER LAKES INC ($1,469,310). 13 of them have funded it in more than one year.
- Revenue FY2025
- $13M
- Funders on record
- 25
- Grants received
- $5.7M
- Net assets
- $2.7M
What Empire Justice Center does
Mission
To protect and strengthen the legal rights of people in new york state who are poor, disabled or disenfranchised through: systems change advocacy, training and support to other advocates and organizations, and high quality direct civil legal representation.
As stated on its FY2025 Form 990.
Programs
Crime victims and dv (see schedule o):empire justice leads the new york crime victims legal network, a partnership of civil legal organizations and victim assistance programs that connects victims of crime with information and assistance through its multifaceted online tool (ny crime victims legal help). In 2025, over 33,335 people used this tool to access know-your-rights resources and connect with agencies who could help them. In addition to leading the network, empire justice is also a direct services partner, providing legal services to more than 400 crime victims in monroe county, the hudson valley and on long island. An experienced domestic violence attorney provides technical assistance and training to legal services and domestic violence advocates statewide through state funding, reaching almost 700 advocates in 2025.
$1,881,496 spent$1,786,140 earned by the program16% of program spendingHousing and tenant advocacy (see schedule o):since 2012 empire justice has managed more than 60 contracts with legal services and housing counseling agencies working in foreclosure prevention outside of nyc, in addition to providing extensive training and technical assistance, as part of the nys office of the attorney general's homeownership protection program (hopp). As a direct services provider working in foreclosure with funding through hopp, united way and the city of rochester, empire justice helped more than 80 monroe county families facing foreclosure, avoiding or delaying loss of the home in almost half of all cases. With state funding, housing advocates in rochester work under the tenant defense project to identify and implement systemic solutions for tenants facing eviction with telesca center for justice partners, the legal aid society of rochester, lawny and justcause. On long island, advocates helped more than 160 families facing eviction in 2025 with emergency rental assistance program funding through the office of temporary and disability assistance (otda), through a subcontract with legal services of long island. Empire justice is also contracted by the community…
$3,021,385 spent$3,182,329 earned by the program25% of program spendingPublic benefits and dap (see schedule o):empire justice contracts with new york state to provide training, support and technical assistance to disability advocacy program (dap) grantees, delivering 18 trainings and educating more than 730 statewide dap advocates in 2025. As a dap grantee, empire justice provides legal assistance to people in western new york who have been inappropriately denied or terminated from federal disability and supplemental security income programs, helping clients obtain more than $1.28 million in wrongfully denied ssi/ssd benefits, and securing $68,584 in monthly ssi/ssd benefits in 2025. Public benefits advocates help new york families access food stamps and cash assistance and navigate the fair hearing process to challenge decisions about their benefits. Empire justice is working to protect each of the 50,000 recipients of temporary assistance and supplemental nutrition assistance program (snap) benefits through ongoing legal action. Its aim is to uphold the rights of applicants and recipients of temporary assistance benefits to receive timely fair hearing decisions. State and federal regulations as well as principles of due process require that otda…
$1,748,338 spent$1,685,410 earned by the program14% of program spendingCivil rights and health: empire justice protects the civil rights of people with disabilities, d/deaf and hard-of-hearing communities, and people who identify as lgbtq+, leveraging the law to combat discrimination and assisting more than 270 people in 2025. Empire justice also worked with nearly 180 new yorkers to navigate and maximize their health insurance benefits in 2025.
$429,953 spent$424,738 earned by the program4% of program spendingOther/general: this consists of various grants and contracts, fees, and program income that are used to provide a range of services and undertake various activities related to the provision of legal services, advocacy, training and technical assistance.
$5,000,016 spent$4,624,162 earned by the program41% of program spending
The 5 programs described on its FY2025 Form 990, listed largest first by expense. Program spending in total: $12,081,188.
The organization over time
Each line starts at 100 in 2017, so what you read is the shape rather than the size: 150 means half as much again as 2017, 50 means half. The number beside each label in the key is where it ended. The shaded band is where the middle 50% of its peers' revenue would sit, given their growth.
Balance sheet
Total assets and total liabilities at each year end, in dollars. The largest one-year move in total assets was 2019 to 2020, from $2.5M to $3.6M (+43%).
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: 2017 2% · 2018 3% · 2019 1% · 2020 3% · 2021 14%. Grants only. Government contracts and fees sit inside program revenue.
6% of EMPIRE JUSTICE CENTER’s revenue is contributions — more earned-revenue than three-quarters of its peers (95% for the typical peer).
Surplus & reserves
Operating surplus or deficit each year, and months of liquidity in hand. 4 of the last 9 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.
Chief executive
Kristin Lilley Brown
President and CEO
Board chair
Emily E Whalen Esq
Chair
As listed on its FY2025 Form 990.
The chief executive listed changed between the FY2021 and FY2022, and between the FY2022 and FY2023 filings.
Who funds it, year by year
2017 → 2023: the base broadened from 7 funders to 12 funders, grant income rose $354k → $808k.
4 of 25 of your funders are donor-advised or pass-through sponsors (tagged DAF) — 35% of grant dollars received. That money is really individual donors directing a sponsor; the institutions to cultivate are the non-DAF funders.
From the IRS filings of EMPIRE JUSTICE CENTER’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
EMPIRE JUSTICE CENTER has a broad base — no single funder exceeds 26% of grant income, and it takes 3 funders to reach half.
the vertical line marks half of all grant income — 3 funders to its left
70% of the income these shares are computed over arrives through pass-through sponsors or from payers whose filings do not say what kind of payment it is. Concentration is still measured over all of it, because the money is real; what it does not support is a claim about how many institutions have chosen to fund EMPIRE JUSTICE CENTER.
Largest funder’s share by year: 2017 43% · 2018 81% · 2019 43% · 2020 44% · 2021 52% · 2022 29% · 2023 42% — 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.
How long its funders stay
27% of EMPIRE JUSTICE CENTER's funders are still giving 3 years after their first grant; 52% give in more than one year at all.
Share of funders still giving k years after their first recorded grant, pooled across every acquisition cohort. A funder counts as retained in a year only if it made a grant that year. Measured to FY2023, the last fiscal year that has finished arriving — a funder cannot be counted as lapsed in a year most filers have not reached.
Where its funders are
90% of EMPIRE JUSTICE CENTER's grant income comes from New York funders.
In-state vs out-of-state, by year
Funder states come from each funder’s own filing. $2.0M arriving through sponsors registered in 3 states is excluded from the map and the split above: a sponsor holds money on a donor’s behalf, so its registered address would place those dollars somewhere no donor need ever have been. 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.
Against its field
EMPIRE JUSTICE CENTER's funding base is broadening — from 7 funders to 12 as grant income climbed.
this organization peer median middle 50% of peers· 152 crime & legal nonprofits $10M–$100M, FY2025
Government funding EMPIRE JUSTICE CENTER receives
Grants and contracts to this organization from federal (USASpending) and state checkbooks, reconciled to its EIN. $2.9M on record — $2.9M federal, $260 state.
- Department of the Treasury$1.6M
- Department of Health and Human Services$1.3M
- FEDERAL$260
Federal grants vs contracts are distinguished; state line items keep their reported category. Matched by name + geography (the BMF), so coverage is partial and precision-first.
Organizations like EMPIRE JUSTICE CENTER
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 New York
Nationally
Read directly from this organization’s own Form 990, as neutral context.
Where the money goes
96% of spending goes to programs.
Governance
Public support
97%
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 EMPIRE JUSTICE CENTER: 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 EMPIRE JUSTICE CENTER?
- EMPIRE JUSTICE CENTER (New York) receives grants from 25 organizations whose IRS filings report $5,671,988 to it, the largest being UNITED WAY OF GREATER ROCHESTER AND THE FINGER LAKES INC ($1,469,310). 13 of them have funded it in more than one year.
- How many funders does EMPIRE JUSTICE CENTER have?
- IRS filings report 25 organizations giving $5,671,988 in grants to EMPIRE JUSTICE CENTER, 13 of which have funded it in more than one year.
- Who is the largest funder of EMPIRE JUSTICE CENTER?
- UNITED WAY OF GREATER ROCHESTER AND THE FINGER LAKES INC is the largest funder on record, with $1,469,310 in grants. The full list of funders is on this page.
- How can an organization like EMPIRE JUSTICE CENTER find more funders?
- Start with the funders already giving here, then look at the foundations that back similar organizations in New York. The funding by cause and by state pages list the largest funders for a given area and how to approach them.
Play a game about who funds Empire Justice Center →
These figures are read directly from IRS Form 990 / 990-PF e-file XML: this organization’s own return for FY2025 (financials across 2017–2025), and the filings of 25 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