California · Nonprofit
JUSTICE RISING INTERNATIONAL
JUSTICE RISING INTERNATIONAL (California) receives grants from 26 organizations whose IRS filings report $2,766,161 to it, the largest being FIDELITY INVESTMENTS CHARITABLE GIFT FUND ($596,995). 16 of them have funded it in more than one year, and 57% of the money arrives through donor-advised or pass-through sponsors rather than from an institution directly.
- Revenue FY2024
- $1.2M
- Funders on record
- 26
- Grants received
- $2.8M
- Net assets
- $348k
What Justice Rising International does
Mission
Justice rising transforms war zones by strengthening education systems and improving access to quality schooling in partnership with public and private school operators.
As stated on its FY2024 Form 990.
Program
On its FY2024 return the organization reported starting a significant new program.
In 2024, justice rising began to apply its smoll steps framework-a model for advancing quality education in conflict settings-beyond its own school network. Developed in 2023, the smoll steps framework helps school leaders and educators focus on incremental, high-impact improvements that ensure students are safe, motivated, learning, in schools that are legitimate and sustainable. Building on the success of this approach, justice rising launched a 30-school pilot in partnership with the north kivu provincial government (edu-nc) to strengthen teaching and school management practices across public schools in the province. The pilot represents a significant step toward scaling justice rising's evidence-based model and adapting it for use within government systems. Through this initiative, justice rising began training school leaders and teachers on the smoll steps framework and deploying tools such as the chalkboard guides, our structured pedagogy resource, to improve classroom instruction and student outcomes. These updates mark a shift from solely implementing justice rising-run schools to also supporting broader system strengthening and capacity building within public education, extending our mission's impact to reach more students and educators across eastern drc.
Its own explanation, from Schedule O of that return (Part III, line 2).
Since 2015, justice rising has been launching and operating schools in conflict-affected areas of eastern democratic republic of the congo. We currently operate 23 schools, providing quality education to more than 4,000 children whose access to safety and learning is continually threatened by decades of conflict and instability. Despite these challenges and limited operating resources, our students consistently outperform national academic averages, and our schools are recognized as sought-after workplaces for teachers across the region. Our success is driven by evidence-based pedagogy and locally led school management practices, refined over years of experience working in contexts of protracted crisis.in 2024, despite ongoing conflict-related challenges, our students continued to excel academically. One hundred percent of students passed the national primary school exit exams, and they continued to outperform national averages in early-grade reading and math assessments. Our schools maintained gender parity (52% girls enrolled), and all campuses passed government building and sanitation inspections.in september 2024, justice rising also launched a 30-school pilot in partnership…
$1,064,152 spent$20,921 earned by the program100% of program spending
The program described on its FY2024 Form 990. Program spending in total: $1,064,152.
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 2020 to 2021, from $452k to $669k (+48%).
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.
98% of JUSTICE RISING INTERNATIONAL’s revenue is contributions — more reliant on donations than three-quarters of its peers (48% for the typical peer).
Surplus & reserves
Operating surplus or deficit each year, and months of liquidity in hand. 3 of the last 8 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
Cassandra Lee
Co-fndr, executive director
Board chair
Warren Allan
Board chair
As listed on its FY2024 Form 990.
Who funds it, year by year
2017 → 2023: the base broadened from 2 funders to 12 funders, grant income rose $5k → $437k.
11 of 26 of your funders are donor-advised or pass-through sponsors (tagged DAF) — 57% 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 JUSTICE RISING INTERNATIONAL’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
JUSTICE RISING INTERNATIONAL has a broad base — no single funder exceeds 22% 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 JUSTICE RISING INTERNATIONAL.
Largest funder’s share by year: 2017 70% · 2018 41% · 2019 53% · 2020 21% · 2021 35% · 2022 24% · 2023 39% — diversifying over time.
“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
54% of JUSTICE RISING INTERNATIONAL's funders are still giving 3 years after their first grant; 62% 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
57% of JUSTICE RISING INTERNATIONAL's grant income arrives through donor-advised or pass-through sponsors, whose addresses record where the money is held rather than where the donor is. Of the $1.2M that is directly attributable, 51% of it comes from funders outside California, across 7 states.
In-state vs out-of-state, by year
Funder states come from each funder’s own filing. $1.6M arriving through sponsors registered in 11 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
JUSTICE RISING INTERNATIONAL has grown faster than half of the 11,761 education nonprofits its size.
this organization peer median middle 50% of peers· 11,761 education nonprofits $1M–$10M, FY2024
Organizations like JUSTICE RISING INTERNATIONAL
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
76% of spending goes to programs.
Governance
Public support
93%
Share of support from the public (Schedule A) — the basis for its public-charity status.
Footprint & structure
Files a return copy in 24 states
Part of a family of 3 related entities
- Justice Rising Canada · exempt
- Justice Rising Drc · exempt
- Justice Rising UK · exempt
Screen this organization
A dated, signed PDF of the compliance screen for JUSTICE RISING INTERNATIONAL: 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 JUSTICE RISING INTERNATIONAL?
- JUSTICE RISING INTERNATIONAL (California) receives grants from 26 organizations whose IRS filings report $2,766,161 to it, the largest being FIDELITY INVESTMENTS CHARITABLE GIFT FUND ($596,995). 16 of them have funded it in more than one year, and 57% of the money arrives through donor-advised or pass-through sponsors rather than from an institution directly.
- How many funders does JUSTICE RISING INTERNATIONAL have?
- IRS filings report 26 organizations giving $2,766,161 in grants to JUSTICE RISING INTERNATIONAL, 16 of which have funded it in more than one year.
- Who is the largest funder of JUSTICE RISING INTERNATIONAL?
- FIDELITY INVESTMENTS CHARITABLE GIFT FUND is the largest funder on record, with $596,995 in grants. The full list of funders is on this page.
- How can an organization like JUSTICE RISING INTERNATIONAL 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.
Play a game about who funds Justice Rising International →
These figures are read directly from IRS Form 990 / 990-PF e-file XML: this organization’s own return for FY2024 (financials across 2017–2024), and the filings of 26 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 22, 2026. What this page cannot tell you · view filing