Illinois · Nonprofit
LEGAL AID FOR NEW ENTREPRENEURS INC
LEGAL AID FOR NEW ENTREPRENEURS INC (Illinois) receives grants from 2 organizations whose IRS filings report $123,907 to it, the largest being ALLIES FOR COMMUNITY BUSINESS INC ($103,907). 0 of them have funded it in more than one year.
- Revenue FY2025
- $152k
- Funders on record
- 2
- Grants received
- $124k
- Net assets
- $48k
What Legal Aid for New Entrepreneurs Inc does
Mission
Lane's mission is to empower low income small business owners by providing access to essential legal services. Our goal is to help these entrepreneurs establish and grow their businesses with confidence, ensuring they have the legal foundation they need to succeed.
As stated on its FY2025 Form 990-EZ.
Programs
Free legal representation and individual legal services: lane's primary program is providing free, individualized legal services to low income entrepreneurs and small business owners who otherwise lack access to legal counsel. Lane conducts intake and eligibility screening, identifies clients' legal needs, and coordinates the delivery of legal advice, brief services, and ongoing representation.lane's legal services focus on matters essential to starting, operating, and growing a small business, including business formation, contracts, employment compliance, commercial leasing, intellectual property, and other small business related legal issues. Legal services are delivered by experienced pro bono attorneys from law firms and corporate legal departments participating in lane's volunteer attorney network, with program oversight and coordination provided by lane.during the reporting year, lane provided free legal services to approximately 40 entrepreneurs and small business owners, supporting business formation, stability, and growth. Through this representation, clients were better able to operate legally compliant businesses, avoid costly disputes, and access economic opportunity.
$52,679 spent70% of program spendingLegal clinics and brief advice services: lane operates legal clinics that provide entrepreneurs with one time legal consultations and brief legal advice. Clinics are staffed by volunteer attorneys and are frequently conducted in partnership with community organizations serving small business owners.prior to each clinic, entrepreneurs submit legal questions or issue descriptions and are screened by lane. During clinic sessions, participants meet one on one with an attorney for a targeted legal consultation addressing their business concerns, identifying legal risks, and outlining next steps.these clinics allow lane to efficiently reach a larger number of early stage entrepreneurs while lowering legal barriers to business development. During the reporting year, lane hosted 4 legal clinics, serving 12 entrepreneurs across a variety of legal issue areas with the assistance of 12 volunteer attorneys.
$11,288 spent15% of program spendingLegal education workshops and trainings: lane provides free legal education workshops designed to equip early stage entrepreneurs with foundational legal knowledge necessary to run a business. Workshops are led by lane staff or volunteer attorneys and are offered in collaboration with community organizations and nonprofit partners.educational topics include entity selection, contracts, worker classification, licensing and permits, intellectual property, and other areas of law affecting small businesses.during the reporting year, lane's legal education programming reached approximately 200 entrepreneurs and community members, increasing awareness of legal requirements and helping participants proactively address legal risks before they escalate into disputes.
$11,288 spent15% of program spending
The 3 programs described on its FY2025 Form 990-EZ. Program spending in total: $75,255.
Leadership and staff
Chief executive
Melissa Picciola
Executive director
Board chair
Sara Ghadiri
Board president
As listed on its FY2025 Form 990-EZ.
Who funds it, year by year
Grant support over time, funder by funder — shade shows the grant size each year.
From the IRS filings of LEGAL AID FOR NEW ENTREPRENEURS INC’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
LEGAL AID FOR NEW ENTREPRENEURS INC leans on a few funders — its largest provides 84% 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
84% 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 LEGAL AID FOR NEW ENTREPRENEURS INC.
“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 LEGAL AID FOR NEW ENTREPRENEURS INC's grant income comes from Illinois funders.
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.
Against its field
LEGAL AID FOR NEW ENTREPRENEURS INC runs a healthier operating margin than three-quarters of the 1,547 crime & legal nonprofits its size.
this organization peer median middle 50% of peers· 1,547 crime & legal nonprofits $100k–$1M, FY2025
Organizations like LEGAL AID FOR NEW ENTREPRENEURS INC
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 Illinois
Nationally
Read directly from this organization’s own Form 990, as neutral context.
Footprint & structure
Files a return copy in 1 state
Screen this organization
A dated, signed PDF of the compliance screen for LEGAL AID FOR NEW ENTREPRENEURS INC: 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 LEGAL AID FOR NEW ENTREPRENEURS INC?
- LEGAL AID FOR NEW ENTREPRENEURS INC (Illinois) receives grants from 2 organizations whose IRS filings report $123,907 to it, the largest being ALLIES FOR COMMUNITY BUSINESS INC ($103,907). 0 of them have funded it in more than one year.
- How many funders does LEGAL AID FOR NEW ENTREPRENEURS INC have?
- IRS filings report 2 organizations giving $123,907 in grants to LEGAL AID FOR NEW ENTREPRENEURS INC.
- Who is the largest funder of LEGAL AID FOR NEW ENTREPRENEURS INC?
- ALLIES FOR COMMUNITY BUSINESS INC is the largest funder on record, with $103,907 in grants. The full list of funders is on this page.
- How can an organization like LEGAL AID FOR NEW ENTREPRENEURS INC find more funders?
- Start with the funders already giving here, then look at the foundations that back similar organizations in Illinois. 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 2025–2025), and the filings of 2 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