Washington, D.C. · Nonprofit
RISING FOR JUSTICE INC
RISING FOR JUSTICE INC (Washington, D.C.) receives grants from 23 organizations whose IRS filings report $15,569,227 to it, the largest being THE DISTRICT OF COLUMBIA BAR FOUNDATION ($13,888,915). 12 of them have funded it in more than one year.
- Revenue FY2025
- $3.0M
- Funders on record
- 23
- Grants received
- $16M
- Net assets
- $1.7M
What Rising for Justice Inc does
Mission
The mission of rising for justice is to leverage the collective forces of law students and social work students who work along with our experienced attorneys to achieve justice for our clients. We directly represent individuals who cannot afford counsel before the district of columbia courts and various administrative agencies. We train law students from area law schools in trial advocacy and other lawyering skills and seek to instill in them a commitment to pro bono service. We also serve as a field placement for graduate students from msw programs who work on teams with our law students and attorneys to serve the social services needs of our clients through an interdisciplinary approach to client representation.
As stated on its FY2025 Form 990.
Programs
Housing program: rising for justice (rfj) advances housing stability and prevents eviction through its housing advocacy and litigation clinic (halc), stabilizing communities (stabcomm) program, and tenant justice program (tjp). Together, these initiatives provide critical legal representation and social-work support to low-income dc residents facing eviction, unsafe housing conditions, or barriers to stable housing. Dc's ongoing housing crisis, marked by soaring rents, loss of affordable units, and widening racial disparities, has left many tenants vulnerable to displacement and homelessness.rfj's unique position as the sole legal services provider in dc offering immediate legal advice and eviction defense in the landlord and tenant branch of dc superior court underscores the urgency and significance of its work. Attorneys, law students, and social workers conduct in-person intake at the courthouse, assess each tenant's legal and social needs, and provide advice, brief services, or extended representation. Rfj's interdisciplinary model combines courtroom advocacy with holistic case management, connecting clients to rental assistance, food security programs, mental-health care, and…
$88,003 spent$96,119 earned by the program3% of program spendingExpungement & record sealing: rising for justice (rfj) provides legal representation and holistic support to dc residents seeking to seal or expunge criminal records. Nearly 68,000 dc residents, disproportionately people of color, live with criminal records that restrict access to employment, housing, and education. Black residents make up 43% of the city's population but 86% of arrests, a disparity that perpetuates cycles of poverty and exclusion.through its criminal record sealing program, rfj assists clients in navigating complex eligibility and filing requirements, drafting motions, collecting documentation, and preparing evidence of rehabilitation and community engagement. The program integrates legal and social work services, ensuring that every client not only secures record relief but also connects with employment, housing, and education resources to sustain long-term stability. By combining legal expertise and wraparound support, rfj helps clients obtain life-changing relief. Once records are sealed, individuals experience measurable gains in employment and income, with studies showing average wage increases of 22% within 1 year. The program restores opportunity, dignity,…
$230,503 spent9% of program spendingRespondent representation: rising for justice (rfj) operates the respondent representation program (rrp) to ensure due process and equity in civil protection order (cpo) and anti-stalking order (aso) cases in dc. Each year, over 6,000 of these cases are filed in the dc superior court. Petitioners often receive legal assistance, while respondents, who face serious risks to housing, employment, and family stability, are almost always unrepresented. Launched in 2018 at the request of the dc superior court, the rrp addresses one of the most significant gaps in the city's civil justice system. Judges, attorney-negotiators, and court staff consistently affirm that when respondents have counsel, cases proceed more efficiently, outcomes are fairer, and compliance with court orders improves, enhancing safety for all parties.rfj's social work program supports the program and has a profound impact, promoting fairness, stabilizing families, preventing homelessness, and strengthening community safety. The rrp continues to stand as one of dc's few remaining pathways to equal justice, ensuring that both sides in protection-order cases have access to competent representation.
$2,333,578 spent88% of program spending
The 3 programs described on its FY2025 Form 990, listed largest first by expense. Program spending in total: $2,652,084.
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.
Balance sheet
Total assets and total liabilities at each year end, in dollars. The largest one-year move in total assets was 2021 to 2022, from $3.6M to $7.4M (+106%).
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 16% · 2022 7% · 2023 40%. Grants only. Government contracts and fees sit inside program revenue.
Surplus & reserves
Operating surplus or deficit each year, and months of liquidity in hand. 5 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
Chijioke Akamigbo
Executive director
As listed on its FY2025 Form 990.
Who funds it, year by year
2017 → 2023: the base broadened from 4 funders to 11 funders, grant income rose $191k → $4.1M.
5 of 23 of your funders are donor-advised or pass-through sponsors (tagged DAF) — 8% 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 RISING FOR JUSTICE 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
RISING FOR JUSTICE INC leans on a few funders — its largest provides 89% of grant income and the top three 98%; half comes from just 1 funder.
the vertical line marks half of all grant income — 1 funder to its left
98% 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 RISING FOR JUSTICE INC.
Largest funder’s share by year: 2017 76% · 2018 95% · 2019 89% · 2020 93% · 2021 92% · 2022 95% · 2023 88% — growing more concentrated.
“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
47% of RISING FOR JUSTICE INC'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
98% of RISING FOR JUSTICE INC's grant income comes from Washington, D.C. funders.
In-state vs out-of-state, by year
Funder states come from each funder’s own filing. $1.3M arriving through sponsors registered in 5 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.
Organizations like RISING FOR JUSTICE 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 Washington, D.C.
Nationally
Read directly from this organization’s own Form 990, as neutral context.
Where the money goes
87% of spending goes to programs.
Governance
Public support
94%
Share of support from the public (Schedule A) — the basis for its public-charity status.
Footprint & structure
Files a return copy in 2 states
Screen this organization
A dated, signed PDF of the compliance screen for RISING FOR JUSTICE 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 RISING FOR JUSTICE INC?
- RISING FOR JUSTICE INC (Washington, D.C.) receives grants from 23 organizations whose IRS filings report $15,569,227 to it, the largest being THE DISTRICT OF COLUMBIA BAR FOUNDATION ($13,888,915). 12 of them have funded it in more than one year.
- How many funders does RISING FOR JUSTICE INC have?
- IRS filings report 23 organizations giving $15,569,227 in grants to RISING FOR JUSTICE INC, 12 of which have funded it in more than one year.
- Who is the largest funder of RISING FOR JUSTICE INC?
- THE DISTRICT OF COLUMBIA BAR FOUNDATION is the largest funder on record, with $13,888,915 in grants. The full list of funders is on this page.
- How can an organization like RISING FOR JUSTICE INC find more funders?
- Start with the funders already giving here, then look at the foundations that back similar organizations in Washington, D.C.. 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 2017–2025), and the filings of 23 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