California · Nonprofit
THE WAGE JUSTICE CENTER
THE WAGE JUSTICE CENTER (California) receives grants from 8 organizations whose IRS filings report $186,363 to it, the largest being The Skadden Foundation ($125,592). 3 of them have funded it in more than one year.
- Revenue FY2024
- $571k
- Funders on record
- 8
- Grants received
- $186k
- Net assets
- $1.5M
What The Wage Justice Center does
Mission
The Wage Justice Center provides legal representation to low-income workers and extensive legal information and consultation about recovery of unpaid wages. The center also provides education and materials regarding wage rights to low-income workers, advocates, and other community groups.
As stated on its FY2024 Form 990.
Programs
Defend workers' rights in calfornia The Wage Justice Center (wjc) provides legal assistance to low- wage workers who have experienced wage theft. The organization uses judgment enforcement tools and other legal strategies to hold employers accountable and recover unpaid wages. Wjc collaborates with community partners, including worker centers and grassroots organizations, to expand access to services for vulnerable workers. In addition to direct legal representation. Wjc provides training and technical assistance to legal advocates, organizers, and community organizations on identifying fraudulent business practices, using corporate accountability tools, and enforcing wage judgments. These activities support workers in securing owed wages and contribute to improved compliance with labor standards in california.
$171,117 spent19% of program spendingWorkers' rights (day laborer) project: The Wage Justice Center provides specialized legal services for low-income workers in the construction industry who have experienced wage theft. The organization assists workers in using california's mechanic's lien process and other construction related legal remedies to pursue unpaid wages. During the twelve-year period since implementing this strategy, the organization has recovered approximately 396,496 in back wages for about 332 construction workers and day workers.
$72,049 spent8% of program spendingWages for rent project this project focuses on the tie between sudden financial loss and housing insecurity. The Wage Justice Center provided legal services, education and conducted outreach geared toward preventing wage theft and promoting wage recovery to housing insecure and homeless individuals. Through this work wjc supported individuals in avoiding or overcoming homelessness through education and legal services to recover unpaid wages. Wjc educated more than 3,250 low-income workers on their rights and delivered over 110 legal services, recovering more than 56,000 for workers at risk of losing housing. Through 98 mobile clinics, workers connected directly with attorneys in the field, and 120 workers attended 19 trainings on using mechanic's liens to combat wage theft. Wjc also partnered with 44 organizations across kern. Los angeles, and ventura counties, training 44 staff on tools to help workers secure payment for their labor.
$657,450 spent73% of program spending
The 3 programs described on its FY2024 Form 990, listed largest first by expense. Program spending in total: $900,616.
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 2021 to 2022, from $1.5M to $2.4M (+57%).
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 32% · 2018 57% · 2019 45% · 2020 44% · 2021 36% · 2022 53% · 2023 67% · 2024 71%. Grants only. Government contracts and fees sit inside program revenue.
78% of THE WAGE JUSTICE CENTER’s revenue is contributions — about as donation-reliant as the typical peer (94% for the typical peer).
Surplus & reserves
Operating surplus or deficit each year, and months of liquidity in hand. 2 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.
Board chair
Francisco Covarrubias
Board chair
As listed on its FY2024 Form 990.
Who funds it, year by year
2017 → 2023: the base narrowed from 2 funders to 1 funder, grant income fell $13k → $27.
2 of 8 of your funders are donor-advised or pass-through sponsors (tagged DAF) — 7% 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 THE WAGE 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
THE WAGE JUSTICE CENTER leans on a few funders — its largest provides 67% of grant income and the top three 88%; 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: 2017 60% · 2018 80% · 2019 89% · 2020 100% · 2021 99% · 2022 100% · 2023 100% — 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
20% of THE WAGE JUSTICE CENTER's funders are still giving 3 years after their first grant; 38% 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
THE WAGE JUSTICE CENTER draws 75% of its grant income from funders outside California, across 3 states in all.
In-state vs out-of-state, by year
Funder states come from each funder’s own filing. $14k arriving through sponsors registered in 2 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
THE WAGE JUSTICE CENTER holds deeper cash reserves than three-quarters of the 2,538 crime & legal nonprofits its size.
this organization peer median middle 50% of peers· 2,538 crime & legal nonprofits $100k–$1M, FY2024
Organizations like THE WAGE 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 California
Nationally
Read directly from this organization’s own Form 990, as neutral context.
Where the money goes
93% of spending goes to programs.
Governance
Public support
99%
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 THE WAGE 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 THE WAGE JUSTICE CENTER?
- THE WAGE JUSTICE CENTER (California) receives grants from 8 organizations whose IRS filings report $186,363 to it, the largest being The Skadden Foundation ($125,592). 3 of them have funded it in more than one year.
- How many funders does THE WAGE JUSTICE CENTER have?
- IRS filings report 8 organizations giving $186,363 in grants to THE WAGE JUSTICE CENTER, 3 of which have funded it in more than one year.
- Who is the largest funder of THE WAGE JUSTICE CENTER?
- The Skadden Foundation is the largest funder on record, with $125,592 in grants. The full list of funders is on this page.
- How can an organization like THE WAGE JUSTICE CENTER 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 Wage Justice Center →
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 8 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