Colorado Access to Justice Commission

Nonprofit profile at a glance

EIN
871768584
IRS 990 coverage
2024–2025
Forms available
Form 990 2025, Form 990-EZ 2023
Location
Denver, CO, USA
Phone
7203061022
Rating
82
Verdict
STRONG
Rating confidence
Moderate
Sector
Crime, Legal Related N.E.C.

Official website

Reported finances

Revenue
$1,042,447
Expenses
$948,685
Assets
$520,963
Liabilities
$10,590

Source: IRS Form 990. Selected filing: tax year 2025. Amounts in USD.

Leadership & pay

22 people listed

Highest reported compensation

  • Elisa Overall (Executive Dir.): $150,000 total reported compensation

Source: IRS Form 990. Selected filing: tax year 2025. Names and roles reflect this filing, not necessarily current officeholders.

Overview

Mission

The mission of the Colorado access to justice commission is to expand access, quality, and fairness in the justice system for all coloradans.

What it reported doing in 2025

The organization collected qualitative data to study the current barriers and solutions in access to justice in Colorado for the Listen and Learn Report and Recommendations study. The report consisted of 22 small group meetings covering every judicial district, and the organization spoke with over 300 legal and non-legal service providers.The Rural Justice Internship is a unique program supporting career pathways from law school to rural practice. Twelve students were placed in pairs in rural legal communities in an immersive community experience in a mostly judicial-based summer internship. More than 80 students attending over 40 different law schools have applied for 2026.Virtual Pro-Se Clinic provided free legal advice to more than 700 individuals in rural Colorado. The organization partnered with 36 community libraries to reach people in need of services. The program also engaged pro-bono attorneys to provide dozens of hours of free legal help.

Operating model

Revenue model
Mixed. Its operating money came from several sources; no one source provided a clear majority.
Distribution model
Direct operator. The filing allocates 92% of reported program-service expenses outside its grant, affiliate-payment, and member-benefit lines. This expense classification does not rule out separately announced grant awards.

The verdict

STRONG - A large share of available resources goes toward mission work and the filed numbers largely add up. Some filing-based governance responses are negative or unanswered and expenses are high relative to revenue.

Rating breakdown

  • Financial Efficiency: 81
  • Transparency & Controls: 94
  • Accountability: 69
  • Sustainability: 42
  • Growth: 100

Detailed rating inputs

Financial Efficiency

  • Mission deployment rate: 78.7%; rating input score 79
  • Program expense ratio: 86.5%; rating input score 86
  • Fundraising efficiency: $43.45 raised per $1 spent on fundraising; rating input score 73; 73rd percentile among comparable filings

Transparency & Controls

  • Consistency checks: 100%; rating input score 100; 63rd percentile among comparable filings
  • Pay-setting controls: Limited
  • Foreign activity oversight: Limited
  • Grant itemization coverage: 99.7%; rating input score 100; 54th percentile among comparable filings
  • Major donor itemization: Yes; rating input score 100
  • Related-party transparency: Limited

Accountability

  • Independent voting board: 100%; rating input score 100; 64th percentile among comparable filings
  • Governance controls: 2 of 8 controls in place; rating input score 25
    • Conflict-of-interest policy: Pass
    • Whistleblower policy: Fail
    • Document-retention policy: Fail
    • CEO compensation review process: NotApplicable
    • Other executive compensation review process: Fail
    • Form 990 shared with the board: Fail
    • Board meeting minutes documented: Fail
    • Audit committee oversight: Fail
    • Independent financial-statement audit: Pass

Sustainability

  • Operating margin: 9%; rating input score 54; 54th percentile among comparable filings
  • Total-asset coverage ratio: 0.55; rating input score 27; 27th percentile among comparable filings
  • Liabilities to assets ratio: 0.02; rating input score 53; 53rd percentile among comparable filings
  • Officer compensation ratio: 15.8%; rating input score 23; 23rd percentile among comparable filings

Growth

  • Program expense growth: 60.3% per year; rating input score 100; 96th percentile among comparable filings
  • Revenue growth: 61.4% per year; rating input score 100; 97th percentile among comparable filings
  • Asset growth: 59.1% per year; rating input score 100; 96th percentile among comparable filings

Details

  • Where the money goes: 78.7% of revenue deployed · 86.5% of spending went to programs
  • Governance: 21 of 21 board members independent · 2 of 8 filing controls reported
  • Programs: 1 filed program accomplishment · $820K in reported program spending
  • Leadership: top reported pay $150K · 22 people listed
  • Consistency: 26 of 26 current checks pass
  • Schedules: 6 filed schedules · includes major donors and grants
  • Filing history: 2 filing years from 2024 to 2025
  • Contacts: How to reach this organization
  • Money network: 1 filed money-flow record
  • Related organizations: Filed and resolved organization relationships.
  • Grant readiness: Federal tax and exclusion status, award history, and grant-maker relationships.
  • People: Everyone the filings name, and which of them the filings identify by more than a name.

Key Signals

Signals prioritize questions for review. They are not findings of misconduct.

  • High — Accountability: Governance controls: 6 of 8 not reported.
  • Review — Sustainability: Operating margin scored 54/100.
  • High — Sustainability: Total-asset coverage ratio scored 27/100.
  • High — Sustainability: Officer compensation ratio scored 23/100.
  • Review — Sustainability: Liabilities to assets ratio scored 53/100.