Equal Justice USA Inc
Nonprofit profile at a glance
- EIN
- 261316408
- IRS 990 coverage
- 2013–2025
- Forms available
- Form 990 2025
- Location
- Silver Spring, MD, USA
- Phone
- 7188018940
- Rating
- 84
- Verdict
- STRONG
- Rating confidence
- Moderate
- Sector
- Civil Liberties
Reported finances
- Revenue
- $3,515,578
- Expenses
- $7,885,872
- Assets
- $2,009,883
- Liabilities
- $375,251
Source: IRS Form 990. Selected filing: tax year 2025. Amounts in USD.
Leadership & pay
19 people listed
Executive titles in this filing
- JAMILA HODGE (EXECUTIVE DIRECTOR)
Highest reported compensation
- JAMILA HODGE (EXECUTIVE DIRECTOR): $228,365 total reported compensation
- BAINDU CONTE-HARVEY (CHIEF OF FINANCE AND OPERATIONS): $180,421 total reported compensation
- MIKAELA LEVONS (DIRECTOR OF DEVELOPMENT): $168,503 total reported compensation
Source: IRS Form 990. Selected filing: tax year 2025. Names and roles reflect this filing, not necessarily current officeholders.
Overview
Mission
Our mission is to transform the justice system by promoting responses to violence that break cycles of trauma. We work at the intersection of criminal justice, public health, and racial justice to elevate healing and safety over retribution, advance racial equity, and meet the needs of survivors.
What it reported doing in 2025
Narrative shifting programto create the climate for new approaches to take hold, ejusa educates the public and policymakers about community-led approaches to violence prevention, brings media attention to the impact and success of these programs, and elevates key voices that push back on the current punitive narrative of justice. In newark, nj, baton rouge, la, and other cities, ejusa engages in public education campaigns to lift the stories of people most affected by the justice system. Ejusa builds on these local stories - including holding newark up as a national model for addressing violence - to create a national narrative that emphasizes the success of programs that address violence while reducing reliance on policing and mass incarceration. This national communications program works to change false narratives about violence, race, and trauma while lifting up the effectiveness of community-centered, trauma-informed responses to violence that center the healing and well-being of the most impacted communities.
Operating model
- Revenue model
- Donor-supported. 75% of the money available for current operations came from contributions and gifts.
- Distribution model
- Hybrid. The nonprofit split its reported program spending across 73% for direct work, and 27% for grants.
The verdict
STRONG - A large share of available resources goes toward mission work and the filed numbers largely add up. Fundraising costs are high for each dollar raised and expenses are high relative to revenue.
Rating breakdown
- Financial Efficiency: 83
- Transparency & Controls: 83
- Accountability: 100
- Sustainability: 9
- Growth: 100
Detailed rating inputs
Financial Efficiency
- Mission deployment rate: 100%; rating input score 100
- Program expense ratio: 76%; rating input score 76
- Fundraising efficiency: $5.37 raised per $1 spent on fundraising; rating input score 16; 16th percentile among comparable filings
Transparency & Controls
- Consistency checks: 100%; rating input score 100; 63rd percentile among comparable filings
- Pay-setting controls: 3 of 6 controls in place; rating input score 50
- Compensation committee: Missing
- Independent consultant: Missing
- Other Form 990s reviewed: Pass
- Written employment contract: Missing
- Compensation survey or study: Pass
- Board or committee approval: Pass
- Foreign activity oversight: Limited
- Grant itemization coverage: 99.8%; rating input score 100; 47th 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; 63rd percentile among comparable filings
- Governance controls: 9 of 9 controls in place; rating input score 100
- Conflict-of-interest policy: Pass
- Whistleblower policy: Pass
- Document-retention policy: Pass
- CEO compensation review process: Pass
- Other executive compensation review process: Pass
- Form 990 shared with the board: Pass
- Board meeting minutes documented: Pass
- Audit committee oversight: Pass
- Independent financial-statement audit: Pass
Sustainability
- Operating margin: -124.3%; rating input score 0; 0th percentile among comparable filings
- Total-asset coverage ratio: 0.25; rating input score 7; 7th percentile among comparable filings
- Liabilities to assets ratio: 0.19; rating input score 36; 36th percentile among comparable filings
- Officer compensation ratio: 14.9%; rating input score 22; 22nd percentile among comparable filings
Growth
- Program expense growth: 15.3% per year; rating input score 100; 76th percentile among comparable filings
- Revenue growth: 8.4% per year; rating input score 100; 59th percentile among comparable filings
- Asset growth: 5.5% per year; rating input score 100; 35th percentile among comparable filings
Details
- Where the money goes: 100% of revenue deployed · 76% of spending went to programs
- Governance: 7 of 7 board members independent · 9 of 9 filing controls reported
- Programs: 4 filed program accomplishments · $6M in reported program spending
- Leadership: top reported pay $228K · 19 people listed · 3 of 6 pay-setting controls reported
- Consistency: 33 of 33 current checks pass
- Schedules: 7 filed schedules · includes major donors, grants, and executive pay
- Filing history: 12 filing years from 2013 to 2025
- Contacts: How to reach this organization
- Money network: 19 filed money-flow records
- Related organizations: 12 filed related-organization links
- 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 — Financial Efficiency: Fundraising efficiency scored 16/100.
- High — Sustainability: Operating margin scored 0/100.
- High — Sustainability: Total-asset coverage ratio scored 7/100.
- High — Sustainability: Officer compensation ratio scored 22/100.
- Moderate — Sustainability: Liabilities to assets ratio scored 36/100.