Justice Action Network Foundation

Nonprofit profile at a glance

EIN
882772471
IRS 990 coverage
2022–2025
Forms available
Form 990 2025
Location
Washington, DC, USA
Phone
2026247764
Rating
65
Verdict
SUPPORTED
Rating confidence
Moderate
Sector
Civil Rights, Social Action, Advocacy N.E.C.

Official website

Reported finances

Revenue
$158,692
Expenses
$1,047,270
Assets
$1,545,471
Liabilities
$228,808

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

Leadership & pay

3 people listed

Executive titles in this filing

  • Lauren Krisai (Executive Director)

Highest reported compensation

  • Lauren Krisai (Executive Director): $260,000 total reported compensation
  • Syrita Simpkins (Event Manager): $126,881 total reported compensation
  • John Wilcox (Treasurer): $60,000 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 Corporation is to maximize the effective and fair use of limited public resources in the criminal justice system.

What it reported doing in 2025

Education: Justice Action Network Foundation (JANF), the nation's largest bipartisan coalition addressing criminal justice reform, leveraged its partners to launch educational campaigns geared towards the general public, advocates, law enforcement, and policy leaders. See Schedule O.JANF worked across the political spectrum to pursue a comprehensive set of federal, state and local criminal justice reforms to reduce prison populations and associated costs; end the systemic problems of overcriminalization and overincarceration particularly in low-income communities and communities of color; ensure swift and fair outcomes for both the accused and the victim; and make communities safer by reducing recidivism and breaking down barriers faced by those returning home after detention or incarceration.JANF partnered with other nonprofit organizations to host a series of virtual events to build public awareness for the need for criminal justice reform. The events, which included webinars and virtual community events, worked to reach diverse audiences and share information on key criminal justice issuesJANF also disseminated criminal justice information through media interviews, informational meetings with high-level media figures and influences, and employing rapid response tactics for relevant criminal justice events. Through social media platforms, the organization highlighted partner organizations working on criminal justice issues and directed followers to relevant breaking news.

Operating model

Revenue model
Donor-supported. 68% of the money available for current operations came from contributions and gifts.
Distribution model
Direct operator. The filing allocates 100% 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

SUPPORTED - A large share of available resources goes toward mission work and the filed numbers largely add up. A relatively small share of voting board members are independent and expenses are high relative to revenue.

Rating breakdown

  • Financial Efficiency: 82
  • Transparency & Controls: 74
  • Accountability: 32
  • Sustainability: 18
  • Growth: 60

Detailed rating inputs

Financial Efficiency

  • Mission deployment rate: 100%; rating input score 100
  • Program expense ratio: 79.3%; rating input score 79
  • Fundraising efficiency: Limited

Transparency & Controls

  • Consistency checks: 100%; rating input score 100; 64th percentile among comparable filings
  • Pay-setting controls: 2 of 6 controls in place; rating input score 33
    • Compensation committee: Missing
    • Independent consultant: Missing
    • Other Form 990s reviewed: Pass
    • Written employment contract: Missing
    • Compensation survey or study: Pass
    • Board or committee approval: Missing
  • Foreign activity oversight: Limited
  • Grant itemization coverage: Limited
  • Major donor itemization: Yes; rating input score 100
  • Related-party transparency: Limited

Accountability

  • Independent voting board: 0%; rating input score 0; 8th percentile among comparable filings
  • Governance controls: 7 of 9 controls in place; rating input score 78
    • 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: Missing
    • Independent financial-statement audit: Fail

Sustainability

  • Operating margin: -559.9%; rating input score 0; 0th percentile among comparable filings
  • Total-asset coverage ratio: 1.48; rating input score 51; 51st percentile among comparable filings
  • Liabilities to assets ratio: 0.15; rating input score 19; 19th percentile among comparable filings
  • Officer compensation ratio: 31.8%; rating input score 10; 10th percentile among comparable filings

Growth

  • Program expense growth: 4.8% per year; rating input score 100; 50th percentile among comparable filings
  • Revenue growth: -43.4% per year; rating input score 0; 1st percentile among comparable filings
  • Asset growth: 3.6% per year; rating input score 100; 38th percentile among comparable filings

Details

  • Where the money goes: 100% of revenue deployed · 79.3% of spending went to programs
  • Governance: 0 of 2 board members independent · 7 of 9 filing controls reported
  • Programs: 2 filed program accomplishments · $830K in reported program spending
  • Leadership: top reported pay $260K · 3 people listed · 2 of 6 pay-setting controls reported
  • Consistency: 26 of 26 current checks pass
  • Schedules: 7 filed schedules · includes major donors and executive pay
  • Filing history: 4 filing years from 2022 to 2025
  • Contacts: How to reach this organization
  • Money network: 3 filed money-flow records
  • Related organizations: 1 filed related-organization link
  • 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.
  • Staff and benefit plans: Retirement and health plans the organization files with the Department of Labor, and the people in them.

Key Signals

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

  • High — Accountability: Independent voting board scored 0/100.
  • High — Sustainability: Operating margin scored 0/100.
  • High — Growth: Revenue growth scored 0/100.
  • Review — Accountability: Governance controls: Independent financial-statement audit not reported.
  • Review — Sustainability: Total-asset coverage ratio scored 51/100.
  • High — Sustainability: Officer compensation ratio scored 10/100.
  • High — Sustainability: Liabilities to assets ratio scored 19/100.