Justice Without Borders

Nonprofit profile at a glance

EIN
471057411
IRS 990 coverage
2015–2024
Forms available
Form 990 2024, Form 990-N 2014
Location
Washington, DC, USA
Phone
2027744425
Rating
75
Verdict
SUPPORTED
Rating confidence
Moderate
Sector
International Migration, Refugee Issues

Reported finances

Revenue
$3,375,522
Expenses
$3,538,010
Assets
$475,922
Liabilities
$31,197

Source: IRS Form 990. Selected filing: tax year 2024. Amounts in USD.

Leadership & pay

7 people listed

Executive titles in this filing

  • CATHY HEELEY (EXECUTIVE DIRECTOR)
  • CHAN WAH LAI (EXECUTIVE DIRECTOR)

Highest reported compensation

  • CATHY HEELEY (EXECUTIVE DIRECTOR): $70,580 total reported compensation
  • CHAN WAH LAI (EXECUTIVE DIRECTOR): $6,400 total reported compensation

Source: IRS Form 990. Selected filing: tax year 2024. Names and roles reflect this filing, not necessarily current officeholders.

Overview

Mission

To create transnational access to legal assistance for victims of labour exploitation and human trafficking so that they can seek rightful compensation, even after returning home.

What it reported doing in 2024

Hong kong training programme: jwb launched an in-person mentorship program in hong kong bringing pro bono lawyers and experts together with the volunteers at the front line helping migrant domestic workers (mdws). The programme builds skills to empower the participants to provide effective legal first aid to their sisters and develop leadership skills. Direct beneficiaries include 20 local union leaders. Indirect beneficiaries are mdws in hong kong who access these caseworkers when they need help. In addition, our trainees will train a further 60 caseworkers who together are capable of reaching 10,000 mdws annually indonesia outreach program: a series of trainings conducted in indonesia focused on safe migration with the support of the international labour organization and international association of defense council (iadc). These workshops raised awareness of the legal rights of mdws to pursue claims for compensation, even after they return home. Participants went on to learn the skills needed to identify these claims and support returning mdws through the claim process. Access to justice through casework: we conducted case consultations, developed new claims, managed on active claims throughout the year and secured compensation awards. We published four research papers to build the expertise of pro bono lawyers supporting mdws. We held in-person roundtable in singapore bringing diverse stakeholders who support mdws access to justice together to build networks to sustain access to justice in the long term. Participants came from indonesia and hong kong as well as singapore, representing mdw organizations pro bono lawyers and support organizations.

Operating model

Revenue model
Earned-program. 93% of the money available for current operations came from fees and other program revenue.
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 most voting board members are independent. The filing reports few safeguards for money sent abroad and the filing does not identify recipients for some grant dollars.

Rating breakdown

  • Financial Efficiency: 90
  • Transparency & Controls: 55
  • Accountability: 80
  • Sustainability: 27
  • Growth: 100

Detailed rating inputs

Financial Efficiency

  • Mission deployment rate: 98.8%; rating input score 99
  • Program expense ratio: 94.3%; rating input score 94
  • Fundraising efficiency: $8.94 raised per $1 spent on fundraising; rating input score 34; 34th 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: Scored; rating input score 0
  • Grant itemization coverage: Scored; rating input score 0
  • Major donor itemization: Yes; rating input score 100
  • Related-party transparency: Limited

Accountability

  • Independent voting board: 83.3%; rating input score 83; 16th percentile among comparable filings
  • Governance controls: 6 of 8 controls in place; rating input score 75
    • Conflict-of-interest policy: Pass
    • Whistleblower policy: Pass
    • Document-retention policy: Fail
    • CEO compensation review process: Fail
    • Other executive compensation review process: NotApplicable
    • Form 990 shared with the board: Pass
    • Board meeting minutes documented: Pass
    • Audit committee oversight: Pass
    • Independent financial-statement audit: Pass

Sustainability

  • Operating margin: -4.8%; rating input score 20; 20th percentile among comparable filings
  • Total-asset coverage ratio: 0.13; rating input score 4; 4th percentile among comparable filings
  • Liabilities to assets ratio: 0.07; rating input score 66; 66th percentile among comparable filings
  • Officer compensation ratio: 2.2%; rating input score 75; 75th percentile among comparable filings

Growth

  • Program expense growth: 38.9% per year; rating input score 100; 95th percentile among comparable filings
  • Revenue growth: 27% per year; rating input score 100; 93rd percentile among comparable filings
  • Asset growth: 8.8% per year; rating input score 100; 54th percentile among comparable filings

Details

  • Where the money goes: 98.8% of revenue deployed · 94.3% of spending went to programs
  • Governance: 5 of 6 board members independent · 6 of 8 filing controls reported
  • Programs: 1 filed program accomplishment · $3.3M in reported program spending
  • Leadership: top reported pay $71K · 7 people listed
  • Consistency: 25 of 25 current checks pass
  • Schedules: 5 filed schedules · includes major donors and foreign activity
  • Filing history: 9 filing years from 2015 to 2024
  • Contacts: How to reach this organization
  • Money network: 2 filed money-flow records
  • 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 — Transparency & Controls: Foreign activity oversight scored 0/100.
  • High — Transparency & Controls: Grant itemization coverage scored 0/100.
  • Moderate — Financial Efficiency: Fundraising efficiency scored 34/100.
  • Review — Accountability: Governance controls: 2 of 8 not reported.
  • High — Sustainability: Operating margin scored 20/100.
  • High — Sustainability: Total-asset coverage ratio scored 4/100.