National Center for Law and Economic Justice Inc

Nonprofit profile at a glance

EIN
237311208
IRS 990 coverage
2018–2025
Forms available
Form 990 2025
Location
New York, NY, USA
Phone
2126336967
Rating
75
Verdict
SUPPORTED
Rating confidence
Moderate
Sector
Public Interest Law

Official website

Reported finances

Revenue
$5,718,029
Expenses
$3,327,661
Assets
$5,272,043
Liabilities
$2,630,969

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

Leadership & pay

28 people listed

Executive titles in this filing

  • DENNIS D PARKER (FORMER EXECUTIVE DIRECTOR)
  • JASON WILLIAMSON (EXECUTIVE DIRECTOR)

Highest reported compensation

  • DENNIS D PARKER (FORMER EXECUTIVE DIRECTOR): $205,055 total reported compensation
  • CLAUDIA WILNER (DIRECTOR LITIGATION & ADVOCACY): $193,995 total reported compensation
  • CARMELA HUANG (SENIOR ATTORNEY): $170,280 total reported compensation

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

Overview

Mission

Nclej advances economic, racial, and disability justice for low-income individuals, families, and communities across the country.

What it reported doing in 2025

Civil rights/racial justice: economic inequality remains one of the most persistent and harmful consequences of discrimination and white supremacy. Our collective failure to provide a social safety net has robbed low-income peopledisproportionately people of color and people with disabilitiesof the most basic opportunity to survive and thrive. Employment discrimination relegates people of color disproportionately to low-wage jobs that provide neither a living wage, health benefits or a safe work environment. Predatory lending and limited access to fair credit limits opportunities for advancement by making it difficult for people of color to obtain loans for acquiring housing and creating wealth. Targeted and discriminatory law enforcement and unfair assessment and collection of civil fines and fees perpetuates debt, criminalizes poverty and deprives individuals and communities of public safety. Using litigation, public education, legislative reform and support of grassroots organizing, nclej aims to end policies and practices that perpetuate inequality and to make real the dream of opportunity that has been denied to too many for far too long.

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 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.
  • Includes noncash contributions: Reported contributions include donated property or goods.

The verdict

SUPPORTED - The filed numbers largely add up and most voting board members are independent. A relatively small share of available resources goes toward mission work and fundraising costs are high for each dollar raised.

Rating breakdown

  • Financial Efficiency: 51
  • Transparency & Controls: 89
  • Accountability: 100
  • Sustainability: 59
  • Growth: 100

Detailed rating inputs

Financial Efficiency

  • Mission deployment rate: 42.8%; rating input score 43
  • Program expense ratio: 73.9%; rating input score 74
  • Fundraising efficiency: $7.21 raised per $1 spent on fundraising; rating input score 24; 24th percentile among comparable filings

Transparency & Controls

  • Consistency checks: 100%; rating input score 100; 63rd percentile among comparable filings
  • Pay-setting controls: 5 of 6 controls in place; rating input score 83
    • Compensation committee: Missing
    • Independent consultant: Pass
    • Other Form 990s reviewed: Pass
    • Written employment contract: Pass
    • Compensation survey or study: Pass
    • Board or committee approval: Pass
  • Foreign activity oversight: Limited
  • Grant itemization coverage: Limited
  • 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: 8 of 8 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: 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: 41.8%; rating input score 88; 88th percentile among comparable filings
  • Total-asset coverage ratio: 1.58; rating input score 50; 50th percentile among comparable filings
  • Liabilities to assets ratio: 0.5; rating input score 16; 16th percentile among comparable filings
  • Officer compensation ratio: 33%; rating input score 6; 6th percentile among comparable filings

Growth

  • Program expense growth: 7.8% per year; rating input score 100; 51st percentile among comparable filings
  • Revenue growth: 14.2% per year; rating input score 100; 78th percentile among comparable filings
  • Asset growth: 14.4% per year; rating input score 100; 73rd percentile among comparable filings

Details

  • Where the money goes: 42.8% of revenue deployed · 73.9% of spending went to programs
  • Governance: 19 of 19 board members independent · 8 of 8 filing controls reported
  • Programs: 4 filed program accomplishments · $2.5M in reported program spending
  • Leadership: top reported pay $205K · 28 people listed · 5 of 6 pay-setting controls reported
  • Consistency: 30 of 30 current checks pass
  • Schedules: 7 filed schedules · includes major donors and executive pay
  • Filing history: 8 filing years from 2018 to 2025
  • Contacts: How to reach this organization
  • Money network: 7 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.
  • 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.

  • Moderate — Financial Efficiency: Mission deployment rate scored 43/100.
  • High — Financial Efficiency: Fundraising efficiency scored 24/100.
  • Review — Sustainability: Total-asset coverage ratio scored 50/100.
  • High — Sustainability: Officer compensation ratio scored 6/100.
  • High — Sustainability: Liabilities to assets ratio scored 16/100.