Social Justice Collaborative

Nonprofit profile at a glance

EIN
455556421
IRS 990 coverage
2014–2024
Forms available
Form 990 2024, Form 990-EZ 2013, Form 990-N 2012
Location
Berkeley, CA, USA
Phone
5109923964
Rating
86
Verdict
STRONG
Rating confidence
Standard
Sector
Legal Services

Reported finances

Revenue
$4,464,471
Expenses
$4,078,690
Assets
$3,512,530
Liabilities
$241,435

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

Leadership & pay

15 people listed

Executive titles in this filing

  • GAUTAM JAGANNATH (EXECUTIVE DIRECTOR)
  • ANGIE WOOTTON (PRESIDENT)

Highest reported compensation

  • EMILY ABRAHAM (LEGAL DIRECTOR): $128,750 total reported compensation
  • GAUTAM JAGANNATH (EXECUTIVE DIRECTOR): $113,000 total reported compensation
  • ABIGAIL ESQUIVIAS: $103,333 total reported compensation

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

Overview

Mission

Social justice collaborative is californias leading provider of compassionate full scope deportation defense legal services to low income non-citizens in northern and central California. We boldly provide post-convition relief to individuals

What it reported doing in 2024

Sjcs removal defense initiative is one of the few full scope removal defense programs in the nation. It provides removal defense legal services for all low income non-citizens in the bay area and central valley who have some form of viable relief available. The program utilizes staff attorneys to screen elkigible candidates, both in immigration detention and out for potential relief, bond opportunities, defenses to deportation, and then provides high quality full scope defense form start to finish. Staff attorneys at sjc have sole responsibility to manage removal case loads, attend immigration hearings and work directly with clients and thier families. Paralegals and legal assitants are cgared with working directly with attorneys and clients to workup cases. Sjcs removal defense program also values compassionate representation which seeks to include wrap around service referrals, clinic provisions of benefit, and regular referral to mental health providors for evaluation and ongoing therapy. In 2019, sjc provided legal assitance to over 1,200 individuals and represented 600 families at no cost in their immigration matters while closing over 200 legal cases to successful completion.

Operating model

Revenue model
Grant-funded. 62% of the money available for current operations came from government grants.
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

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 some filed totals do not add up.

Rating breakdown

  • Financial Efficiency: 75
  • Transparency & Controls: 94
  • Accountability: 100
  • Sustainability: 49
  • Growth: 100

Detailed rating inputs

Financial Efficiency

  • Mission deployment rate: 75.4%; rating input score 75
  • Program expense ratio: 82.5%; rating input score 82
  • Fundraising efficiency: $16.84 raised per $1 spent on fundraising; rating input score 54; 54th percentile among comparable filings

Transparency & Controls

  • Consistency checks: 92.9%; rating input score 93; 13th percentile among comparable filings
  • Pay-setting controls: Limited
  • 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: 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: 8.6%; rating input score 60; 60th percentile among comparable filings
  • Total-asset coverage ratio: 0.86; rating input score 32; 32nd percentile among comparable filings
  • Liabilities to assets ratio: 0.07; rating input score 65; 65th percentile among comparable filings
  • Officer compensation ratio: 8.5%; rating input score 35; 35th percentile among comparable filings

Growth

  • Program expense growth: 16.4% per year; rating input score 100; 80th percentile among comparable filings
  • Revenue growth: 18.8% per year; rating input score 100; 87th percentile among comparable filings
  • Asset growth: 26.1% per year; rating input score 100; 90th percentile among comparable filings

Details

  • Where the money goes: 75.4% of revenue deployed · 82.5% of spending went to programs
  • Governance: 14 of 14 board members independent · 9 of 9 filing controls reported
  • Programs: 1 filed program accomplishment · $3.4M in reported program spending
  • Leadership: top reported pay $129K · 15 people listed
  • Consistency: 22 of 23 current checks pass · 1 finding to review
  • Schedules: 4 filed schedules · includes major donors
  • Filing history: 11 filing years from 2014 to 2024
  • Contacts: How to reach this organization
  • Money network: 5 filed money-flow records
  • 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.

  • Review — Financial Efficiency: Fundraising efficiency scored 54/100.
  • Moderate — Transparency & Controls: Schedule A contributions reconciliation did not reconcile in the filed values.
  • Moderate — Sustainability: Total-asset coverage ratio scored 32/100.
  • Moderate — Sustainability: Officer compensation ratio scored 35/100.