The Just Trust Publishes 2022-2023 Annual Report

More than $83 million deployed for criminal justice reform and community safety efforts in The Just Trust's first eighteen months

DURHAM, N.C., Aug. 15, 2023 /PRNewswire/ -- The Just Trust, an organization that is 100 percent dedicated to criminal justice reform and community safety – and is comprised of The Just Trust for Education, a 501(c)(3), and The Just Trust for Action, an independent 501(c)(4) – announced today the release of its first annual report, available online at thejusttrust.org/2023-report.

Founded in 2021 by Ana Zamora, formerly the Director of Criminal Justice Reform at the Chan Zuckerberg Initiative and the Criminal Justice Director at the ACLU of Northern California, The Just Trust funds and collaborates across the political spectrum and state lines to advance the hard work of advocates, build creative alliances, center the work of directly-impacted individuals, and sustain calls for reform and safety among the mainstream. It became operational and began supporting the field in 2022.

With an initial five-year investment of $350 million from the Chan Zuckerberg Initiative, The Just Trust focuses on powering policy advocacy and implementation, public education, narrative shift work, and new and proven community safety solutions across the country.

Key highlights from The Just Trust Annual Report:

• In the eighteen months following March, 2022, The Just Trust awarded 202 individual grants to more than 150 organizations working at the state and national level. It powers 501(c)(3) and 501(c)(4) work and strategies in nearly every state, focusing largely on the South and Appalachia.
• The Just Trust has deployed more than $83 million to date to support advocacy infrastructure, community safety solutions, narrative change, and rapid response. It also leads first-party messaging research and polling.
• The group supports organizations working across the full political spectrum, and also seeded the first independent 501(c)(4) organization dedicated to advancing conservative criminal justice reform – The Adams Project.
• To date, The Just Trust has supported the passage, blockage, and implementation of over 230 pieces of legislation and narrative campaigns in 39 states.

"I want people to understand that criminal justice reform is a lot more than ending mass incarceration," said Ana Zamora, The Just Trust Founder & CEO. "It's a strategy to create safer, stronger communities by helping our institutions prioritize prevention, accountability, rehabilitation, and healing – rather than simply reacting to crime. If incarceration alone lived up to its promise of safety, we'd be the safest country in the world."

"At The Just Trust, we want to help usher in the next chapter of the criminal justice system in the United States," Zamora added. "That's why we're giving it everything we've got – grants, narrative work, real time polling data and message development, research tools, convenings, and coalition building – to power change. This is why we're moving this scale of resources, diversifying and leveraging capital, building unlikely alliances, filling gaps, and ensuring we never let momentum slip, slow down, or get sidelined."

The Just Trust Annual Report HERE.
More info on The Just Trust HERE.

Media Contacts:

Paul + Williams: Katie Alexander, [email protected]
The Just Trust: Jenna LeDoux, [email protected]

About Ana Zamora, Founder and CEO of The Just Trust:
Ana Zamora is the Founder and Chief Executive Officer of The Just Trust, an organization 100 percent dedicated to scaling, aligning, and deploying resources to criminal justice reform across the country. Prior to The Just Trust, Ana served as the Director of Criminal Justice Reform at the Chan Zuckerberg Initiative, where she incubated her investment strategy to make durable change in the criminal justice system and shift away from punishment and incapacitation to accountability, dignity, and redemption. Ana later transitioned the program into a fully independent organization, launching The Just Trust for Education and The Just Trust for Action with a $350 million seed investment from CZI. Prior to her work in philanthropy, Ana worked on the frontlines of criminal justice reform in various roles as an organizer, advocate, and campaigner. She brings 15 years of work in the criminal justice reform space, including at the ACLU, and a lifetime of knowing the pain and stigma of having a loved one impacted by the justice system.

About The Just Trust:
The Just Trust – made up of The Just Trust for Education and The Just Trust for Action – exists to shrink the footprint of the criminal justice system in the lives of everyday Americans, and to build a much more humane engine of justice and safety that makes our communities stronger. The Just Trust funds and collaborates with advocacy organizations working across political and ideological spectrums – in red, blue, and purple states – to ensure there is a path to reform everywhere regardless of who is in the White House or governors' mansions. The Just Trust has deployed more than $83 million to more than 150 organizations, including advocacy groups, media organizations and narrative projects, and real-time community safety strategies. A list of The Just Trust partners can be found here.

SOURCE The Just Trust