“As a young executive director, the mentorship and guidance provided by UJC’s leadership team on everything from fundraising to hiring has been invaluable.”

-Jamie Sgarro, Founder, AsylumConnect (now InReach)

AsylumConnect’s free technology connects users to verified LGBTQ+ affirming and immigrant friendly legal, medical, mental health and social services in seconds, 24/7. The first-of-its-kind resource platform is designed to address the unique needs of the most vulnerable members of the LGBTQ+ community.

In just our first year at UJC, we expanded our free resource website and mobile app to list verified safe services across 25 U.S. states and launched in Canada. At the same time, our platform was accessed by over 12,000 users across 147 countries (over 9,500 users in America). For our work helping persecuted LGBTQ+ people find safety, our executive director Jamie Sgarro was also named to the Forbes 30 Under 30 Class of 2020 (Law & Policy). When AsylumConnect reaches scale, every LGBTQ+ person will know where it is safe to go for help regardless of their sexual orientation, gender identity, immigration status or income level. Learn more at www.asylumconnect.org

“UJC connected me to potential funders, assisted me with the intimidating 501c3 application process, and strategized with me as I set up my organization’s programming and services.”

Lauren Blodgett, Founder – The Brave House

The Brave House is a sisterhood for young immigrant women in New York City. We focus on supporting survivors of gender-based violence and we strive to protect the legal rights of our members, enhance their career opportunities, and co-create a space where they can connect, have fun, and be brave.

Since launching in spring of 2019 as part of the first cohort of the Social Justice Accelerator, we have grown membership to 65 young women from 12 different countries across the world. Our mission is to promote wellness, life skills, and a sense of belonging so that all girls can thrive regardless of where they are from or what they have been through.As the only non-profit in NYC working specifically with immigrant girls, we are able to offer specialized, trauma-informed services and events, which range from art therapy to dance class to financial literacy and English tutoring.

“We’ve had the invaluable opportunity to learn from and network with all the other amazing projects at UJC as we grow our cause and fight for social justice.”

Tim Nevius, Founder – College Athlete Advocacy Initiative

While at UJC, we worked with lawmakers and fellow advocates to help shape and influence historic reform in college sports. We submitted amicus briefs on two big recent Supreme Court victories for athletes, and created our first ever PSA on college athletes, which has been viewed and shared by tens of thousands of people across the internet.

We have also represented college athletes in challenging matters, including the Nebraska softball team, which made national news in speaking out against the abuse and mistreatment they suffered.

Our executive director has been called upon to offer testimony in support of proposed legislation and is frequently cited in the media as a leading voice for the College Athlete Advocacy. We have made enormous strides, but the progress has just begun!

“With the support of UJC, Power of Purpose gained immediate credibility and has grown from an idea to a non-profit poised to change the lives of Bronx youth.”

Jenay Nurse & Kwame Thompson, Founders – Power of Purpose

Since our official launch, PoP has mentored over 250 Bronx youth through our various programs. In the summer of 2019, PoP launched a 12-week basketball tournament for at-risk youth. The tournament teams were purposely devised to include youth who were affiliated with rival gangs, and all youth were required to receive mentoring before and after each game. According to Captain Keiyon S. Ramsey, the commanding officer of the local police precinct, “The Top of the Hill tournament is directly responsible for having no shootings amongst my Housing Developments… this was a safe place run by the community and for the community.”

Fresh off this success, the leaders of PoP were mentored by Urban Justice staff to successfully apply for our first major grant, creating a school-based mentoring program at the Urban Assembly Charter School for Computer Science (“Comp Sci High”). We’re excited to grow from here!

“SJA helped S.T.O.P. quickly go from a launch plan to an internationally-recognized leader in the fight against government surveillance.”

Albert Cahn, Founder – Surveillance Technology Oversight Project

S.T.O.P. was founded in 2019 to highlight the discriminatory impact of surveillance on Muslim Americans, immigrants, and communities of color.

Just during our time at UJC, S.T.O.P. brought suits against the NYPD and MTA on behalf of vulnerable New Yorkers demanding transparency, accountability, and an end fo biased surveillance tactics. We backed legislation requiring serious reforms to the NYPD disclosure and use of high-tech surveillance tools. And S.T.O.P. held dozens of know your rights trainings, panel discussions, and other educational events. We’ve helped build national coalitions and appeared in hundreds of articles and op-eds to change the public discourse on the most pressing privacy issues in the country. We’re fighting for the future – thanks to UJC and the SJA.

“SJA’s resources and programming — including fiscal sponsorship, back-office support, and coaching and training in organizational development — have propelled the Family Justice Law Center’s growth and enabled me to focus on the problems we’re trying to solve.”

-David Shalleck-Klein, Founder, Family Justice Law Center

The Family Justice Law Center uses affirmative litigation to seek justice for families mistreated by the child welfare system. FJLC challenges systemic abuses of government power that lead to the illegal separation of children from their families. They seek redress for harms, while promoting change that helps families survive and thrive. 

During their time with the SJA, FJLC has grown into an award-winning organization, more than doubling its staff and growing its budget to more than $1.5M. Their Founder, David Shalleck-Klein, was awarded the prestigious David Prize for this work.  They also filed their first major class action lawsuit (against the Administration for Children’s Services coercive and punitive tactics), and their first strategic appeal, and have received substantial press coverage for both.

“The SJA has been so exciting – it’s especially awesome that I have knoledgeable people right in my office, and so much support. UJC’s director has an open door policy…and as a result, we have raised almost $400,000 this year.”

-Nora McCarthy, Co-Founder, Family Policy Project

The Family Policy Project brings together researchers, parents and youth with lived expertise, advocates/allies, and disruptors working on the ground in impacted communities, to develop research-driven transformative policy solutions for NYC families. FPP contributes to ending NYC’s 40-year over-investment in child welfare and under-investment in communities, which has had devastating impacts on low-income families of color, particularly Black families, which are disproportionately investigated, monitored and separated.

During their time in the SJA, FPP’s resources and capacities have directly impacted organizing and advocacy around family policing in NYC. They’ve launched four new academic research studies on NYC child welfare, and their efforts have had a substantial, if quiet, impact on media coverage through background relationships and other efforts. Their data analyses have been relied on in testimony, legislative decision-making, and reports, including a U.S. Civil Rights Commission report on the impact of New York’s child welfare system on Black families, which substantially relied on FPP analysis. Finally, their policy capacity was instrumental in leading to the development of a bill for a new $40 million statewide fund for community investment to support families.

“The SJA provides outstanding coaching, support, and networks. UJC creates a community for learning and transforming breakdowns into breakthroughs regarding people dynamics, fundraising, and strategic planning.”

-Sara Medina Camiscoli, Founder, Peer Defense Project

The Peer Defense Project supports youth leaders to build power and autonomy in schools, courts, and government. They are an intergenerational legal project that designs tools to respond to legalized crises of segregation, resource inequity, and the criminalization of young people in New York City. 

During their time in the SJA, the Peer Defense Project has grown into a global award-winning organization, with three published law review articles. Their programming has reached over 12,000 young people with free legal education, tools, and opportunities, and provided technical assistance to over 320 youth organizations.

“Our biggest result is that today my Co-Director and I operate like two seasoned professionals. Securing stable funding towards our budget. Conducting fruitful board meetings, operating using strategic planning, perfecting our services etc. We are actually very comfortable in our space today because we understand what we do, what our challenges are, and what it takes to be successful. This would not be the case for us without SJA’s coaching and guidance.”

– David Simpson, Co-Founder, The Remedy Project

The Remedy Project organizes students to serve as advocates for people incarcerated in the United States, by training them to utilize the power of the administrative remedy process from the outside to defend people on the inside.

The Remedy Project’s capacity to address the realities and needs of its incarcerated members has grown tremendously, allowing them to respond to all of the letters received, track cases more efficiently, and lay the foundation for expanded measurement of long term impact.  They have prepared and submitted 200 administrative remedies, and have recruited and worked with 180 student volunteers from across the country, both in high school and college.

“The mentorship and support during this time was invaluable and transformative. As a new leader, these were some of the most isolating times and the SJA Director was always there to offer her years of wisdom or a listening ear.”

– Amrita Doshi, Founder, South Asian SOAR

South Asian SOAR grows survivor and collective power to transform the culture and conditions that lead to violence. We are a national collective of survivors, organizations, and allies building a movement for joy, healing, and justice in the South Asian diaspora.