East Bay Sanctuary Covenant

What East Bay Sanctuary Covenant does

East Bay Sanctuary Covenant (EBSC) is a 501(c)(3) nonprofit founded in 1982 in Berkeley, California, originally convened by five Bay Area congregations (plus one in Arizona) as part of the U.S. Sanctuary Movement to shelter Salvadoran and Guatemalan refugees. The organization has evolved into one of the largest affirmative-asylum programs in the United States, providing free and low-cost immigration legal services — affirmative asylum, DACA, green cards, work permits, naturalization, Special Immigrant Juvenile Status, and unaccompanied-minors representation — alongside holistic wraparound programming that includes caseworker support services (public benefits navigation, mental health referrals, cash assistance), ESL and citizenship exam preparation (100% pass rate), community organizing and policy advocacy, and specialized outreach to Mayan Mam-speaking immigrants through the Voces Maya team and Radio B'alam (a 50,000-follower Indigenous-language radio program).

EBSC runs integrated sub-programs reflecting differentiated community focus areas: OLAS LGBTQ+ Sanctuary Project for Latinx LGBTQ asylum seekers, Amplifying Sanctuary Voices (an arts-based storytelling initiative that produces educational exhibits and trains 125+ volunteers annually), the Mam Outreach Worker program providing Indigenous-language interpretation in legal and social-service settings, and a Trauma-Informed Approach training program productized for other nonprofits. Service delivery uses a multi-channel distribution model — scheduled appointments, walk-in legal clinics in Berkeley and Richmond, a paralegal hotline (M-F 10am-12pm), and community-based classes — and the organization maintains standing as a plaintiff in federal asylum litigation (EBSC v. Trump, v. Barr, v. Biden, and the Fee Rule challenge), positioning itself as both a direct service provider and a policy advocate.

The revenue model is a diversified nonprofit mix: individual donations (including a Legacy Circle planned-giving program), foundation grants (Isabel Allende, San Francisco Foundation, Zellerbach, van Löben Sels/RembeRock, Y&H Soda, Horizons, Firedoll, Hispanics in Philanthropy), corporate partnerships and sponsorships, and government contracts (California DSS, City of Berkeley Mental Health, Alameda County Behavioral Health, California Arts Council). EBSC operates from a single Berkeley headquarters with no disclosed subsidiary structure, is governed by an independent Board of Directors, has a tri-Co-Executive Director leadership model (Kaveena Singh over Legal, Lisa Gano over Operations, Lisa Hoffman over Development & Communications), and serves 12,000+ clients yearly from 70+ countries with a documented 97-98% asylum success rate across nearly 4,000 filed cases.

Name

East Bay Sanctuary Covenant

Legal name

East Bay Sanctuary Covenant

Website

https://eastbaysanctuary.org

Company type

Private

Founded year

1982

Operating status

Operating

Headcount range

11–50 employees

Short description

East Bay Sanctuary Covenant (founded 1982, Berkeley, CA) is a 501(c)(3) nonprofit providing free and low-cost immigration legal services, asylum representation, and wraparound social support to 12,000+ low-income immigrants and asylum seekers annually from 70+ countries, with a documented 98% asylum success rate across nearly 4,000 cases.

Ownership category

akta.pro rank

Product category

Immigration Legal Services

NAICS

Emergency and Other Relief Services (624230), Religious, Grantmaking, Civic, Professional, and Similar Organizations (813), Civic and Social Organizations (8134)

SIC

Services-Social Services (8300), Services-Educational Services (8200)

akta.pro primary industry

Refugee & Immigrant Support Services (BPAGAEAI)

Keywords

• Immigration legal services
• Asylum representation
• Refugee support services
• Immigrant community organizing
• Nonprofit social services

Headquarters

HQ city

Berkeley

HQ country

United States

HQ region

North America

Offices3 records

Markets served

GTM type

B2C

Offering type

Services

Cost components

Personnel, Operations, Marketing or Sales, Technology or R&D, Others

Revenue model

1. Individual Donations: Individual donors contribute to support EBSC's programs and services. The organization accepts donations through its website and has a Legacy Circle planned giving program.
2. Foundation and Government Grants: EBSC receives funding from foundations (The Isabel Allende Foundation, The San Francisco Foundation, Horizons Foundation, Firedoll Family Foundation, etc.) and government agencies (California Department of Social Services, City of Berkeley Mental Health, California Arts Council, etc.).
3. Corporate Partnerships and Sponsorships: Corporate partners sponsor events, develop employee-matching programs, make in-kind donations, and volunteer. Sponsorship benefits include free event tickets, ads in printed program booklets, and logo placement on website.
4. Program Service Fees: EBSC provides free and low-cost legal and social services. While services are primarily free to clients, the organization may generate some revenue through nominal fees for certain services.

Pricing tiers

Go-to-market motion1 record

Distribution channels5 records

Marketing channels6 records

Core offering

East Bay Sanctuary Covenant provides free and low-cost immigration legal services, social support, and community advocacy to low-income immigrants and people fleeing violence and persecution in the San Francisco Bay Area. Its core offerings include affirmative asylum representation (97-98% success rate across nearly 4,000 cases), DACA assistance, green card and naturalization applications, unaccompanied minors representation, Support Services case management (benefits, mental health, cash assistance), ESL/citizenship classes, and culturally specialized programs (Voces Maya for the Mayan Mam community, OLAS for LGBTQ+ asylum seekers, and Amplifying Sanctuary Voices storytelling).

Product overview

East Bay Sanctuary Covenant operates as a single unified nonprofit service organization providing immigration legal services, social support, and community advocacy. Rather than a platform-plus-modules architecture, it offers an integrated suite of programs: Immigration Legal Services (affirmative asylum, DACA, green cards, work permits, naturalization, unaccompanied minors services) forms the core offering, supplemented by Support Services (benefits access, mental health referrals), Community Education & Organizing (ESL, citizenship prep, leadership workshops), and specialized programs including Voces Maya (Mayan community outreach), OLAS LGBT Sanctuary (LGBTQ+ asylum support), and Amplifying Sanctuary Voices (arts-based storytelling). The Know Your Rights program and Trauma-Informed Approach training extend the organization's reach to allies and partner organizations.

Differentiator

Problem solved

Functional benefit

Brands

• OLAS LGBTQ+ Sanctuary Project: A project providing workshops and retreats that create community and emotional support for LGBTQIA+ asylum seekers from Latin America. All activities are offered in Spanish.
• Voces Maya
• Amplifying Sanctuary Voices (ASV)
• Radio B'alam

Products and services

• Immigration Legal Services Free and low-cost legal services for low-income immigrants including affirmative asylum applications, DACA assistance, green card processing, work permit applications and renewals, naturalization/citizenship applications, and representation for unaccompanied minors.
• Affirmative Asylum Program One of the largest affirmative-asylum programs in the U.S. with a 98% application-grant rate, helping people apply for asylum who are afraid to return to their home country.
• DACA Services Assistance with initial, renewal, and advance parole applications for the Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals program, including complex cases involving criminal arrests and convictions.
• Unaccompanied Minors Services Legal assistance for minors who arrived in the U.S. without a parent, including asylum applications and Special Immigrant Juvenile Status (SIJS) petitions.
• Support Services Caseworker services helping clients access public benefits, mental health support, cash assistance, medical care, and connections to other social services; includes support groups for Maya Mam Women and LGBTQ+ people.
• Community Education & Organizing ESL classes, citizenship exam preparation (100% pass rate), leadership development workshops, and community organizing to advance immigrant rights policies.
• Voces Maya (Mayan Voices Outreach Team) Education and outreach to Maya Mam and Latinx communities about workers' rights, COVID-19 safety, hate crime prevention, and accessing services.
• OLAS LGBT Sanctuary Project Retreats and workshops for Latinx LGBTQ asylum seekers, facilitated by bilingual mental health professionals, providing emotional support and community building.
• Amplifying Sanctuary Voices (ASV) Arts-based social justice storytelling project that centers narratives of low-income immigrants and asylum seekers through educational exhibits, workshops, and community events.
• Know Your Rights Program Educational resources and toolkits helping immigrants understand their constitutional rights, how to respond to ICE encounters, and how to protect themselves and their families.
• Trauma-Informed Approach (TIA) Training Training program for nonprofit organizations serving immigrants, covering trauma-informed approaches, mental health first aid, and client interview techniques; available to EBSC staff, volunteers, and partner organizations.

Quantifiable outcome

• 98% asylum application success rate
• +4 more outcomes

Named customers1 record

Segments4 records

Ideal customer profiles5 records

Technology focussed No

API detail

Has API

No

API docs

API detail

Core technology

AI maturity

App detail

Partnerships

Six partnerships are on record, tiered core and major.

• Berkeley Immigration Collaborative (BIC)coreStrategic or Co-development PartnerCoalition of five Berkeley immigrant-serving organizations including EBSC, East Bay Community Law Center, Multicultural Institute, Oasis Legal Services, and Social Justice Collaborative. Collectively serve tens of thousands annually.
• Partnerships for Trauma RecoverycoreStrategic or Co-development PartnerReferral partner providing in-depth psychological support for highly traumatized clients.
• OLAS LGBTQ+ Sanctuary ProjectcoreStrategic or Co-development PartnerEBSC-coordinated project providing workshops and retreats for LGBTQ+ asylum seekers from Latin America, facilitated by bilingual mental health professionals.
• Immigrant Legal Resource CentermajorStrategic or Co-development PartnerPartner organization providing legal resources and training.
• Alameda County Behavioral HealthmajorStrategic or Co-development PartnerCounty agency providing mental health funding and support.
• Native American Health CentermajorStrategic or Co-development PartnerCommunity health center hosting EBSC citizenship classes for Mam speakers in Fruitvale district of Oakland.

Scale indicators6 records

Recent moves6 records

Expansion highlights6 records

Broad incumbents

• HIAS: International Jewish humanitarian organization providing refugee resettlement and asylum legal services. Comparable in asylum/refugee mission and pro-bono attorney model, but operates at a much larger, national scale.
• Catholic Charities of the East Bay: Faith-affiliated regional nonprofit providing immigration legal services and refugee resettlement in the East Bay. Comparable in service offerings (asylum, family-based immigration, refugee support) and geography but broader in mission (housing, food, family services).
• International Rescue Committee (IRC): Global humanitarian nonprofit providing refugee resettlement, asylum, and integration services across the U.S., including Northern California. Comparable as an asylum/refugee services peer but at far greater scale and broader geographic footprint than EBSC's Bay Area focus.
• Immigrant Legal Resource Center (ILRC): San Francisco-headquartered national immigrant-legal-services training and policy organization. Comparable as a regional peer in the Bay Area but operates at a larger scale focused on training, TA, and advocacy rather than direct representation.

Direct peers

• East Bay Community Law Center: Berkeley-based legal services nonprofit and a fellow Berkeley Immigration Collaborative member offering immigration, housing, and consumer legal aid. Directly comparable because it operates in the same Bay Area geography with overlapping immigration-law practice and shares referral relationships with EBSC.
• Oasis Legal Services: Berkeley Immigration Collaborative partner focused on LGBTQ+ immigrant legal services. Directly comparable because it shares EBSC's LGBTQ+ asylum niche (overlapping with the OLAS program) and operates in the same Berkeley/Oakland catchment.
• Multicultural Institute: Berkeley Immigration Collaborative partner that hosts EBSC's monthly Richmond walk-in immigration clinics. Provides immigrant integration, education, and legal services to similar low-income Bay Area populations, making it a directly comparable peer in service mix and geography.
• Centro Legal de la Raza: Oakland-based legal aid nonprofit serving low-income immigrants with legal services, naturalization support, and community education. Comparable because it serves the same Bay Area immigrant population with a similar legal-plus-social-services model and bilingual staffing.
• Social Justice Collaborative: Berkeley Immigration Collaborative member providing immigrant legal defense and affirmative filings in the East Bay. Comparable as a same-region, same-service-line nonprofit that competes for the same grant dollars and client referrals.
• Kids in Need of Defense (KIND): National nonprofit focused specifically on unaccompanied children's immigration cases. Directly comparable to EBSC's Unaccompanied Minors program (SIJS, asylum) but operates nationally rather than regionally.

Market position

Strengths5 records

Weaknesses5 records

Competitive moat5 records

Key risks6 records

Key highlights7 records

Customer concentration

• YouTubeyoutube.com/@eastbaysanctuarycovenant
• Facebookfacebook.com/eastbaysanctuary
• LinkedInlinkedin.com/company/east-bay-sanctuary-covenant
• Instagraminstagram.com/eastbaysanctuary
• Xx.com/EBaySanctuary

Compliance1 record

Revenue estimate

Valuation estimate

Number of profiles

Profiles35 records

Funding overview

Funding rounds

Investors

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M&A

Investments

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Frequently asked questions about East Bay Sanctuary Covenant