Urban Justice Center

What Urban Justice Center does

The Urban Justice Center (UJC) is a 501(c)(3) nonprofit legal services and social justice organization founded in 1984 by Douglas Lasdon in East Harlem, New York. It provides free, direct civil legal services, impact litigation, policy advocacy, community organizing, and know-your-rights education to low-income and marginalized New Yorkers, serving more than 20,000 people annually through eleven core projects: the Creditor Justice Project, Domestic Violence Project, Experience Justice, Free to Be Youth Project, Freedom Agenda, Mental Health Project, Safety Net Project, Sex Workers Project, Street Vendor Project, United For Freedoms, and the Social Justice Accelerator incubator. The organization also produces the Beyond the Box podcast and operates a Social Justice Accelerator that has spun off durable nonprofits including IRAP, TakeRoot Justice, and the Asylum Seeker Advocacy Project.

UJC has no core technology platform; service delivery runs through scheduled walk-in and appointment-based clinics at its 40 Rector Street headquarters in Manhattan and at multiple NYC Council member district offices across Manhattan, the Bronx, and Brooklyn, supplemented by project-specific hotlines (e.g., 1-877-MHP-LAW1 for the Mental Health Project) and partner-organization referrals. Member-led projects such as the Street Vendor Project (2,000+ vendor members) and Freedom Agenda embed community governance into the service model.

As a charitable nonprofit, UJC funds itself through a diversified mix of individual donations (including recurring gifts, DAFs, and planned giving), corporate sponsorships and partnerships (e.g., Lyft), event fundraising (Night Out gala, golf outing, marathon team, Community Justice Awards), and government grants including the New York IOLA Fund. Services are provided at no cost to eligible clients.

Name

Urban Justice Center

Legal name

Urban Justice Center

Website

https://urbanjustice.org

Company type

Private

Founded year

1984

Operating status

Operating

Headcount range

101–250 employees

Short description

Urban Justice Center is a 501(c)(3) nonprofit founded in 1984 that delivers free civil legal services, impact litigation, advocacy, and community organizing to more than 20,000 low-income and marginalized New Yorkers annually through eleven issue-specific projects and an organizational incubator.

Ownership category

akta.pro rank

Product category

Nonprofit Legal Aid and Advocacy

NAICS

Offices of Lawyers (54111), Individual and Family Services (6241), Human Rights Organizations (813311), Social Assistance (624)

SIC

Services-Legal Services (8111), Services-Social Services (8300)

akta.pro primary industry

Public Defense & Legal Aid Services (BPAIAFAC)

akta.pro secondary industries

Legal Aid & Client Advocacy Services (BPAGAEAM), Criminal Justice Reform & Legal System Advocacy (BPAGAFAI), Reentry & Justice-Involved Support Services (BPAGAEAN)

Keywords

• Civil legal services
• Legal aid advocacy
• Community legal education
• Public benefits advocacy
• Criminal justice reform

Headquarters

HQ city

New York

HQ country

United States

HQ region

North America

Offices5 records

Markets served

GTM type

B2C

Offering type

Services

Cost components

Personnel, Operations, Marketing or Sales

Revenue model

1. Individual Donations: Tax-deductible donations from individuals supporting social justice work; monthly recurring gifts encouraged; accepts various donation methods including PayPal, stock, wire transfers, checks, and estate bequests
2. Corporate Sponsorships & Partnerships: Corporate sponsors supporting events like Night Out gala; Lyft partnership providing ride codes for clients and financial support; matching gift programs through employer platforms
3. Government Grants: IOLA Fund grant funding for civil legal services; other government grants supporting legal advocacy for low-income New Yorkers
4. Donor-Advised Funds & Planned Giving: Accepts contributions through DAFs (Fidelity, CharityVest, Vanguard); estate planning through wills and revocable trusts; retirement plan and life insurance beneficiary designations

Pricing tiers

Go-to-market motion2 records

Distribution channels3 records

Marketing channels8 records

Core offering

Urban Justice Center provides free direct legal services and representation to low-income and vulnerable New Yorkers through specialized projects. It supplements casework with impact litigation, policy advocacy, social services, community organizing, and legal-rights education to address individual harm and systemic inequality.

Product overview

The Urban Justice Center operates as a portfolio of independent legal services projects rather than a single unified product. It comprises eleven core projects (Creditor Justice Project, Domestic Violence Project, Experience Justice, Free to Be Youth Project, Freedom Agenda, Mental Health Project, Safety Net Project, Sex Workers Project, Street Vendor Project, United For Freedoms) plus the Social Justice Accelerator incubator program and a podcast (Beyond the Box). Each project is led by experts who devise their own strategies, combining free direct legal services with impact litigation, social services, community organizing, legislative advocacy, and know-your-rights trainings. The Social Justice Accelerator incubates new social justice organizations through two-year cohort cycles.

Differentiator

Problem solved

Functional benefit

Products and services

• Creditor Justice Project Legal-services project helping low-income New Yorkers collect money they are owed when they win judgments for wage theft and other abuses.
• Domestic Violence Project Project protecting the rights of domestic-violence survivors to support a self-determined and safe future.
• Experience Justice Team of lawyers contributing time, energy, and expertise to address unmet reform needs through litigation, legislation, communications, community organizing, and advocacy.
• Free to Be Youth Project Legal-services, systemic-advocacy, and community-education project focused on the legal needs of homeless and street-involved LGBTQ+ young people up to age 24 in New York City.
• Freedom Agenda Member-led project organizing people and communities directly impacted by incarceration to achieve decarceration and system transformation.
• Mental Health Project Advocacy project serving low-income New Yorkers living with serious mental-health concerns and working to disrupt cycles of hospitalization, homelessness, and incarceration.
• Safety Net Project Project working to ensure access to public benefits for low-income New Yorkers by combining legal services, policy advocacy, new-media campaigns, and community organizing for economic justice.
• Sex Workers Project Project advancing the rights and dignity of immigrant sex workers and trafficking survivors in New York City through free immigration legal services, education, and holistic advocacy.
• Street Vendor Project Membership-based project with more than 2,000 vendor members that works to correct social and economic injustice faced by New York City street vendors through advocacy and community organizing.
• United For Freedoms Project providing organizations and individuals facing litigation or other government actions that threaten their rights with financial and technical support for legal defense.

Quantifiable outcome

• 20,000+ people helped annually through direct legal services
• +2 more outcomes

Named customers5 records

Segments7 records

Ideal customer profiles8 records

Technology focussed No

API detail

Has API

No

API docs

API detail

Core technology

AI maturity

App detail

Partnerships

One partnership is on record.

• LyftcoreGTM or Marketing Partner · 1 January 2025Lyft provides ride codes for UJC clients to access court appearances, office visits, and essential legal services, removing transportation barriers. Also provides financial support strengthening UJC's ability to continue serving the community and advancing access to justice in New York City.

Scale indicators6 records

Recent moves6 records

Expansion highlights5 records

Direct peers

• Make the Road New York: NYC-based nonprofit combining legal services, organizing, and adult education for immigrant and working-class communities—directly comparable to UJC's Street Vendor Project and Safety Net Project in mission and methodology.
• CAMBA: Large Brooklyn-based nonprofit providing social services, housing, legal assistance, and youth programs to low-income New Yorkers—overlapping UJC's Safety Net and Free to Be Youth projects with similar multi-service delivery.
• The Bronx Defenders: NYC public defender and holistic defense nonprofit combining legal representation with social work support—closely aligned with UJC's integrated legal-plus-social-services model and criminal justice reform mission.
• Sanctuary for Families: NYC nonprofit serving survivors of domestic violence and human trafficking with legal, clinical, and shelter services—directly comparable to UJC's Domestic Violence Project and Sex Workers Project.
• New York Legal Assistance Group (NYLAG): NYC-based nonprofit providing free civil legal services to low-income New Yorkers across housing, family, immigration, and consumer law—directly overlapping UJC's project portfolio and target populations.
• The Legal Aid Society: The largest provider of free civil legal services in NYC, offering direct representation across criminal defense, civil, and juvenile rights—directly comparable to UJC's Anchor Project model and NYC focus.

Broad incumbents

• Center for Constitutional Rights: National nonprofit legal advocacy organization using impact litigation to advance civil and human rights—comparable to UJC's Experience Justice project but with a broader national scope and litigation focus.
• Lambda Legal: National legal organization advancing LGBTQ+ civil rights through litigation and policy—overlaps with UJC's Free to Be Youth Project but operates nationally with a narrower issue mandate.
• Human Rights Watch: International human rights organization conducting investigations and advocacy on global issues—overlaps with UJC's Sex Workers Project human-rights framing but with a global research and reporting mandate.
• Brennan Center for Justice: National law and policy institute focused on criminal justice reform, voting rights, and democracy—aligned with UJC's Freedom Agenda decarceration work but oriented toward policy research rather than direct service.

Market position

Strengths5 records

Weaknesses5 records

Competitive moat4 records

Key risks6 records

Key highlights6 records

Customer concentration

• Xx.com/UrbanJustice
• YouTubeyoutube.com/playlist?list=PLEUI4rURuN8z3r7ka69gx6RUa9MgYZqib
• Facebookfacebook.com/UrbanJusticeCenter
• Instagraminstagram.com/urbanjusticecenter

Compliance1 record

Revenue estimate

Valuation estimate

Number of profiles

Profiles8 records

Subsidiaries11 records

Funding overview

Funding rounds

Investors

Funding detail is available on the Subscription and Enterprise plan.Contact sales →

M&A

Investments

M&A and investment is available on the Subscription and Enterprise plan.Contact sales →

Frequently asked questions about Urban Justice Center