What Advancement Project does

Advancement Project is a Washington, DC-based national civil rights nonprofit founded in 1999 by former NAACP Legal Defense and Educational Fund attorneys Constance L. Rice, Penda Hair, Molly Munger, and Stephen R. English. The organization operates as a movement lawyering entity, combining legal advocacy, policy reform, narrative strategy, campaign strategy, and grassroots organizing to advance racial justice through three core issue areas: voting rights, education justice, and policing/criminal legal reform. It serves communities of color—Black, Latine, Asian, and Indigenous populations—facing structural barriers in civic participation, education, and public safety, with a network of 75+ grassroots partner organizations across 18 states.

The organization delivers its work through three core programs—the Justice Project, the Power & Democracy Program, and the Opportunity to Learn Program—alongside a portfolio of national campaigns and projects. Active initiatives include the National Police Free Schools Campaign (supporting 30+ local youth-led campaigns in coordination with Alliance for Educational Justice), ActionCamp (training 1,500+ youth and parents since 2010), the Beyond 250 digital narrative campaign, the People-Centered Power project on preemption laws, the How Cops Get Off educational video series, and the Young Voters of Color polling and messaging project. Its legal arm has served as counsel or co-counsel in major voting rights cases including SB 90 in Florida (constitutional challenge resulting in district court findings of discrimination against Black voters) and SB 202 in Georgia, with documented outcomes including restoration of voting rights for approximately 150,000 Virginians with felony convictions and constitutional amendments ending lifetime disenfranchisement in Florida.

Advancement Project operates as a tax-exempt nonprofit funded through charitable donations and institutional grants (EIN: 87-4702350), with a staff of 11-50 and national headquarters at 1220 L Street NW, Suite 850, Washington, DC. Distribution occurs through grassroots partner coordination, direct litigation, policy advocacy, convenings, and publicly available resources including policy briefs, factsheets, advocacy letters, and political education zines. Leadership includes Interim Executive Director Carmen Daugherty, Board Chair Ash-Lee Woodard Henderson (also Co-Executive Director of The Highlander Research & Education Center), and Board Vice-Chair Jesse Williams. Strategic partnerships extend to the ACLU, NAACP, Demos, LatinoJustice, Brennan Center, the Lawyers Committee for Civil Rights Under Law, the Leadership Conference on Civil and Human Rights, and Movement for Black Lives.

Name

Advancement Project

Legal name

Advancement Project

Website

https://advancementproject.org

Company type

Private

Founded year

1999

Operating status

Operating

Headcount range

11–50 employees

Short description

Advancement Project is a Washington, DC-based civil rights nonprofit founded in 1999 that combines legal advocacy, policy reform, and grassroots organizing to advance voting rights, education justice, and criminal legal reform across 18 states.

Ownership category

akta.pro rank

Product category

Civil Rights Advocacy

NAICS

Social Advocacy Organizations (8133), Human Rights Organizations (813311), Social Advocacy Organizations (81331)

SIC

Services-Membership Organizations (8600)

akta.pro primary industry

Criminal Justice Reform & Legal System Advocacy (BPAGAFAI)

akta.pro secondary industries

Education Policy, Research & Advocacy Organizations (Nonprofit) (BPAGADAN), Civil Society Strengthening & Civic Space (BPADAGAD), Digital Inclusion & Civic Tech (Connectivity, GovTech for Social Good) (BPAGALAK)

Keywords

• Civil rights advocacy
• Voting rights litigation
• Education justice
• Criminal justice reform
• Racial justice organizing

Headquarters

HQ city

Washington

HQ country

United States

HQ region

North America

Offices1 record

Markets served

GTM type

B2B

Offering type

Services

Cost components

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

Revenue model

1. Donations and Grants: Nonprofit organization funded through charitable donations and institutional grants. EIN: 87-4702350

Go-to-market motion1 record

Distribution channels3 records

Marketing channels6 records

Core offering

Advancement Project is a national civil rights organization that uses movement lawyering—combining legal advocacy, policy development, grassroots organizing, and strategic communications—to partner with directly impacted communities of color on voting rights, education justice, policing and decriminalization, and immigrant justice. It supports a network of 75+ grassroots organizations across 18 states through strategy development, research, litigation, trainings, convening, and communications support.

Product overview

Advancement Project is a next-generation, multi-racial civil rights organization that does not offer a technology product. Its work consists of three core programs (Justice Project, Power & Democracy Program, and Opportunity to Learn Program), various campaigns (Police Free Schools, Beyond 250), projects (How Cops Get Off, People-Centered Power), networks (Black Narrative Table, Formation), and educational resources including the From the Roots zine. The organization uses movement lawyering, narrative strategy, campaign strategy, and movement weaving to achieve high-impact policy change for racial justice.

Differentiator

Problem solved

Functional benefit

Products and services

• Justice Project A program that supports communities facing violence at the hands of police, working to end reliance on police and prisons while creating new models for community-centered public safety.
• Power & Democracy Program A program focused on protecting and expanding access to voting at national, state, and local levels, including voter protection, rights restoration, and fighting against felony disenfranchisement.
• Opportunity to Learn Program A program focused on education justice, working to dismantle the school-to-prison pipeline and fight for police-free schools and liberatory education.
• National Campaign for Police Free Schools A national campaign co-convened by Advancement Project and Alliance for Educational Justice to end policing in schools and win true safety for young people, supporting over 30 local youth-led campaigns.
• ActionCamp A youth organizing program that has trained over 1,500 youth and parents from across the country since 2010 on dismantling the school-to-prison pipeline, fighting privatization, and winning education justice.
• How Cops Get Off A three-part animated video series that breaks down three major elements that keep cops protected and reinforce racist practices: the public narrative, the protectors in the legal system, and laws.
• Young Voters of Color A multi-year project supporting messaging, polling, and outreach to young voters of color between the ages of 18-25, including polling in Florida, Georgia, Michigan, and Virginia ahead of the 2022 midterms.
• Black Narrative Table A hub of Black-led and Black-serving progressive organizations and individuals aimed at creating long-term narrative strategy at scale to build power and progressive politics with Black communities.
• Formation Network A relationship-building, cross-learning, and strategic capacity building network of multiracial local organizations waging campaigns to dismantle systems and structures of racial oppression.
• People-Centered Power A project focused on fighting state takeovers and abusive preemption laws that undermine grassroots organizing victories and strip communities of self-governance and self-determination.
• Beyond 250: Another World is Possible A digital campaign anchored in three narrative frames—We Belong, We Build Power, We Believe That We Will Win—aimed at writing the next chapter of the country's story toward a true multiracial democracy.

Quantifiable outcome

• Successfully challenged Florida SB 90 voting restrictions, winning key provisions struck down including third-party voter registration disclaimer and line warming restrictions
• +4 more outcomes

Segments4 records

Ideal customer profiles4 records

Technology focussed No

API detail

Has API

No

API docs

API detail

Core technology

AI maturity

App detail

Partnerships

27 partnerships are on record, tiered core and major.

• Movement for Black LivescoreStrategic or Co-development PartnerNational coalition partnership for coordinated racial justice work including Stop Cop Cities campaign in Atlanta, Baltimore, and Dallas.
• Black Voters MattercoreStrategic or Co-development PartnerNational partner for voter engagement and voting rights protection work.
• Leadership Conference on Civil and Human RightscoreStrategic or Co-development PartnerNational civil rights coalition partnership for coordinated advocacy and policy work.
• Alliance for Educational JusticecoreStrategic or Co-development PartnerCo-conveners of the National Police Free Schools Campaign supporting dozens of youth-led campaigns across the country.
• ACLUmajorStrategic or Co-development PartnerNational ally for civil rights advocacy and policy coordination.
• NAACPmajorStrategic or Co-development PartnerNational civil rights organization partnership for voting rights and racial justice work.
• DemosmajorStrategic or Co-development PartnerPolicy partner for voting rights litigation including SB 90 challenge.
• LatinoJusticemajorStrategic or Co-development PartnerLegal partner for voting rights litigation including SB 90 challenge.
• Florida Rights Restoration CoalitioncoreStrategic or Co-development PartnerFounding member of coalition that won Florida ballot initiative to end lifetime disenfranchisement for people with felony convictions.
• Civil Rights CorpsmajorStrategic or Co-development PartnerLegal partnership for criminal justice reform work in Washington DC.
• 412 JusticecoreStrategic or Co-development PartnerGrassroots partner in Pittsburgh for education justice and school closure resistance.
• Brighton Park Neighborhood CouncilcoreStrategic or Co-development PartnerChicago grassroots partner leading Youth Healing Chi campaign and fights to get police out of schools.
• Action St. Louis / Close the WorkhousecoreStrategic or Co-development PartnerPartner in St. Louis for Close the Workhouse campaign that secured city agreement to close a jail and reinvest money into the community.
• Voice of the Experienced (VOTE)coreStrategic or Co-development PartnerLouisiana partner for rights restoration work, supported in reducing waiting time for restoration of rights.
• JuntoscoreStrategic or Co-development PartnerPennsylvania immigrant justice partner for advocacy and organizing work.
• Dream DefendersmajorStrategic or Co-development PartnerFlorida partner for racial justice organizing and voting rights work.
• New Virginia MajoritycoreStrategic or Co-development PartnerVirginia partner for voting rights and civic engagement work.
• Black Swan AcademymajorStrategic or Co-development PartnerDC partner for youth development and civic engagement.
• Crowell & Moring LLPmajorStrategic or Co-development PartnerLegal counsel partnership for SB 202 litigation challenge in Georgia.
• Kastorf Law LLCmajorStrategic or Co-development PartnerLegal counsel partnership for SB 202 litigation challenge in Georgia.
• Arnold & PortermajorStrategic or Co-development PartnerLegal counsel partnership for SB 90 voting rights litigation.
• Public JusticemajorStrategic or Co-development PartnerLegal partner for Philadelphia School District lawsuit settlement.
• Black Narrative TablecoreStrategic or Co-development PartnerHub of Black-led and Black-serving progressive organizations for long-term narrative strategy to build power with Black communities.
• FormationcoreStrategic or Co-development PartnerRelationship building, cross-learning, and strategic capacity building network of multiracial local organizations waging campaigns to dismantle systems of racial oppression.
• Brennan CentermajorStrategic or Co-development PartnerNational ally for democracy and voting rights work.
• Color of ChangemajorStrategic or Co-development PartnerNational ally for racial justice advocacy.
• Lawyers Committee for Civil Rights Under LawmajorStrategic or Co-development PartnerNational ally for civil rights litigation and advocacy.

Scale indicators6 records

Recent moves6 records

Expansion highlights6 records

Direct peers

• Brennan Center for Justice: Major ally A national law and policy institute working on voting rights, democracy reform, and criminal justice — directly comparable research, litigation, and advocacy mandate.
• NAACP: Listed Major partner. National civil rights organization working on voting rights and racial justice through advocacy, litigation, and organizing with directly overlapping mission areas.
• Southern Poverty Law Center (SPLC): A long-standing civil rights organization pursuing impact litigation, voting rights, and criminal justice reform. Comparable in combining litigation, advocacy, and education programs on racial justice issues.
• American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU): Listed as a Major strategic ally of Advancement Project. Both pursue civil rights litigation, voting rights, criminal legal reform, and education justice through integrated legal, policy, and organizing approaches.
• Color of Change: Listed as a Major ally. A leading racial justice advocacy organization working on criminal justice, voting rights, and corporate accountability — overlapping campaign and digital organizing functions.
• Movement for Black Lives: Listed as a Core strategic partner. National coalition working on racial justice, policing, and voting rights, with overlapping grassroots organizing and policy advocacy priorities.
• NAACP Legal Defense and Educational Fund: The legal advocacy arm from which Advancement Project's founders originated. Both pursue civil rights litigation, voting rights cases, and education justice, making them the most direct peer in the racial justice legal advocacy space.
• Demos: Co-counsel with Advancement Project on SB 90. A policy and litigation organization focused on voting rights, democracy, and racial equity, with directly overlapping legal and policy priorities.
• Lawyers' Committee for Civil Rights Under Law: Named Major ally in the data. Operates a parallel model combining civil rights litigation with voter protection programs and election protection work that closely mirrors Advancement Project's Power & Democracy Program.

Emerging players

• Vera Institute of Justice: A research and advocacy organization working on criminal legal reform and ending mass incarceration — directly overlapping the Justice Project's mission on community-centered public safety and policing alternatives.

Market position

Strengths5 records

Weaknesses5 records

Competitive moat4 records

Key risks6 records

Key highlights6 records

Customer concentration

• Xx.com/adv_project

Revenue estimate

Valuation estimate

Number of profiles

Profiles10 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 Advancement Project