What Root & Rebound does

Root & Rebound is a nonprofit legal services and reentry advocacy organization founded in 2013 and headquartered in Oakland/San Francisco, California. Its stated mission is to support people navigating reentry from incarceration and to reduce the harms perpetuated by mass incarceration. The organization delivers a portfolio of free services to justice-impacted individuals and their advocates across California and South Carolina, including a weekly Friday Reentry Legal Hotline, mobile legal clinics, in-prison reentry preparation courses, community workshops, and a South Carolina email hotline. It also publishes a national resource library — including the First Step to Second Chances Guide, Fair Chance Housing Toolkit, and Tribal Reentry Advocacy Guide — and runs a coalition-based policy advocacy program that has contributed to California legislation including AB 2845 (pardons/commutations), AB 2138 (professional licensing), and AB 2293 (EMT licensing data).

The underlying operating model is community lawyering: staff lawyers and directly impacted experts are embedded in the communities they serve, and content is produced in partnership with peer organizations to extend reach without diluting service quality. Distribution spans direct service channels (phone and email hotlines, in-person clinics, in-prison programming), digital self-serve channels (online resource portal, Stories of Reentry film series), and earned-media advocacy campaigns (Debt-Free Justice, Fair Chance Hiring, Fair Chance Housing). The organization is registered as Root & Rebound Project in California and trades under DBA names including Root & Rebound, Root and Rebound South Carolina, and Root and Rebound Project.

Root & Rebound is funded primarily through charitable donations and foundation grants, not earned revenue from service fees. Disclosed inflows include a $2 million philanthropic gift from MacKenzie Scott's Yield Giving Open Call in March 2024, plus prior awards from Kresge (NextGen, 2019), Tamer Fund for Social Ventures (2018), Bluhm/Helfand Social Innovation (2017), and the California Bar Foundation (2016). The organization is privately held as a nonprofit, has no parent company, and employs 11–50 people, with management including an executive director and a South Carolina regional director. There is no public listing, no M&A activity, and no disclosed technology platform beyond the website and digital resource portal.

Name

Root & Rebound

Legal name

Root & Rebound Project

Website

https://rootandrebound.org

Company type

Private

Founded year

2013

Operating status

Operating

Headcount range

11–50 employees

Short description

Root & Rebound is a nonprofit founded in 2013 that provides free reentry legal services, in-prison programming, mobile clinics, and policy advocacy to justice-impacted individuals and advocates across California and South Carolina.

Ownership category

akta.pro rank

Product category

Reentry Legal Services

NAICS

Human Rights Organizations (813311)

akta.pro primary industry

Reentry, Rehabilitation & Reintegration Programs (Education, Vocational, Case Management) (BPAKANAH)

akta.pro secondary industries

Reentry & Justice-Involved Support Services (BPAGAEAN), Criminal Justice Reform & Legal System Advocacy (BPAGAFAI), Community Corrections (Probation, Parole & Reentry) (BPAIAFAE)

Keywords

• Reentry legal services
• Criminal justice advocacy
• Legal aid nonprofit
• Policy reform advocacy
• Fair chance employment

Headquarters

HQ city

Oakland

HQ country

United States

HQ region

North America

Offices2 records

Markets served

GTM type

B2C

Offering type

Services

Cost components

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

Revenue model

1. Donations and Charitable Contributions: Supported through charitable donations including a $2 million gift from the Yield Giving/Open Call initiative (MacKenzie Scott's foundation)
2. Foundation Grants and Awards: Award-based funding including Kresge National NextGen Initiative Award, Tamer Fund for Social Ventures Award, and other social innovation fellowships and grants

Go-to-market motion1 record

Distribution channels6 records

Marketing channels6 records

Core offering

Root & Rebound is a nonprofit reentry advocacy organization that provides free direct legal services, public education, training, and impact litigation for people with arrest or conviction records. Core offerings include a Reentry Legal Hotline, in-prison programming, mobile legal clinics, and educational workshops delivered in California and South Carolina, complemented by a national resource library and policy advocacy campaigns on criminal justice reform.

Product overview

Root & Rebound is a nonprofit legal services organization offering a unified suite of reentry support services for people impacted by the criminal justice system. The core offerings include the Reentry Legal Hotline (free phone consultations), In-Prison Programs (reentry preparation inside facilities), Mobile Legal Clinics, and Educational Workshops and Trainings. The organization also produces extensive resource guides including the First Step to Second Chances Guide (national prison release guide), Tribal Reentry Advocacy Guide, and Fair Chance Housing Toolkit. Regional programs are delivered in California and South Carolina, with additional services like the SC Reentry Email Hotline. The portfolio is interconnected through a shared mission of reducing mass incarceration harms, with resources designed to work alongside direct legal services and policy advocacy campaigns.

Differentiator

Problem solved

Functional benefit

Products and services

• Reentry Legal Hotline

Quantifiable outcome

• 95% of callers report the Reentry Legal Hotline helped them resolve legal issues
• +3 more outcomes

Named customers4 records

Segments5 records

Ideal customer profiles3 records

Technology focussed No

API detail

Has API

No

API docs

API detail

Core technology

AI maturity

App detail

Feature4 records

Partnerships

Two partnerships are on record, tiered core and flagship.

• Yurok Tribal CourtcoreStrategic or Co-development Partner · 1 January 2023Partnership to produce the Tribal Reentry Advocacy Guide as a starting point for legal practitioners, tribes and tribal governments, philanthropists, and community-based organizations seeking to expand access to justice in indigenous communities across the United States.
• Coalition of 50+ Partners for AB 2138flagshipStrategic or Co-development Partner · 1 January 2023Coalition mobilized to pass AB 2138 making the state professional licensing process fairer for people with records, ensuring that expunged, old, and irrelevant convictions are not barriers to meaningful careers.

Scale indicators10 records

Recent moves7 records

Expansion highlights6 records

Direct peers

• The Fortune Society: The Fortune Society is a NYC-based nonprofit providing direct reentry services, housing, education, and advocacy for people impacted by incarceration — closely mirroring Root & Rebound's integrated legal-services-plus-policy model.
• JustLeadershipUSA: JustLeadershipUSA is a national nonprofit led by directly impacted people focused on criminal justice reform policy — comparable to Root & Rebound's policy advocacy and impact litigation campaigns.
• National HIRE Network: National HIRE Network is a nonprofit that leads policy advocacy and coalition work on fair-chance hiring and licensing for people with records — directly comparable to Root & Rebound's AB 2138-style licensing reform efforts.
• A New Way of Life: A New Way of Life provides housing and reentry support for women and previously incarcerated people in Los Angeles — overlapping with Root & Rebound's reentry navigation and housing-rights advocacy.
• Center for Employment Opportunities (CEO): CEO is a large nonprofit focused on employment-focused reentry support and fair-chance hiring, directly comparable to Root & Rebound's reentry navigation and fair-chance employment advocacy work.
• Anti-Recidivism Coalition (ARC): ARC is a California nonprofit run by directly impacted people that provides reentry support, policy advocacy, and leadership development — closely paralleling Root & Rebound's community-lawyering and impact-litigation approach.

Broad incumbents

• Brennan Center for Justice: Brennan Center is a major national law-and-policy organization working on criminal justice reform among other issues — a broader incumbent operating in an overlapping policy-advocacy space.
• Drug Policy Alliance: Drug Policy Alliance is a national advocacy nonprofit working on drug decriminalization and criminal justice reform — overlapping with Root & Rebound's policy advocacy footprint but with a broader issue mandate.
• Council of State Governments Justice Center: CSG Justice Center is a national nonprofit policy organization working on reentry and justice reform across many states — a broader-incumbent counterpart to Root & Rebound's state-level advocacy model.

Regional players

• East Bay Community Law Center: EBCLC is a Berkeley-based nonprofit providing reentry, housing, and consumer legal services — closely overlapping with Root & Rebound's California reentry legal clinic model.

Market position

Strengths1 record

Weaknesses1 record

Competitive moat5 records

Key risks5 records

Key highlights7 records

Customer concentration

• Facebookfacebook.com/rootandrebound
• Xx.com/ROOTandREBOUND

Revenue estimate

Valuation estimate

Number of profiles

Profiles2 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 Root & Rebound