The National Council for Incarcerated and Formerly Incarcerated Women and Girls

What The National Council for Incarcerated and Formerly Incarcerated Women and Girls does

The National Council for Incarcerated and Formerly Incarcerated Women and Girls is a 501(c)(3) nonprofit organization founded in 2010 by a group of incarcerated mothers at the federal prison in Danbury, Connecticut. Headquartered at 100R Warren Street in Roxbury, Massachusetts, with a secondary regional headquarters at 94 Colchester Avenue in Burlington, Vermont (FreeHer Burlington), the organization operates as a national abolitionist movement dedicated to ending the incarceration of women and girls. Its core programs include the FreeHer Campaign (a national distributed organizing and issue advocacy movement launched in 2021), the FreeHer Institute (an abolitionist think tank producing policy research and publications such as the 'Work to Be Done' report), Reimagining Communities (encompassing the Boston Community Pantry, Boston Women's Participatory Defense, and volunteer organizing), the ClemencyWorks campaign, the Boston Girls Group R.I.S.E. youth empowerment program (ages 14-21), the Abolitionist Book Club, the FreeHer Podcast, and an International Network. The organization is led by Founder and Executive Director Andrea James, with Sashi James as Director of Reimagining Communities and Jayna Ahsaf as Director of FreeHer Vermont.

The organization does not operate a proprietary technology platform or software product; its infrastructure is built around grassroots organizing, community events, content distribution (website, email newsletter, podcast, blog, social media using #FreeHer and #ClemencyWorks), and earned media through PR Newswire. Technology footprint is limited to standard nonprofit tooling including a Squarespace-hosted website and ActBlue donation processing.

The business model is donation-driven: the organization accepts individual donations at suggested tiers of $10, $25, $50, $100, $500, and custom amounts via one-time, weekly, monthly, or quarterly cadences, supplemented by grants, workplace giving, and wire transfers. Membership is free and functions as an engagement vehicle rather than a paid subscription. Revenue figures are not publicly disclosed. Quantifiable policy outcomes include successfully stopping a $90 million women's prison proposal in Essex, Vermont (October 2025) and ongoing opposition to a $360+ million women's prison construction project in Massachusetts through the Stop Suffolk Construction campaign. Primary customer segments (beneficiaries) include incarcerated and formerly incarcerated women and girls, families separated by incarceration, communities most impacted by incarceration in New England, girls ages 14-21 in the Boston area, and general public supporters and donors.

Name

The National Council for Incarcerated and Formerly Incarcerated Women and Girls

Legal name

The National Council for Incarcerated and Formerly Incarcerated Women and Girls

Website

https://nationalcouncil.us

Company type

Private

Founded year

2010

Operating status

Operating

Headcount range

1–10 employees

Short description

The National Council for Incarcerated and Formerly Incarcerated Women and Girls is a 501(c)(3) nonprofit founded in 2010 by incarcerated mothers that leads a national abolitionist movement to end the incarceration of women and girls through grassroots organizing, policy advocacy, clemency campaigns, and direct community programs.

Ownership category

akta.pro rank

Product category

Criminal Justice Advocacy

NAICS

Human Rights Organizations (813311), Social Advocacy Organizations (8133), Civic and Social Organizations (81341), Child and Youth Services (624110)

SIC

Services-Social Services (8300), Services-Membership Organizations (8600)

akta.pro primary industry

Criminal Justice Reform & Legal System Advocacy (BPAGAFAI)

akta.pro secondary industries

Human Rights & Anti-Discrimination Organizations (BPAGAFAB), Gender Equality & Women’s Rights Advocacy (BPAGAFAD), Child Protection & Child Rights (BPAGABAG), Youth Justice, At-Risk Youth & Violence Prevention Nonprofits (BPAGADAM)

Keywords

• Criminal justice advocacy
• Prison abolition organizing
• Women's rights advocacy
• Clemency advocacy campaigns
• Community organizing policy

Headquarters

HQ city

Roxbury

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

Revenue model

1. Individual Donations: The organization is a 501(c)(3) nonprofit that relies on individual donations from supporters. Donations are collected via ActBlue, mail, wire transfer, and workplace giving programs.
2. Membership Program: The organization offers a membership program that combines volunteerism, advocacy, and giving as part of a people-powered movement.

Pricing tiers

Go-to-market motion1 record

Distribution channels4 records

Marketing channels8 records

Core offering

The National Council for Incarcerated and Formerly Incarcerated Women and Girls is a grassroots 501(c)(3) nonprofit organization founded in 2010 by incarcerated mothers at the federal prison in Danbury, Connecticut. It advocates to end the incarceration of women and girls through national policy campaigns (FreeHer Campaign), research and policy analysis (FreeHer Institute), community organizing (Reimagining Communities), clemency advocacy (ClemencyWorks), direct service programs (Boston Women's Participatory Defense, Community Pantry), and youth leadership development (Boston Girls Group R.I.S.E.).

Product overview

The National Council for Incarcerated and Formerly Incarcerated Women and Girls operates as a nonprofit advocacy organization with multiple interconnected programs rather than a unified software product. The core portfolio includes the FreeHer Campaign (national organizing and advocacy movement launched 2021), the FreeHer Institute (abolitionist think tank for policy research), Reimagining Communities (local organizing including community pantries and participatory defense), and the ClemencyWorks program. Additional offerings include the FreeHer Podcast, Blog, Political Education initiatives, the Abolitionist Book Club, and various youth and community programs. The organization also publishes research reports through the FreeHer Institute. This is not a technology product platform but a movement-building organization with advocacy programs and community services.

Differentiator

Problem solved

Functional benefit

Brands

• FreeHer Campaign: A distributed organizing, deep canvassing, and issue advocacy movement to end the incarceration of women and girls and close women's prisons and jails across the country, launched in 2021.
• FreeHer Quilting Project
• Re-Imagining Communities
• FreeHer Institute
• ClemencyWorks

Products and services

• FreeHer Campaign National flagship advocacy campaign aimed at ending the incarceration of women and girls through policy reform, public education, and legislative engagement. Designed for policymakers, advocates, and impacted communities.
• FreeHer Institute Research and policy think tank that produces original research, analysis, and reports (including the Work to Be Done report) on incarceration of women and girls. Designed for policymakers, advocates, journalists, and researchers.
• Reimagining Communities Community organizing initiative that builds local power in communities disproportionately impacted by incarceration, supporting grassroots campaigns against the criminalization of women and girls. Designed for community members and local organizers.
• ClemencyWorks Campaign that advocates for clemency and second-chance opportunities for incarcerated women. Designed for incarcerated women, their families, and legal advocates.
• Boston Women's Participatory Defense Direct service program providing participatory defense support to women navigating the criminal legal system. Designed for women facing charges, their families, and community members in the Boston area.
• Boston Girls Group R.I.S.E. Youth leadership development program for girls aged 14-21 from communities impacted by incarceration, providing political education, leadership training, and organizing skills. Designed for teenage and young adult girls from impacted communities.
• Community Pantry Direct mutual aid service providing food and basic necessities to community members, particularly those impacted by incarceration and economic hardship. Designed for families and community members in the Boston area.

Quantifiable outcome

• Successfully stopped a $90 million women's prison proposal in Essex, Vermont
• +1 more outcomes

Named customers4 records

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

Five partnerships are on record, tiered core.

• People Not Prisons CoalitioncoreStrategic or Co-development PartnerCoalition of incarcerated and formerly incarcerated people, women, families from most incarcerated neighborhoods in New England, and allies united in opposition to prison construction. The National Council participates as a core organizing member, extending reach through the coalition structure.
• FreeHer VermontcoreChannel Partner/ Reseller/ DistributorGrassroots chapter of The National Council organizing across Vermont to stop prison expansion and build community-based solutions. Operates under the organization's umbrella with local leadership and programming including the Vermont Community Pantry and Vermont People Not Prisons activities.
• Families for Justice as HealingcoreStrategic or Co-development PartnerPartner organization in the Stop Suffolk Construction campaign opposing the $360 million Massachusetts women's prison project. Both organizations represent directly impacted women and families advocating against prison expansion.
• F4GI (Free Her Foundation Initiative)coreStrategic or Co-development PartnerPartnership to support a guaranteed income program for currently and formerly incarcerated women. Collaborative initiative announced to provide direct financial support to women impacted by the criminal legal system.
• FJAH (Families for Justice as Healing)coreStrategic or Co-development PartnerCo-organizer of Boston Women's Participatory Defense program and other community events. FJAH is a partner in the Reimagining Communities initiative bringing together families and communities to impact case outcomes.

Scale indicators5 records

Recent moves6 records

Expansion highlights4 records

Direct peers

• JustLeadershipUSA: National advocacy organization led by formerly incarcerated people working to cut the U.S. correctional population in half. Highly comparable in its explicitly directly-impacted-led model and decarceration policy focus.
• Black & Pink: Open membership organization of LGBTQ people, including those who are incarcerated or formerly incarcerated. Comparable as a directly-impacted-led abolitionist-leaning advocacy organization serving a marginalized subset of the incarcerated population.
• Women's Prison Association: New York nonprofit serving women involved in the criminal justice system through reentry, family services, and policy advocacy. Comparable in serving justice-involved women with a combination of direct services and policy reform.
• Families for Justice as Healing: Boston-area nonprofit led by directly impacted women advocating to end women's incarceration. Already an active TNC coalition partner on the Stop Suffolk Construction campaign, making it the closest comparable mission- and method-wise.
• A New Way of Life Reentry Project: Los Angeles-based nonprofit providing housing, advocacy, and leadership development for women rebuilding lives after incarceration. Directly comparable as a women-centered, directly impacted-led reentry and advocacy organization.

Broad incumbents

• Vera Institute of Justice: National criminal justice reform organization combining research, direct service, and technical assistance. Broad incumbent working on the same criminal justice reform issues from a more institutional, less directly-impacted-led position.
• The Sentencing Project: National research and advocacy organization working to reduce the use of incarceration. Overlaps TNC's policy reform mission but operates at larger scale, with a reformist rather than abolitionist posture.
• National Council on Crime and Delinquency: Long-standing criminal justice research and advocacy organization focused on youth and adult justice reform. Comparable thematic overlap with a research-heavy, broader-portfolio approach.

Emerging players

• Forward Justice: Southern-based criminal justice reform organization led by formerly incarcerated leaders focused on decarceration and ending mass incarceration. Comparable directly-impacted-led model but with a Southern U.S. regional focus rather than TNC's New England base.
• Dream Corps (Cut50): National organization running the Cut50 initiative aimed at cutting the U.S. correctional population in half. Operates in the same decarceration policy space but with a more bipartisan, reformist framing than TNC.

Market position

Strengths5 records

Weaknesses5 records

Competitive moat4 records

Key risks5 records

Key highlights6 records

Customer concentration

• LinkedInlinkedin.com/company/the-national-council-for-incarcerated-and-formerly-incarcerated-women-and-girls

Revenue estimate

Valuation estimate

Number of profiles

Profiles1 record

Subsidiaries5 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 The National Council for Incarcerated and Formerly Incarcerated Women and Girls