communities for just schools fund

What communities for just schools fund does

Communities for Just Schools Fund is a national donor collaborative and 501(c)(3) public charity founded in 2016. It funds and supports grassroots organizing for education justice, serving community-based partners working on education issues. As of 2024, it supported 75 partners across 25 states, Puerto Rico, and Washington, D.C., and had moved more than $36 million in general operating support since its founding.

The organization operates a philanthropic funding model rather than a commercial product business: it raises charitable contributions, including a stated $5 million fundraising goal for December 2025, and directs general operating support to grassroots partners. Its disclosed surface beyond grantmaking includes the 2025 Annual Report, the Roadmaps to Power research report produced with the USC Equity Research Institute and supported by the Nellie Mae Education Foundation, and the Beyond the Bell podcast. No technology products, platforms, or AI/ML capabilities are disclosed.

Name

communities for just schools fund

Legal name

Communities for Just Schools Fund

Website

https://cjsfund.org

Company type

Private

Founded year

2016

Operating status

Operating

Headcount range

1–10 employees

Short description

Communities for Just Schools Fund is a national 501(c)(3) donor collaborative that funds and supports grassroots education-justice organizing through general operating support, research, and partner engagement across a multistate network.

Ownership category

akta.pro rank

Product category

Philanthropic Grantmaking Services

NAICS

Grantmaking Foundations (813211), Grantmaking and Giving Services (81321), Social Advocacy Organizations (8133)

akta.pro primary industry

Education Grantmaking Foundations (BPAGAKAK)

akta.pro secondary industry

Social Justice & Human Rights Grantmaking Foundations (BPAGAKAN)

Keywords

• Education justice funding
• Grassroots organizing grants
• Donor collaborative
• Philanthropic regranting
• Nonprofit grantmaking

GTM type

B2B and B2C

Offering type

Services

Cost components

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

Revenue model

1. Donor Contributions and Grants: CJSF operates as a 501(c)(3) public charity that raises funds from institutional donors and individual contributors, then regrants to grassroots organizing partners working on education justice. The organization moved more than $36 million in general operating support to partners since 2016.

Go-to-market motion1 record

Distribution channels1 record

Marketing channels9 records

Core offering

Communities for Just Schools Fund (CJSF) is a national donor collaborative and 501(c)(3) public charity that pools contributions from institutional and individual donors and regrants them as general operating support to grassroots community organizing partners working on education justice. Beyond regranting, CJSF provides capacity strengthening and technical assistance, national and local convening and network building, community-led research, and funder organizing services to advance holistic safety and equity for young people.

Product overview

Communities for Just Schools Fund (CJSF) is a national collaborative of community organizers and funders working to advance education justice. CJSF does not offer a unified software product but rather provides a suite of grantmaking and support services including: regranting to grassroots organizations, capacity strengthening and technical assistance, convening and network building, community-led research, and funder organizing. CJSF also produces content and resources including the 'Beyond the Bell' podcast, the 'Roadmaps to Power' research report developed with USC's Equity Research Institute, the annual 2025 Annual Report, and co-governance video resources. Together, these services and resources support the organization's mission to advance education justice through grassroots organizing.

Differentiator

Problem solved

Functional benefit

Products and services

• Regranting to Grassroots Partners CJSF invests in the power of grassroots organizations by providing general operating support grants to advocate for policy changes that transform public schools and communities into welcoming spaces.
• Capacity Strengthening & Technical Assistance

Quantifiable outcome

• CJSF partners have changed local, state, and federal level policies increasing safety, preventing school closures, growing budgets for positive youth supports, and teaching culturally relevant curricula

Named customers9 records

Segments1 record

Ideal customer profiles2 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 minor.

• USC Equity Research InstitutecoreStrategic or Co-development Partner · 1 January 2025Conducted research for the Roadmaps to Power report on how community organizing builds co-governing power, strengthens community safety nets, and transforms public education systems.
• Foundation for Child DevelopmentminorGTM or Marketing PartnerCJSF content published on FCD's SPARK blog, a storytelling platform. Partnered on piece 'Stepping Into Power: How Student Walkouts are Safeguarding Communities and Public Education' featuring Alliance for Educational Justice and CJSF staff.
• GSA NetworkminorStrategic or Co-development PartnerMovement partner that created a coalition-building toolkit for youth organizers, shared as a resource from the field in the Roadmaps to Power report.
• Dignity in Schools CampaignminorStrategic or Co-development PartnerMovement partner resource: Building narrative power lessons on storytelling for education justice.
• Advancement ProjectminorStrategic or Co-development PartnerMovement partner with a resource library on education justice organizing and community power building.
• Dream DefendersminorStrategic or Co-development PartnerMovement partner that created The Freedom Papers, a toolkit for community organizing and advocacy.

Scale indicators8 records

Recent moves5 records

Expansion highlights5 records

Direct peers

• New Venture Fund: New Venture Fund is a 501(c)(3) public charity that serves as a fiscal sponsor and regrantor for multiple progressive donor collaboratives, operating a similar pooled-grantmaking model to CJSF.
• Schott Foundation for Public Education: Schott Foundation is a national education justice funder that supports grassroots organizing and policy advocacy for equitable public education, directly paralleling CJSF's regranting model and movement-building approach.
• Solidaire Network: Solidaire is a donor collaborative that directs multi-year general operating support to movement-building organizations, closely matching CJSF's commitment to unencumbered regranting for grassroots organizers.
• NEO Philanthropy: NEO Philanthropy is a funder intermediary and fiscal sponsor that regrants to education justice and social justice organizing networks, overlapping with CJSF's regranting and convening services.
• Borealis Philanthropy: Borealis Philanthropy operates as a donor collaborative that pools resources from multiple funders to regrant to grassroots organizing partners across racial justice and education, sharing CJSF's collaborative intermediary model.
• Nellie Mae Education Foundation: Nellie Mae Education Foundation funds public education transformation and community organizing in New England and nationally, and is also a current research partner of CJSF, making it a closely aligned funder peer.
• The Twenty-First Century Foundation: The Twenty-First Century Foundation is a Black-led donor collaborative supporting racial justice organizing and movement infrastructure, comparable to CJSF's collaborative model and emphasis on community-led power building.

Broad incumbents

• Chan Zuckerberg Initiative (Education): CZI's education arm funds education equity and whole-child initiatives, including regranting to advocacy organizations, making it a broad incumbent in the same funding ecosystem as CJSF.
• Ford Foundation: Ford Foundation is a large global foundation with significant education justice and racial equity grantmaking, representing a broad incumbent funder that overlaps with CJSF's mission but operates at much greater scale.
• W.K. Kellogg Foundation: Kellogg Foundation is a major philanthropic incumbent funding education equity, racial justice, and child wellbeing at significantly larger scale than CJSF, operating in the same field but as a much broader portfolio.

Market position

Strengths5 records

Weaknesses5 records

Competitive moat3 records

Key risks6 records

Key highlights7 records

Customer concentration

• YouTubeyoutube.com/channel/UCX9QrXnY2KLzbpVCLGJ-vHg
• Facebookfacebook.com/cjsfund
• LinkedInlinkedin.com/company/cjsf
• Instagraminstagram.com/justschoolsfund

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 communities for just schools fund