frederick douglass project for justice

What frederick douglass project for justice does

The Frederick Douglass Project for Justice is a 501(c)(3) nonprofit organization (EIN: 84-3166690) founded in 2017 by Dr. Marc Howard, Professor of Government and Law and Director of the Prisons and Justice Initiative at Georgetown University. Headquartered in Washington, D.C., the organization runs structured prison visitation programs that bring members of the general public — visitors, volunteers, and fellowship participants — into correctional facilities for facilitated, in-person conversations with incarcerated individuals. The core product, the Prison Visitation Program, operates cohorts of 15-20 adults through facility tours and dialogues, and is supplemented by a Zoom-based Virtual Prison Visit capability for participants outside in-person operating states, a Summer Fellowship Program for undergraduates and individuals with lived criminal-justice experience, and state-specific Post-Visit Resources covering all 14 active states plus Washington, D.C.

Underlying technology is intentionally minimal: a Squarespace website, an Airtable signup form for visit registration, a Mailchimp mailing list, and Zoom for virtual visits — with no proprietary app, API, or AI/ML components. The organization's delivery model depends on direct coordination with correctional facility personnel and on volunteer-led visit cohorts rather than on technology platforms.

The business model is a pure contributed-revenue nonprofit. Funding comes from tax-deductible donations from individuals, foundations, and corporate partners. The largest disclosed institutional contribution is the Stand Together Foundation Catalyst Impact Grant (up to $300,000 over three years beginning in 2023) plus Principle Based Management coaching. Secondary fundraising channels include the NYC Marathon charity partnership with New York Road Runners (2026 race) and earned media coverage in outlets including The Atlantic, New York Times, Washington Post, USA Today, NBC4 Washington, BuzzFeed News, ABA Journal, and Georgetown Magazine. Customer segments are two-sided: outside participants (general public volunteers) and inside participants (incarcerated individuals selected by partner facilities), with no fee-for-service pricing.

Name

frederick douglass project for justice

Legal name

The Frederick Douglass Project for Justice, Inc.

Website

https://douglassproject.org

Company type

Private

Operating status

Operating

Headcount range

11–50 employees

Short description

The Frederick Douglass Project for Justice is a 501(c)(3) nonprofit that runs structured prison visitation programs, bringing outside volunteers into correctional facilities across 14+ U.S. states for facilitated dialogue with incarcerated individuals, supported by a fellowship program and donations-based funding.

Ownership category

akta.pro rank

Product category

Criminal Justice Reform Services

NAICS

Human Rights Organizations (813311)

SIC

Services-Educational Services (8200)

akta.pro primary industry

Civil Liberties & Constitutional Rights Advocacy (BPAGAFAA)

akta.pro secondary industries

Community Corrections (Probation, Parole & Reentry) (BPAIAFAE), Legal Aid & Client Advocacy Services (BPAGAEAM)

Keywords

• Prison visitation programs
• Criminal justice reform
• Community dialogue programs
• Restorative justice services
• Incarcerated individual outreach

Headquarters

HQ city

Washington

HQ country

United States

HQ region

North America

Offices1 record

Markets served

GTM type

B2C

Offering type

Services

Cost components

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

Revenue model

1. Donations and Contributions: As a 501(c)(3) nonprofit organization, the primary revenue stream comes from tax-deductible donations from individuals, foundations, and corporate partners. The organization operates entirely on contributed funds.

Go-to-market motion1 record

Distribution channels3 records

Marketing channels5 records

Core offering

The Frederick Douglass Project for Justice is a 501(c)(3) nonprofit organization that runs structured prison visitation and dialogue programs, bringing members of the free society into prisons and jails to engage in facilitated conversations with incarcerated individuals. It complements these visits with a Summer Fellowship Program for students and justice-involved individuals, post-visit state-specific resources, and virtual visits via Zoom. All programs are funded by donations, grants, and fundraising events.

Product overview

The Frederick Douglass Project for Justice operates as a single-focus nonprofit offering structured prison visitation programs rather than a platform product. The core offering is the Prison Visitation Program, which facilitates face-to-face conversations between outside visitors and incarcerated individuals. Supporting programs include the Summer Fellowship Program (for students and justice-involved individuals to contribute to the organization's work) and Post-Visit Resources (state-specific guides for continued engagement). The organization also runs fundraising initiatives such as the NYC Marathon charity partnership. All programs work toward the mission of changing public perception of the criminal justice system through human connection.

Differentiator

Problem solved

Functional benefit

Products and services

• Prison Visitation Program
• Summer Fellowship Program
• Post-Visit State Resources
• Online Visitor Training Course

Quantifiable outcome

• 95% of inside participants report increased confidence in ability to make good choices
• +3 more outcomes

Named customers2 records

Segments3 records

Ideal customer profiles3 records

Technology focussed No

API detail

Has API

No

API docs

API detail

Core technology

AI maturity

App detail

Feature2 records

Partnerships

Three partnerships are on record, tiered core and minor.

• Georgetown University (Prisons and Justice Initiative)coreStrategic or Co-development PartnerDr. Marc Howard, founder of the Douglass Project, is Professor of Government and Law and Director of the Prisons and Justice Initiative at Georgetown University. The organization's model was developed through Howard's work at Georgetown.
• Louisiana Parole ProjectminorStrategic or Co-development PartnerPartner organization in Louisiana, with a reflective piece written about Douglass Project visits to Louisiana State Penitentiary (Angola) in May 2025.
• New York Road Runners (NYRR)minorGTM or Marketing PartnerOfficial charity partner for the TCS New York City Marathon, with runners fundraising for the organization during the 2026 race (50th anniversary of the marathon).

Scale indicators3 records

Recent moves6 records

Expansion highlights6 records

Direct peers

• Prison Fellowship: Largest faith-based prison outreach nonprofit in the U.S., running in-prison programs and connecting outside volunteers with incarcerated individuals — directly comparable to the Douglass Project's prison visitation and dialogue model.
• Petey Greene Program: Recruits and trains outside volunteers to provide tutoring and educational programming in prisons and jails. Operates a similar volunteer-into-prison model targeting the same justice-involved population.
• Hudson Link for Higher Education in Prison: Provides college education and reentry support to incarcerated people through volunteer-led in-facility instruction — same in-prison volunteer delivery model and similar mission of humanizing incarcerated individuals.
• Inside-Out Prison Exchange Program: Academic program bringing outside university students together with incarcerated individuals for semester-long dialogue-based courses inside prisons — directly comparable dialogue-inside-prison pedagogy.

Broad incumbents

• Equal Justice Initiative: Major criminal justice reform nonprofit focused on mass incarceration, wrongful conviction, and racial justice through legal advocacy, education, and public engagement. Operates in the same advocacy space with substantially larger scale and brand recognition.
• Vera Institute of Justice: Long-established criminal justice research and reform organization working on incarceration, reentry, and pretrial justice. Competes for the same reform dollars and policy attention as the Douglass Project, with broader scope and institutional reach.
• The Sentencing Project: National research and advocacy organization focused on criminal justice policy reform, particularly sentencing and incarceration. Competes for philanthropic funding and policy influence in the same advocacy space.
• The Marshall Project: Nonprofit journalism outlet covering the U.S. criminal justice system with strong national media profile — operates in the same public-awareness-shifting space as the Douglass Project, with a much larger audience footprint.
• Families Against Mandatory Minimums (FAMM): National bipartisan organization advocating for sentencing reform and reducing incarceration. Competes for similar donor mindshare in the criminal justice reform nonprofit space, focused on policy rather than direct service.

Emerging players

• JustLeadershipUSA: Led by directly impacted people, this organization advocates for criminal justice reform and reentry with a leadership-development lens — comparable advocacy and capacity-building model for justice-involved individuals.

Market position

Strengths5 records

Weaknesses5 records

Competitive moat4 records

Key risks5 records

Key highlights7 records

Customer concentration

• Xtwitter.com/douglassproject
• Instagraminstagram.com/thedouglassproject
• LinkedInlinkedin.com/company/the-frederick-douglass-project-for-justice

Compliance1 record

Revenue estimate

Valuation estimate

Number of profiles

Profiles1 record

Funding overview

Funding rounds

Investors

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M&A

Investments

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