irs program accomplishments · form 990 part iii · fy2024
What they reported doing
- #1 primary $3.38MADVANCING UNIVERSAL REPRESENTATION:THE ADVANCING UNIVERSAL REPRESENTATION INITIATIVE IS DRIVING A NATIONAL MOVEMENT FOR UNIVERSAL REPRESENTATION. OUR GOAL IS TO ESTABLISH A FEDERAL RIGHT TO REPRESENTATION FOR ALL IMMIGRANTS FACING DEPORTATION. BY FIGHTING FOR UNIVERSAL REPRESENTATION, THE INITIATIVE AND ITS PARTNERS ARE KEEPING FAMILIES TOGETHER; DISRUPTING THE CRIMINALIZATION AND DEPORTATION OF IMMIGRANTS AND THEIR FAMILIES; AND PROTECTING PEOPLE FROM THE DEPLORABLE CONDITIONS OF IMMIGRATION DETENTION.
- #2 $3.33MRESTORING PROMISERESTORING PROMISE IS AN INITIATIVE OF THE VERA INSTITUTE OF JUSTICE THAT SEEKS TO TRANSFORM PRISON CULTURES, CLIMATES, AND SPACES BY PARTNERING WITH CORRECTIONAL LEADERS TO REIMAGINE HOUSING UNITS FOR YOUNG ADULTS AND REALIGN CORRECTIONS POLICIES AND PRACTICES WITH A COMMITMENT TO HUMAN DIGNITY.
named programs · 4 · from sources
What they call their work
Advancing Universal Representation
Initiative advocating for a federal right to legal representation for all immigrants facing deportation, aiming to keep families together and reduce detention.
EOIR Programs - LOP, LOPC, NQRP, ICH
Initiatives supporting legal representation and advocacy within immigration courts and detention systems.
Reshaping Prosecution
Supports elected prosecutors in enacting racial equity-focused reforms, reducing incarceration, and increasing accountability to impacted communities.
Restoring Promise
Partners with correctional leaders to transform prison environments for young adults by promoting human dignity and reforming policies.
activities · 6 groups
What they do
-
Criminal Justice Policy Advocacy 7 activities
- Advocacy for bail reform and alternatives to money bailAdvocates for alternatives to money bail, beginning with early efforts in New York City in 1961, and continues to push for systemic reform at local and federal levels.
- Advocacy for humane prison conditions, including extreme heat protectionsSupports legal advocacy efforts to protect incarcerated individuals from extreme heat in prisons in Florida, Louisiana, and Missouri, and works to end prison slavery through state and local policy reforms.
- Capacity building for elected prosecutorsSupports elected prosecutors in implementing data-informed policies to reduce incarceration, advance racial equity, and increase accountability to impacted communities.
- Conducting research on bail systems and pretrial detentionConducted foundational research including the Manhattan Bail Project, site visits to New York City detention facilities, and stakeholder interviews to assess bail system operations and reform potential, contributing to national legislative change.
- Developing and maintaining public data dashboards on immigration detentionDeveloped and maintains an interactive ICE Detention Trends dashboard providing daily data on immigration detention populations across 1,490 facilities from 2008 to March 10, 2026, based on 17 years of published data analysis.
- Research and data analysis on jail populations and incarceration trendsConducts research on jail populations, including documenting 147 deaths in Los Angeles County jails since 2023, tracking over 5,000 jail bookings with Prop 36 charges in 2025, and reporting on mental health conditions among incarcerated individuals, citing evidence for diversion alternatives.
- Research on prison labor exploitation and economic justiceConducts research and collects testimonies from incarcerated individuals to document the economic exploitation of prison labor.
-
-
Justice System Innovation & Inclusion Programs 2 activities
- Operating place-based justice reform initiatives through regional officesOperates offices in Brooklyn, Los Angeles, New Orleans, and Washington, DC to support localized justice reform efforts.
- Place-based pilot programs to reduce criminalization and incarcerationPilots real-world justice reform programs in partnership with community members and government agencies in New York, California, Louisiana, and at the federal level, with staff based in those communities.
-
-
Financial Aid and Scholarship Access Programs 1 activity
- Expanding access to higher education for incarcerated peopleExpanded access to college education for over 40,000 people in prison through support for Second Chance Pell Programs.
-
-
Human Rights Advocacy Funding 1 activity
- Funding research, advocacy, and innovative justice reform programsFunds research, advocacy, and innovative programs aimed at building a fair and accountable justice system.
-
-
Immigration Legal Services 1 activity
- Providing legal representation to immigrants facing deportationProvides legal representation to immigrants, increasing their likelihood of establishing the right to remain in the U.S. by tenfold.
-
-
Reentry Support Services 1 activity
- Redesigning prison housing and policies for young adultsPartners with correctional leaders to redesign housing units and policies for young adults in prison to promote human dignity and transform prison culture.
-
financials · form 990 · fy2024
revenue
Total revenue$40.16M
Contributions & grants$28.70M71%
Program service revenue$00%
Investment income$10.68M27%
Other revenue$782K
expenses
Total expenses$50.05M
Program expenses74%
Admin / overhead20%
Fundraising7%
Salaries & benefits$35.40M
Grants paid out$2.42M
Largest expense lineCompensation
balance sheet
Total assets$144.65M
Cash$16.64M
Investments$75.24M
Liabilities$31.92M
Net assets$112.72M
Liquid reserves22.0 mo
6 years on record · 2019–2024 · YoY revenue -71.8%
leadership · form 990 part vii · fy2024
Who runs it
paid leadership · 14
| Name | Title | Hours/wk | Compensation |
|---|---|---|---|
| NICHOLAS R TURNER | PRESIDENT AND DIRECTOR | 40 | $663K |
| EDWARD KWANGYOON CHUNG | VP, INITIATIVES | 40 | $414K |
| INSHA RAHMAN | VP, ADVOCACY & PARTNERSHIP | 40 | $387K |
| THERESA RAFFAELE JEFFERSON | VP, COMMS. & EXTERNAL AFFAIRS | 40 | $336K |
| STACEY STRONGARONE | VP, CHIEF OF STAFF | 40 | $333K |
| ADAIR H IACONO | CHIEF LEGAL OFFICER | 40 | $332K |
| TRACEY THOMAS-WILMOT | VP, CHIEF PEOPLE OFFICER | 40 | $324K |
| GRETCHEN HASKINS PAGE | VP, DEVELOPMENT | 40 | $307K |
| JAMES PARSONS PROGRAM | DIRECTOR AND SPECIAL ADVISOR | 40 | $278K |
| MARGARET R DIZEREGA | MANAGING DIR., INITIATIVES | 40 | $274K |
| VIVIAN SIU | MANAGING DIRECTOR | 40 | $251K |
| VINA MORRIS DIRECTOR | TECHNOLOGY INNOVATION AND STRATEGY | 40 | $249K |
| KAREN SU YIN TAN | DIRECTOR, INNOVATION AND STRATEGY | 40 | $244K |
| ROB YOUNG | CHIEF FINANCIAL & OPERATING OFFICER | 40 | $75K |
board members · 11
- ANILU VAZQUEZ-UBARRI — TRUSTEE
- BARI MATTES — TRUSTEE
- CARON BUTLER — TRUSTEE
- DAMIEN DWIN — TRUSTEE
- DANYA PERRY — TRUSTEE
- DAVID KLAFTER — TRUSTEE
- DEBO P ADEGBILE — TRUSTEE
- DESIRE VINCENT LEVY — TRUSTEE
- EVAN C GUILLEMIN — VICE CHAIR/TREASURER
- HELAM GEBREMARIAM — TRUSTEE
- JAMES FORMAN — TRUSTEE, THRU 3/18/25
relationships · 23
Who they work with
- Charity Navigator Government — Rated by Charity Navigator with a 100% score
- End Slavery Colorado Partner — Works alongside End Slavery Colorado, a group advocating for the enforcement of Colorado’s constitutional ban on slavery.
- End the Exception campaign by the Abolish Slavery National Network Partner — Collaborates with the End the Exception campaign to abolish constitutional slavery and involuntary servitude in all forms.
- Federal Policy Government — Place-based initiative focused on federal justice policy reform
- Greater Justice New York Partner — Place-based initiative focused on justice reform in New York
- Greater Justice New York Partner — Place-based initiative in New York City focused on advancing justice reform locally
- Manhattan Bail Project Partner — Initiated and led the Manhattan Bail Project as an experimental alternative to money bail in New York City.
- Project Guardianship, Inc. Partner — Former demonstration project of Vera Institute of Justice that was spun off into an independent 501(c)(3) organization.
- RAND Corporation Partner — Cited a RAND Corporation study on diversion eligibility for people with mental health conditions in LA County jails.
- Texas Department of Criminal Justice Government — Subject of litigation and policy advocacy regarding prison heat conditions
- U.S. Department of Homeland Security Government — Parent agency of ICE, referenced in analysis of data reporting gaps and shutdown impacts.
- United States Immigration and Customs Enforcement Government — Source of detention data analyzed and reported on by Vera Institute of Justice Inc.
- United States Information Agency Government — Collaborated on the translation and dissemination of an illustrated Bill of Rights into multiple languages.
- Vera California Partner — Place-based initiative focused on justice reform in California
- Vera California Partner — Place-based initiative in Los Angeles focused on advancing justice reform locally
- Vera Louisiana Partner — Place-based initiative focused on justice reform in Louisiana
- Vera Louisiana Partner — Place-based initiative in New Orleans focused on advancing justice reform locally
- community members Partner — Collaborates with community members to develop and pilot criminal justice reform programs
- government Government — Works with government entities to develop and test criminal justice reform programs
- government leaders Partner — Collaborates with government leaders to develop and implement criminal justice solutions.
- government leaders Partner — Collaborates with government leaders to drive systemic change in criminal justice and immigration systems.
- impacted communities Partner — Partners with impacted communities to advance criminal justice and immigration system reform.
- local organizations Partner — Partners with local organizations to design and implement incarceration reform initiatives
strategies · 5
How they approach the work
Named approaches extracted from this org’s sources. Where others share an approach, follow it to see the full set of orgs running it.
- Alternatives to Incarceration through Supportive Infrastructuremethodology: alternatives_to_incarcerationBy replacing incarceration with community-based supportive housing, we produce lower recidivism and greater stability because access to safety and housing addresses root causes of system involvement.
- Collaborative Innovation with Communities and Governmentmethodology: collaborative_innovationBy co-developing solutions with impacted communities and system leaders, we produce more effective and sustainable reforms because local knowledge and institutional partnership increase legitimacy, feasibility, and scalability of change.
- Evidence-Based Advocacy and Reformmethodology: evidence_based_advocacyBy combining rigorous research with policy advocacy, we produce systemic change in the criminal justice system because empirical data can overcome institutional resistance and generate actionable alternatives that decision-makers trust.
- Human Dignity-Centered System Transformationmethodology: human_dignity_centeredBy designing justice interventions around human dignity and equity, we produce better outcomes because treating people with respect reduces harm, increases engagement, and challenges dehumanizing norms embedded in the system.
- Pilot-and-Scale Model for Justice Reformmethodology: pilot_and_scaleBy testing reforms through pilot programs and scaling what works, we produce national impact because iterative experimentation reduces risk for policymakers and enables adaptation before broad implementation.