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BLACK VETERANS PROJECT
Brooklyn, NY · EIN 834476025 · Form 990EZ · FY2024 · NTEE R01 · Civil Rights & Advocacy · Micro (<$100K) · blackveteransproject.org
revenue
$94K
expenses
$98K
net assets
$11K
employees
—
mission · from form 990

The Black Veterans Project is a charitable organization created for the purpose of collecting and presenting the military history of Black service members as an educational and cultural tool for the U.S. national community. The Black Veterans Project will share the stories, experiences, and data around military service to advocate for racial solidarity and justice in the military and society. The Black Veterans Project mission is to secure the historical legacy of our nation's 2.5 million Black veterans while advocating against racial inequities in the military and post-service.

profile · synthesized from sources

Black Veterans Project is a nonprofit organization founded in 2018 that advocates for reparative justice for Black veterans and their families who have been systematically denied veterans' benefits due to racial discrimination. The organization combines impact litigation, narrative storytelling, and community mobilization to address historical and systemic inequities in the U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs. It operates nationally, focusing on policy change, public education, and legal accountability.

named programs · 3 · from sources

What they call their work

Impact Litigation
Coordinates legal action, including the landmark Monk v. United States lawsuit, to hold the Department of Veterans Affairs accountable for systemic racial discrimination in benefits administration.
Mobilization
Organizes Black veterans, service members, and allies into a national network to drive advocacy, policy change, and resource allocation for reparative justice.
Narrative Hub
Collects and shares stories of Black veterans through collaborations with artists, scholars, and media to reshape public understanding of Black military service and advocate for repair.
activities · 4 groups

What they do

  • Civil Rights Advocacy & Litigation 1 activity
    • Advocating for reparative justice for Black veterans through narrative, litigation, and policy reform
      Leads a comprehensive national effort to advance reparative justice for Black veterans and military families who were denied housing, education, and disability benefits due to systemic racism in the VA and Jim Crow-era policies, using research, public narrative building, impact litigation, and movement mobilization; helped build the legal foundation for Monk v. United States, a landmark lawsuit alleging racial discrimination in VA benefits administration.
  • Memorial and Veteran Honor Services 1 activity
    • Archiving and preserving historical records of Black military service
      Collects, preserves, and amplifies millions of documents and stories related to the military history and experiences of Black service members and veterans, securing the historical legacy of approximately 2.5 million Black veterans as an educational and cultural resource for the U.S. national community.
  • Veteran Support Grantmaking 1 activity
    • Building and activating a national membership corps for advocacy and storytelling
      Organizes and activates a network of veterans, families, advocates, allies, artists, scholars, and content creators who contribute their stories and participate in campaigns to advance reparative justice for Black veterans and military families.
  • Website Accessibility Implementation 1 activity
    • Operating an accessible digital platform for information and engagement
      Implements and maintains website accessibility features—including keyboard navigation, alt text, semantic HTML, ARIA attributes, and responsive design—and tests compatibility with assistive technologies such as NVDA, VoiceOver, and JAWS, while responding to user feedback within five business days to ensure equitable access to information and organizing tools.
financials · form 990EZ · fy2024
revenue
Total revenue$94K
Contributions & grants$94K100%
Program service revenue——
Investment income——
Other revenue$250
expenses
Total expenses$98K
Program expenses—
Admin / overhead—
Fundraising—
Salaries & benefits$28K
Grants paid out—
balance sheet
Total assets$11K
Cash—
Investments—
Liabilities—
Net assets$11K
5 years on record · 2019–2024 · YoY revenue +5.5%
leadership · form 990 part vii · fy2024

Who runs it

paid leadership · 1
NameTitleHours/wkCompensation
Richard Brookshire CEO 40 $28K
board members · 4
  • Alexandra Williams — Trustee
  • Daniel Walker — Trustee
  • Mary Tobin — Trustee
  • Ravi Perry — Trustee
relationships · 13

Who they work with

  • Black Veterans Project Network — Member of a movement focused on veterans' issues and racial justice.
  • Connecticut Veterans Legal Center Partner — Legal services partner advancing legal redress for Black veterans.
  • Department of Veterans Affairs Government — Subject of litigation and advocacy regarding systemic racial discrimination in benefits administration.
  • JAWS Partner — Tests website compatibility with JAWS screen reader software.
  • Legal Services Corporation Government — Federal entity supporting legal services, partnered with BVP for veteran advocacy.
  • Liberation Ventures Funder — Funder supporting the Black Veterans Project’s reparative justice work.
  • May & Stanley Smith Charitable Trust Funder — Charitable trust providing funding support to the Black Veterans Project.
  • Monk v. United States Partner — Landmark lawsuit supported by BVP alleging systemic racial discrimination by the VA in administering veterans’ benefits.
  • NVDA Partner — Tests website compatibility with NVDA screen reader software.
  • National Veterans Council for Legal Redress Partner — Partner organization collaborating on legal redress for veterans.
  • Robert Wood Johnson Foundation Funder — Funder supporting the Black Veterans Project’s initiatives.
  • VoiceOver Partner — Tests website compatibility with Apple's VoiceOver screen reader.
  • Yale Law School Jerome N. Franklin Veterans Legal Services Clinic Partner — Legal partner advancing reparative justice work for Black veterans.
strategies · 4

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.

  • Archival Activism as Public Memory
    methodology: archival_activism
    By transforming historical evidence into public memory through collaboration with scholars, artists, and archivists, the organization safeguards truth and prevents erasure because curated archives become living tools for education, cultural repair, and movement-building.
  • Community-Led Power Building
    methodology: community-led_mobilization
    By mobilizing Black veterans and allies as stewards of repair, the organization drives coordinated advocacy and leadership development because collective ownership of historical truth fosters sustained engagement, accountability, and transformative agency.
  • Reparative Justice Through Legal and Organizing Strategy
    methodology: legal-and-organizing-strategy
    By combining impact litigation, historical documentation, and community organizing, the organization challenges systemic discrimination and institutional erasure because legal action grounded in archival evidence and community power creates enforceable accountability and durable structural change.
  • Story-Based Racial Justice Advocacy
    methodology: narrative-driven social_change
    By sharing personal stories, experiences, and data from Black military service, the organization advances racial justice advocacy because narrative power builds public empathy, shifts cultural perceptions, and strengthens the moral and evidentiary basis for systemic change.