This is the first step to submit for CJI's Until She's Free Circle 2025 RFP. You must create a Submittable account in order to complete this Eligibility Quiz. The deadline to complete the Eligibility Quiz is Monday, May 5, 2025 11:59PM PST. The deadline to complete the CJI 2025 Until She's Free application is Monday, May 12, 2025.
After you submit the eligibility quiz, you will receive a confirmation if you are eligible or not. If you are, may proceed to the application. If you are declined, we wish you well in your endeavors.
Below is the Eligibility Criteria, if you feel your decline is in error, do not hesitate to reach out to taliba obuya at talibao@cjifund.org.
CJI has created a Grantee Partnership Resource Guide to further assist you during your submission. The Guide will cover: bit.ly/CJIGranteeGuide
Eligibility Criteria:
- Organizations with a demonstrated commitment to the leadership of currently and formerly incarcerated women and girls, trans- and gender expansive people
*Incarcerated is defined as confinement in prison, jail, immigrant, juvenile or military detention, or a deportation facility
- Organizations committed to achieving fundamental systems change through mobilizing and organizing, including changes in policies or institutions, such as parole, probation, or other systems of control; and
- Organizations engaged in community organizing efforts. The primary focus of this grant process is to fund advocacy and systems change which aim to address serious injustice faced by incarcerated and formerly incarcerated women, girls and gender non-conforming people. However, CJI may fund organizations that, along with community organizing efforts as part of a larger organizing strategy and/or leadership development plan, help provide necessities to communities in desperate need, i.e. shelter to people recently released from detention, jail or prison; abortion funds to people in states that have criminalized those medical procedures; trans community members suffering housing insecurity; food or shelter to immigrants or asylum seekers; legal aid or expungement clinics for people with criminal charges or convictions, etc. Be sure to emphasize the advocacy that your organization is involved with.
- Organizations MUST meet the application deadline with all their required attachments. Due to the rigid schedule necessary to get funds released to grassroots communities as soon as possible, CJI will hold applicants strictly to the application deadline.
- 501c3 Letter of Notice or Fiscal Sponsor organization 501c3
- Fiscal Sponsor MOU agreement
- Complete organizational budget with revenue with income sources and expense https://bit.ly/2025CJIBudgetTemplate
Organizations whose work is primarily focused on the United States, including U.S. territories.
UNTIL SHE’S FREE FUND
Supporting Women, Girls, Trans & Gender Expansive People
Request for Proposals and 2025 Grant Application Information
DEADLINE: Monday, May 12, 2025, 11:59PM PST
OVERVIEW
The Until She’s Free Circle, a fund of Circle for Justice Innovations, is seeking applications from women, girls, trans and gender expansive people-led organizations tackling the Systems faced by incarcerated, detained, criminalized or formerly incarcerated women, girls, trans and gender expansive people. We are committed to flanking organizations that are addressing current realities of incarcerated and criminalized women, girls, trans and gender expansive people and the innovative solutions needed to build power and create transformative systems change.
If this is your work and mission, we encourage you to apply including but not limited to formerly incarcerated women, girls, trans people, undocumented activists; focused on forward thinking approaches to transform the criminal legal system and sustain our communities.
BACKGROUND
The Circle for Justice Innovations (CJI) resources organizations seeking to end mass incarceration and criminalization. Celebrating 25 years of grantmaking, CJI was founded to combat prison expansion, mass incarceration, and racial disparities affecting marginalized communities and seed organizations whose work is led by formerly incarcerated and directly impacted leadership
The Until She’s Free Circle (USF) is a participatory grant-making circle of community organizers, many with lived incarceration experience, alongside donors and donor-activists. The Until She’s Free Fund shares consensus decision making power and commitment to a Just Sisterhood process in philanthropy. The Circle seeks to end the racialized carceral state, creating new frameworks for safety, and accountability models. This Circle was launched to provide vital support for addressing the criminal legal system's impact on women, girls, trans and gender-expansive people, while uplifting their leadership in this critical work.
The CJI Until She’s Free RFP is an open call and does not require an invitation to apply.
*When we say women, we mean full encompassing and in the most expansive way both cis and trans.
This year’s USF funding priorities include:
• Carcel Conditions and Systems Control focused work organizations committed to improving conditions for those incarcerated, advocating for basic human dignity, as well as addressing harmful alternatives to incarceration (e.g., e- incarceration) and the economic related profits from Systems surveillance.
• Black and Latine Trans-led organizations advocating for ending incarceration and criminalization of trans and gender expansive people. Including but not limited to conditions and access while incarcerated and/or detained, participation in survival economy strategies, and gender-based affirming justice solutions.
• Immigration & Detention organizing around immigrant detention, family separation, and ICE deportations; political education and Know Your Rights trainings for community safety.
• Gender Affirming Care & Reproductive Justice, Health and Access for justice and systems involved women, girls, trans, and gender expansive people, including those in jails, prisons, detention centers and other forms of state supervision.
• Indigenous Practice Based and Cultural Organizing work using indigenous practices to disrupt incarceration and criminalization. Including narrative shifts, cultural organizing, and storytelling.
• Restorative, Healing and Transformative Justice work - innovative solutions to combat incarcerations and criminalization in communities, behind the wall and as an interruption and intervention to incarceration.
UNTIL SHE’S FREE CANNOT SUPPORT:
• Organizations that do not include the leadership of people formerly incarcerated or directly impacted by the criminal legal and/or immigrant systems.
• Organizations that receive funding from law enforcement agencies
• Direct assistance programs such as emergency housing, legal aid, or abortion funds, unless those programs are connected to long-term organizing strategies to demand such services from municipalities, states or the federal government.
• Political campaigns of individual candidates for office or passing legislation. However, we are eager to support organizing efforts that expand the rights of people in jails or prisons and formerly incarcerated people, or efforts that educate, mobilize, or inform potential voters about issues that impact women, girls and gender expansive communities hardest hit by the criminal legal system.
• Capital campaigns, galas or fundraising events
• Individual projects or projects from a fiscal sponsor – work must be led by organizations applying for the grant.
• Work led by large institutions such as universities, hospitals, banks and government agencies.
ELIGIBILE:
· Formerly Incarcerated, Systems involved and/or Directly Impacted women, girls, trans and gender expansive people in leadership of the organization and work
· Organization budget cannot exceed $750,000.00 dollars. This includes programs and project budgets, organizational assets, etc.
· Work must include a system change organizing strategy to end incarceration and criminalization of women, girls, trans and gender expansive people
· Current 501c3 status or fiscally-sponsored organizations with MOU
· A completed application will include:
Until She’s Free Circle Funding Timeline
· RFP Released — March 31, 2025
· Until She’s Free RFP Webinar — April 17, 2025, 1pm EST
· Eligibility Quiz Deadline — May 5, 2025, 11:59PM PST
· RFP Submission Deadline — May 12, 2025, 11:59PM PST
· Final Funding Decisions Announced — August 2025
· Grants Awarded — September 2025
CONTACT US
- For questions about the RFP and application, please participate in the RFP Webinar where the RFP and application will be reviewed. bit.ly/USF2025quiz
- For specific questions about the RFP and application not addressed in the webinar, please contact taliba obuya talibao@cjifund.org.
- For technical questions regarding submitting the application, contact Submittable and email taliba obuya at talibao@cjifund.org.
CJI has created a Grantee Partnership Resource Guide. The Guide will cover: bit.ly/CJIGranteeGuide
a) Eligibility Criteria
b) Funding Priorities
c) Application Materials and Templates
d) Frequent Ask Questions (updated regularly)