The Michigan Justice Fund is a funder collaborative advancing criminal legal reform statewide. Since 2020, we have worked alongside community-rooted organizations, advocates, and stakeholders to invest in the people, ideas, and movements shaping a more just future for our state.
We move resources to where they matter most by supporting the organizations reimagining systems, strengthening communities most impacted by the criminal legal system, and building the lasting power that drives change.
The Michigan Justice Fund is entering our third phase of strategic investments and program implementation, a milestone earned through years of demonstrated impact, deepened partnerships, and growing influence across Michigan’s justice ecosystem.
Since launching in 2020, MJF has grown within the Community Foundation for Southeast Michigan (CFSEM), the institutional home that made our first years possible. In 2026, we are entering a new chapter with NEO Philanthropy as our fiscal sponsor. NEO is a national leader in investing in sustainable social justice movements.
This intentional, meaningful step in MJF’s evolution deepens our operational capacity and creates new opportunities to align grant deployment with our program’s operating timeline and capacity, grow our impact, adapt our programming as community needs evolve, and deepen our presence in the statewide and national conversations that shape this work.
Our mission, our values, and the team you know remain unchanged. The same commitment to justice and equity in Michigan remains at the center of everything we do. This transition affects our administrative home—not our purpose or our partnerships.
We are deeply grateful to CFSEM for the foundation they helped us build. That support made this moment possible, and we look forward to our continued connection with CFSEM and the broader southeast Michigan philanthropic community.
The Michigan Justice Fund is a grantmaking organization. As we move through this exciting transition year, here is what to expect:
Rapid Response grantmaking launches fall 2026, allowing us to move resources quickly when communities need them most.
Invitation-based grantmaking resumes fall 2026.
The best way to stay informed about open grant programs and future opportunities is to sign up for our newsletter.
Our Rapid Response grant program is a fixture of MJF’s grantmaking strategy. Relaunching in fall 2026, it will provide flexible, time-sensitive funding to organizations responding to urgent needs and opportunities in Michigan’s justice ecosystem.
Sign up for the Michigan Justice Fund newsletter for updates on grantmaking, Rapid Response, our 2027 launch, and stories from the justice movement across Michigan.
The Michigan Justice Fund is supported by a network of local and national funders. Every contribution makes a difference. You can make an individual donation at the link below or reach out to us to discuss becoming an institutional funder.
The Michigan Justice Fund was established in early 2020 to assist groups working to advance effective and equitable justice policy. It has since grown to a funder collaborative of 17 foundations.
Andrea Cole, President of the Ethel & James Flinn Foundation and Jed Oppenheim, Program Director at the Public Welfare Foundation are the co-chairs of the Michigan Justice Fund Steering Committee.
* denotes Steering Committee member
