Today we will take a look at how they are financed particularly beginning with this individual Glenn E. Martin who is a criminal justice reform advocate who has been and still is on the board of financial advisors of the National Association for Rational Sexual Offense Laws (NARSOL) as a speaker at their events. In 1994, at the age of 24, Martin was convicted for an armed robbery of a New York City jewelry store and was sentenced to six years in prison. He was detained on Rikers Island for a year and served five additional years in the Wyoming Correctional Facility in Attica, New York, for his role in several armed robberies. Specifically, he was a featured speaker at NARSOL’s 2022 National Conference in Raleigh, North Carolina, where he delivered a presentation titled “What 20 Years of CJ Reform Has Taught Me About Movement Building.”
In 1994, at the age of 24, Martin was convicted for an armed robbery of a New York City jewelry store and was sentenced to six years in prison. He was detained on Rikers Island for a year and served five additional years in the Wyoming Correctional Facility in Attica, New York, for his role in several armed robberies. It’s indicative of their leaderships goals if there ever was. If you clicked on the link you’ll see how he’s playing victim like them all.glen
JustLeadershipUSA (JLUSA) — Funding Sources
According to data from InfluenceWatch, JLUSA has received funding and grants from a number of major philanthropic organizations:
- MacArthur Foundation — approximately $1.62 million in grants between 2016–2022 Influence Watch.
- Tow Foundation — around $800,000 spanning 2014–2018 and 2020–2023 Influence Watch.
- Additional donors include:
- Chan Zuckerberg Initiative
- Ford Foundation
- Brooklyn Community Foundation
- Sills Family Foundation
- Open Philanthropy Project
- Art for Justice Fund
- David Rockefeller Fund
- Google.org Influence Watch.
Further details from other sources:
- MacArthur Foundation specific grants:
- $900,000 over 3 years (2023) for general operating support.
- $2,000,000 for an executive-level training program (2023).
- A $250,000 planning award (2022).
- $600,000 for general operating support (2021).
- $470,000 over nearly 5 years (2019) for Safety and Justice Challenge Network support.
- $300,000 (2016) for similar initiatives MacArthur Foundation.
- Ford Foundation grants:
- $500,000 in June 2024 (July 2024 – June 2026) for core support Ford Foundation.
- $1,500,000 in August 2021 (July 2021 – June 2024) Ford Foundation.
- $500,000 in October 2019 (October 2019 – June 2021) Ford Foundation.
- Earlier support includes $359,090 in August 2016 (April 2016 – March 2017) Ford Foundation, and $202,509 in November 2015 (September 2015 – March 2016) Ford Foundation.
- Open Philanthropy Project:
- $4,000,000 in December 2016 over two years for the #CLOSErikers campaign Open Philanthropy.
- Additional $40,000 in July 2016 for general support Open Philanthropy.
- MacKenzie Scott’s “Yield Giving” facilitated $1,000,000 grants—but to JLUSA alumni-led organizations, not directly to JLUSA itself:
- Women on the Rise Georgia (2022 Leading with Conviction grad) received $1M.
- National Religious Campaign Against Torture (Johnny Perez, 2017 LwC grad) received $1M JustLeadershipUSA.
Other Organizations Associated with Glenn E. Martin
1. GEMtrainers, LLC
- Founded in April 2018 by Glenn E. Martin as a social justice consultancy focused on nonprofits — providing fundraising, organizational development, branding, and campaign strategy services Wikipedia.
- This is a for-profit or LLC entity, and I did not find information on external funders or grants for GEMtrainers.
2. #CLOSErikers (Campaign to Close Rikers Island)
- This campaign was initiated under JLUSA’s umbrella. Funding sources include the Open Philanthropy Project grant of $4,000,000 in 2016 Open Philanthropy.
- Additional donors overlapped with JLUSA’s general support funders.
