2024 Progress Report
Grantmaking
Activity highlights from the past year
“We were close to shutting down; LEF funding came at the right time and helped us keep the lights on.”
Anonymous LEF Grantee Partner
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This year, the LEF team exceeded its grantmaking target. In 2024, it surpassed its goal of $3,835,000 million by reallocating $4,275,088 to legal empowerment groups and practitioners around the world. These 2024 figures and impact stories contribute to the LEF’s cumulative grantmaking track record.
Since its first grant in May 2022, the LEF has provided 267 core grants, 24 travel grants, and 49 learning grants. A total of $189,938 has been allocated to travel, while $649,000 has been disbursed as learning grants, including $345,000 dedicated to Grassroots Justice Network (GJN) members. As of December 2024, the LEF has awarded over $10 million in core grants, of which more than $7 million was awarded through open, global Requests for Proposals (RFPs, or “calls”).
In 2024, the LEF provided 169 grants to both new and existing grantee partners in 48 countries. All grants awarded in 2024 are categorized as follows:
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Grants awarded by the LEF in 2024 were for the following categories: Legal Empowerment for Incarcerated Women: 2; Emergency Grants: 8; Other grants: 9; Innovation and Learning Grants: 10; LA Paralegal Incubator: 10; Waging Justice for Women - Clooney Foundation: 10; Gender Transformation - Grassroots Justice Network: 12; Travel grants: 13; RFP 1 A - Renewal Grants: 26; RFP 2 - Land and Environmental Justice (Southeast Asia): 26; RFP 3 - Climate Justice and Youth (Africa): 42.
Throughout 2024, the LEF aimed both to diversify its grantmaking activities through new collaborations and to streamline its renewal procedures. In spring 2024, the LEF renewed funding for 26 groups from its Cohort 1A for one year, awarding a total of $730,000. By revisiting the original cohort of 56 groups categorized as Cohort 1A, the LEF prioritized renewal decisions based on each group’s financial and capacity needs, innovativeness, alignment with LEF priorities, and contributions to the legal empowerment field.
From Association Spectra, which addresses sexual and gender-based violence by facilitating artsbased psychosocial support in Montenegro, to the Paralegal Alliance Network, which is formalizing paralegal support in Zambia, the Cohort 1A renewal cohort remains geographically and thematically diverse, ensuring a truly global and representative movement.
Image © Parallegal Alliance Network
Impact at the community level is beginning to take shape, demonstrating the value of the LEF’s participatory and flexible grantmaking model. While many successes cannot be attributed solely to the LEF, its multi-year flexible support is driving meaningful change for
communities seeking legal recourse.
As an example, INREDH in Ecuador has been able to scale its outstanding legal empowerment education and litigation efforts over the past few years. As a result, many of its students have reached key positions across critical civic and political spaces.
Similarly, FUJ in Peru, which began as an informal collective of survivors and families affected by femicide and gender-based violence, has since grown and formalized its work. Thanks to LEF support, FUJ is now a registered organization that litigates cases and raises awareness through impactful communication campaigns, fostering a culture of change within their society.
View more examples of impact
Colectivo Casa in Bolivia has also made significant strides in environmental justice and Indigenous rights since receiving its LEF grant. Working closely with Indigenous communities, Colectivo Casa has successfully halted corporate encroachment on protected lands since receiving funding. In addition, they have developed creative awareness campaigns, available here. For example, they use cholitas dolls for their campaigns. Colloquially, cholitas are known to be Indigenous women that wear the traditional dresses daily. Cholitas dolls support survivors in reclaiming their voices through storytelling, as they allow for anonymity. A performance may be viewed here.
Since first receiving funding in July 2022, Badabon Sangho in Bangladesh has significantly improved access to justice for marginalized women, girls, and gender-diverse persons facing gender-based violence and land rights violations. With the Fund’s support, the organization has empowered over 9,000 women through legal training, paralegal assistance, and collective action. As a result, there has been a rise in survivors reporting gender-based violence, along with several successful efforts to protect land and water resources from corporate exploitation. These include legal assistance for landowners who successfully contested corporate land grabs, as well as organized protests, rallies, and press conferences through women’s federations to resist environmental abuses. Through these initiatives, Badabon Sangho has strengthened grassroots resistance and amplified the voices of affected communities at both local and national levels.
For Amka Africa Justice Institute in Kenya, the LEF grant facilitated more equitable birth registration. They trained the officials to deepen their understanding of intersex children and their experiences. These targeted trainings provided the officials with the necessary information to amend the Children’s Act to better protect diverse children under the law. Moving forward, Amka Africa Justice Institute aims to replicate these advocacy efforts to push for the recognition of intersex adults.
Spotlight: Just Like My Child Foundation
The Just Like My Child Foundation in Uganda has made significant progress in strengthening access to justice at the community level by equipping local leaders and volunteers with the knowledge and confidence to address human rights violations. Previously, survivors of gender-based violence and child abuse faced major barriers to reporting, including stigma, lack of awareness, and financial constraints. Now, with trained legal volunteers embedded in communities, survivors have trusted first responders who guide them toward legal and medical assistance while advocating for their rights.
These volunteers have also led community dialogues to challenge harmful norms, fostering greater awareness and shifting perceptions of domestic violence from a private issue to a human rights violation. As a result, more survivors feel safe coming forward, justice systems are becoming more accessible, and communities are striving toward gender justice.
One of the most inspiring transformations is that of Mama, an elderly woman who never had the opportunity to attend school and previously felt powerless to challenge traditional norms. In her conservative community, where women’s voices were often dismissed, she once hesitated to engage in discussions on justice and human rights.
However, after participating in legal empowerment training, she gained the confidence to speak up and advocate for others. Mama has since become a recognized leader in her community, guiding survivors of violence toward support services and leading conversations on human and women’s rights. Her efforts have sparked broader discussions, encouraging more women to report cases and take collective action. Mama’s journey exemplifies how grassroots legal empowerment shifts power dynamics and creating lasting change.
1. Climate Justice
Over the past year, the LEF has invested in intersectional climate justice work. As the LEF engaged with grantee partners, climate injustice emerged as an immediate concern for grassroots groups applying for funding. Their proposals also highlighted that groups
traditionally excluded from decision-making power and leadership roles are often best placed to lead this urgent work. Additionally, the 2023 LEF grantee survey found that 48 percent of grantee partners experienced significant effects of climate change, thus reinforcing the LEF’s decision to prioritize climate-related grant making.
Following global consultations and the recognized need for grassroots funding, the LEF identified three priority regions: Southeast Asia, Africa, and the Caribbean. As many of these groups share similar priorities, the LEF’s next steps in 2025 will involve facilitating
inter-regional exchanges to strengthen global linkages and solidarity.
Land & Environmental Justice in Southeast Asia (Cohort 2)
In May 2024, the LEF awarded $1.05 million in grants to grassroot groups challenging land and environmental injustices in Southeast Asia.3 Following an open call across the region, 26 new grantee partners were selected, each receiving a two-year grant.
In partnership with the Namati-convened Grassroots Justice Network (GJN), the LEF convened a peer-led Grants Selection Committee, which prioritized an intersectional approach led by youth and minority-led groups. This cohort is particularly promising,
as many groups are led by young activists eager to strengthen their networks and share learnings to tackle climate injustice, thereby fostering an interactive and engaged regional movement.
A common theme across this cohort is the empowerment of communities that have traditionally been silenced, particularly Indigenous-led communities and youth movements. These new grantee partners boldly emphasize the need for sustainable practices by advocating for a green energy transition and promoting Indigenous peoples as ancestral stewards and land experts. Their efforts often center on educating communities about their rights, environmental laws, and the impacts of exploitative projects such as fossil fuel plants, mining, and infrastructure developments.
The legal empowerment strategies employed by the grantee partners include capacity building, direct public campaigns, digital activism, and policy advocacy, with the goal of fostering solidarity and collective action. This cohort also contributes to broader regional and global movements working to combat environmental injustices such as
land grabbing, pollution, and displacement, which disproportionately affect vulnerable populations.
Spotlight: In the Philippines, Fishing Community Challenges Oil Depot With Christmas Carols
For the fishing community of Talisay City, Cebu, the sea is their lifeblood—yet a proposed oil depot threatens their livelihoods and environment. With support from the LEF, the Negros Workers Development Center (NWDC) has empowered fisherfolk to fight back.
In December 2024, the community took a bold step. Turning protest into creative advocacy, they staged a Christmas caroling demonstration at the environmental agency’s office, rewriting festive songs to demand the halt of the project. The action drew media attention, amplifying their message and pressuring decision-makers to reconsider.
Guided by NWDC, the fisherfolk developed legal strategies, built alliances, and made their case heard at local and national levels. This campaign highlights the power of grassroots legal empowerment—with the right resources, communities can challenge harmful projects, shape policies, and defend their future.
Youth-led Climate Justice across Africa (Cohort 3)
Recognizing the severe funding gap for youth-led climate justice initiatives, the LEF, in collaboration with the Children’s and Youth Rights Program (CYP) at the Fund for Global Human Rights (the Fund), has launched the first dedicated funding stream for grassroots youth climate justice work in Africa. This initiative ensures that critical resources reach organizations and movements that are often overlooked, empowering those on the front lines of climate action. To resource this youth-led movement, the LEF committed $1 million in two-year grants to 42 new grantee partners.
Beyond funding, the LEF recognizes the transformative potential of both legal empowerment and youth-led climate activism. To maximize the impact of LEF’s grants, additional mentorship will be provided. Through the Fund’s accompaniment model, the LEF will equip youthled organizations with the technical expertise, strategic guidance, and operational support needed to sustain and scale their legal empowerment strategies, thus fostering the next generation of climate justice leaders.
Furthermore, the cohort will benefit from the LEF’s recent investments in communications, amplifying their solutions and voices on a global stage. By leveraging digital platforms, these young leaders will enhance their thought leadership, influence policies, and drive greater awareness of climate justice issues – for youth to know, use and shape the law.
As a truly peer-led cohort, the LEF convened a Grants Selection Committee (GSC) consisting entirely of young people across Africa actively engaged in climate justice and legal empowerment to award grants through a participatory process. The committee prioritized groups led by women, as well as those operating in rural areas. All groups received their grants in December 2024.
2. Gender Justice
In August 2024, the LEF began an exciting new partnership that addresses systemic barriers faced by marginalized women impacted by the criminal justice system. This oneyear pilot supports ten representative grassroots organizations led by, or representing, incarcerated or formerly incarcerated women across the United States, Brazil, and Mexico.
These organizations use legal empowerment strategies to address barriers experienced by women and their families both during and post-incarceration. Through this initiative, more women will engage in participatory defense models, assert their rights, and access community and government support upon release.
By connecting this cohort across languages and geographies, the LEF aims to strengthen cross-border collaboration and facilitate the exchange of best practices. This will not only enhance the impact of their work but will also demonstrate the power of legal empowerment as a tool for incarcerated, marginalized women to reclaim their rights and challenge systemic injustices. To guide the program, the LEF is working closely with the Bernstein Institute at New York University Law School, leveraging its expertise in grassroots legal empowerment to provide strategic guidance to the cohort.
Each group received a general operating support grant of $20,000, and sessions will be conducted in English, Spanish, and Portuguese simultaneously.
Spotlight: From Grief to Gender Justice Through Legal Empowerment
In February 2015, Lorena G’s 12-year-old daughter, Fátima, was brutally murdered in Lerma, Mexico. Though the community apprehended the perpetrators, the judicial system failed, forcing Lorena into a relentless fight against impunity. Facing threats, intimidation, and the later loss of her son Daniel due to government negligence, she refused to be silenced.
In 2018, with support from the National Citizen Observatory on Femicide (OCNF), an LEF grantee partner, Lorena gained the legal knowledge and confidence to take control of her case. Her persistence led to a landmark victory: in December 2024, after nearly a decade of struggle. Finally, Fátima’s murderer was sentenced to 70 years in prison; a rare, precedent setting ruling in Mexico’s fight against femicide.
Beyond her case, Lorena empowers other mothers, helping them understand their rights, navigate Mexico’s judicial system, and demand accountability. She spearheaded a public awareness campaign, using silhouettes representing femicide victims to galvanize communities and ensure victims’ voices are not erased.
Lorena’s story exemplifies the power of legal empowerment. With OCNF support, she turned personal tragedy into a movement for justice, proving that survivors, when equipped with the right tools, can challenge impunity and drive change.
3. Learning Grants
Gender Transformative Land & Environmental Justice
In collaboration with the Grassroots Justice Network through the Gender Transformative Land and Environmental Justice Learning Exchange, the LEF disbursed a total of $195,000 to 10 organizations, including LEF grantee partners. These grants have supported the development of practical strategies to ensure that women and marginalized groups have equitable access to land, participate in natural resource governance, and influence legal and policy reforms. As an example, IMPACT in Kenya used its grant to strengthen women’s participation in community land management committees, fostering meaningful engagement.
Over several months, the participants engaged in online meetings to exchange insights, refined strategies, and built collective knowledge leading up to an in-person meeting. In November 2024 they convened in Zimbabwe to deepen their collaboration. Even after the gathering, grantees continued collaborating via WhatsApp, ensuring ongoing dialogue and shared learning.
Throughout the exchange, members emphasized the need to go beyond simply applying a gender lens to environmental justice. A truly gender-transformative approach means understanding power structures and ensuring that women have meaningful participation and influence in decision-making. Participants also explored how legal empowerment can challenge entrenched inequalities, elevate women’s leadership, and create systemic change in land and environmental governance.
Upon reflection, this process underscored that shifting power dynamics and embedding gender-transformative practices require ongoing capacity-building, mentorship, and resources. LEF’s funding has been instrumental in sustaining momentum and building
on these discussions. Additionally, a multimedia toolkit to share best practices and webinars on lessons learned were key steps in scaling impact.
Community Legal Advocates Program in Latin America (Incubator)
Another critical grantmaking partnership in 2024 with the GJN included the Community Legal Advocates Program that builds the transformative power of community-led legal empowerment. Co-developed with stakeholders across the Latin American Legal Empowerment community, this program combines customized learning exchange with financial support and specialized mentoring.
In November 2024, the LEF provided grants of up to $15,000 to 10 grassroots organizations and collectives, distributing $142,500 in
total. This empowered GJN members to develop or enhance programs for community legal advocates, defenders, and paralegals. The program includes virtual courses to ensure participants receive the tools and resources needed to build sustainable, community-rooted access to justice initiatives.
Innovation & Learning Grants
Since learning is a key part of the LEF accompaniment model, the LEF team sought to deepen its learning practices in partnership with LEF grantee partners. To prioritize this in 2024, the LEF introduced innovation and learning grants to support the exploration
and implementation of new or refined approaches to community engagement and mobilization, thus strengthening legal empowerment.
Applications were evaluated by a team from the LEF and the GJN based on several criteria: the clarity and rationale of the proposed innovation; the identification of community stakeholders; the strength of the innovation hypothesis; and the presence of an implementation team and plan. All LEF grantee partners were invited to apply.
In December 2024, 10 grantee partners across Asia, Africa, South America, and Europe,7 each received a one-year grant of $10,000, totaling $100,000 in funding. These organizations demonstrate transformative potential and their abilities to operate in complex environments.
One particularly compelling initiative comes from Vision des Filles Leaders pour le Développement (VIFILED) in the Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC). VIFILED is defending displaced Pygmy Indigenous communities in Mwenga from corporate mining that threatens their land. Their approach integrates technology with community-driven strategies, including an early warning system and mobile tools for documenting and reporting human rights abuses. Despite political instability, VIFILED envisions a future where mining companies respect Indigenous peoples’ rights and environmental resources. By collaborating with human rights defenders, they amplify community voices, expose violations, and strengthen grassroots advocacy.
4. Grantmaking Plans for 2025
The LEF has begun planning grantmaking for the upcoming calendar year. In November 2024, the LEF conducted a scoping trip to Antigua & Barbuda, Barbados, Dominica, and Jamaica to explore the intersection of legal empowerment and climate justice activism.
The trip provided valuable insights, as discussions with 18 organizations highlighted key learnings on how legal empowerment can address climate injustices. Findings indicate that LEF is well-positioned to support locally driven solutions through participatory grantmaking, building on its experiences grantmaking in Southeast Asia (Cohort 2).
To shape the scope of this upcoming Caribbean cohort, the LEF will conduct participatory co-design workshops with grassroots organizations and in collaboration with a donor collective. This partnership will help determine funding priorities as well as operational considerations in the region.
The LEF will also launch Communications Grants to enhance visibility and storytelling in legal empowerment. Many grantee partners struggle to amplify their work due to limited resources and capacity, despite their ambitions and goals to mobilize communities, influence decision-makers, and expand legal awareness through digital engagement and thought leadership. To support these efforts, the LEF will pilot 10 grants of $10,000 each, offering flexible support for media training, content creation, strategic campaigns, and digital outreach. Beyond funding, grantees will receive practical mentorship from the LEF communications team. Grants are expected to be disbursed in July 2025.
The LEF will also continue to partner with the GJN throughout 2025 by contributing to the Building Community Power and the Digital ID and Security partnership.
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