We’re excited to announce the first cohort of 49 Legal Empowerment Fund grantees!
Around the world, more than 5 billion people lack meaningful access to justice. The Legal Empowerment Fund (LEF) is the first initiative dedicated solely to closing the global justice gap by investing in locally driven solutions and bringing community-level strategies to scale.
In January 2022, the LEF initiated its inaugural funding cycle with a month-long open call for proposals. We invited grassroots activists and organizations doing legal empowerment work anywhere in the world to apply for flexible funding.
The response was staggering. We received more than 4,800 applications from 153 countries. In all, groups requested more than $233 million in funding—a true testament to the overwhelming need for greater investment at the grassroots level.
Number of applications Received By Country
After a comprehensive review and participatory selection process, 49 groups were chosen to make up the LEF’s first-ever cohort of grantees. A second cohort will be announced later this year. The full list of grantees is available below (three grantees have not been identified because of security concerns).
The activists and organizations selected do not fit into one box. They come from 31 countries across the globe, from Argentina to Zambia. They represent more than a dozen different causes, from environmental justice to women’s rights. The common thread is that they are all using legal empowerment strategies to support their communities, tackle systemic injustices, and advocate for expanded protections under the law.
Keep reading to learn more about four incredible activists from the LEF’s first-ever cohort, and to see the full list of grantees.
Meet the activists
HER Internet
Uganda
HER Internet boosts women’s digital literacy education. The LEF grant helps them equip women, who face intense bias including on- and offline threats, to understand Ugandan internet laws and advocate for safe online spaces.
THEMIS
Brazil
Themis – Gênero, Justiça e Direitos Humanos (Gender, Justice and Human Rights) works to end violence against women and the discrimination they face when pursuing justice for abuse. LEF support is helping Themis train community leaders in proven anti-violence strategies.
Braveheart Foundation
Myanmar
Braveheart works to promote peace and democracy in Myanmar. The LEF gives their paralegal network greater resources to help people without legal identities and ethnic minorities secure citizenship and their rights to have a say in their country’s laws.
Association Nomad08
Tunisia
Nomad08 mobilizes communities whose livelihoods, cultures, and environments are threatened by industrial development. Thanks to the LEF, the group is fortifying community movements advocating for their right to clean water.
Full List of LEF grantees
Listed alphabetically by country
Three organizations are not listed due to the nature of their work.
Argentina
Fundación para el Desarrollo de Políticas Sustentables (FUNDEPS)
https://fundeps.org/
fundepsargentina
fundepsargentina
fundeps
Bolivia
Fundación Microjusticia Bolivia
https://microjusticiabolivia.org/
fundacionmicrojusticiabolivia
Brazil
Instituto Preservar
Themis – Gênero, Justiça e Direitos Humanos
Colombia
Asociación de Autoridades Tradicionales y Cabildos U’wa (ASOU’WA)
Centro Sociojurídico para la Defensa Territorial (SIEMBRA)
https://www.centrosiembra.org/
SiembraCentro
siembra_centro
Siembra_Centro
Ecuador
Corporación ECOLEX
https://www.ecolex-ec.org/
ecolexec
linea.verde.5
Fundación Regional de Asesoría en Derechos Humanos (INREDH)
El Salvador
Asociación Comunicando y Capacitando a Mujeres Trans con VIH en El Salvador (COMCAVIS TRANS)
France
Mission d’Intervention et de Sensibilisation contre la Traite des êtres humains (MIST)
Guatemala
Asociación Sobrevivencia Cultural (Sobrevivencia Cultural)
Coordinadora de Asociaciones y Comunidades para el Desarrollo Integral de la Región Ch’orti’ (COMUNDICH)
India
International Foundation for Crime Prevention and Victim Care (PCVC)
Kenya
Chepkitale Indigenous People Development Project (CIPDP)
Pamoja Trust
https://pamojatrust.org/
PamojaTrustPage
pamoja_trust
Women Beyond Barriers Community Based Organization (WBB)
Pema Kenya CBO (PEMA-K)
Liberia
National Union of Community Forestry Development Committees (NUCFDCs)
Malaysia
Development of Human Resources for Rural Areas (DHRRA)
Mexico
Centro de Atención a la Mujer Trabajadora de Chihuahua A.C. (CAMT Chihuahua)
https://camtac.org.mx/
Centro-de-Atenci%C3%B3n-a-la-Mujer-Trabajadora-AC
Centro Regional de Defensa de Derechos Humanos, “José Ma. Morelos y Pavón” A.C. (Centro Morelos)
Centro-de-Defensa-De-Los-Derechos-Humanos-Jose-Maria-Morelos-y-Pav
Interculturalidad, Salud y Derechos A.C. (INSADE)
Montenegro
Association Spectra
https://asocijacijaspektra.org/
asocijacija.spektra
asocijacija.spektra
Myanmar
Braveheart Foundation
https://braveheartfoundation.net/
braveheartmyanmar
Myanmar Legal Aid Network (MLAW)
Peace Point-Myanmar (PPM)
North Macedonia
Association for Legal Education and Transparency (LET Station)
Peru
Central Distrital de las Rondas Campesinas de Nuñoa (CEDROCAN)
Republic of Congo
Association Les Amis des Enfants (AAE)
South Africa
Maokeng Advice And Resource Centre (MARC)
Mitchells Plain Community Advice and Development Project (MPCADP)
Spain
Asociación Pro Derechos de la Infancia (Pro.De.In)
Uganda
HER Internet
https://www.herinternet.org/
herinternet
her_internet
HerInternet
Just Like My Child Foundation (JLMCF)
https://www.justlikemychilduganda.org/
justlikemychildfoundation
justlikemychild
US
Homes for All St. Louis
https://homesforall.org/
h4astl
Global Rights Advocacy
https://www.globalrightsadvocacy.org/
globalrightsadvocacy
advocacy_gra
Queer Detainee Empowerment Project (QDEP)
Zambia
Paralegal Alliance Network (PAN)
https://panzambia.org/
PANZambia
paralegalalliancenetworkzm/
Zambia Institute of Environmental Management (ZEIM)
We believe in a future where all people have equal access to justice. Learn more about the Legal Empowerment Fund.
