The Justice & Diversity Center 2025 Impact Report

The Justice & Diversity Center (JDC) advances fairness and equality by providing pro bono legal services to low-income people and educational programs that foster diversity in the legal profession.

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A Welcome From Our Executive Director and Board President

Picture a mother sitting in an immigration courtroom, heart pounding, eyes fixed on the door, praying she will return to her children and not end her day in ICE detention. Picture a woman who longs for safety but feels trapped by the walls of abuse that surround her, uncertain where to turn or who will believe her. Picture a young man, the first in his family to go to college, burning with a desire to make a difference in the world, yet finding every door into the legal profession frustratingly narrow.

These are the people who walked through our doors in 2025.

The legal system can be overwhelming for those who are under-resourced, frightened, and navigating it alone. In 2025, the need for legal services in our community grew sharper as local budget cuts threatened some of the very programs designed to meet that need.

JDC faced those challenges head-on and continued to do our work, and to do it well. Our attorneys and volunteers showed up in housing courts, immigration hearings, and family law proceedings. We deepened our partnerships with other legal services nonprofits and found new and creative pathways to bring legal help directly to the people who needed it most. None of this could have happened without YOU.

Your support, your generosity, and your belief in this work, is what makes it possible for a mother to go home to her children, for a domestic violence victim to find safety, and for a young man to find his pathway towards a legal career.

As our nation marks the 250th anniversary of our founding, we are called to recommit to the promise of liberty and justice for all. That phrase is not a relic. It is a charge. And at JDC, we take it seriously every day.

The impact report that follows is a testament to what happens when a community decides that justice is worth fighting for. It is a record of resilience, dedication, and real impact, made possible by people like you.

If you believe, as we do, that every person deserves high-quality legal representation regardless of their income or circumstance, we invite you to continue this journey with us. Please consider making a gift today. Your support allows us to continue meeting our community where it is and to keep showing up when it matters most.

Yolanda Jackson

Executive Director and General Counsel,
BASF & JDC

Peggy Otum

2025 Board President,
BASF & JDC

The Justice & Diversity Center's Programs

We reach these goals through four programs that empower and advocate for thousands of people a year in San Francisco. Meet our Program Directors below.

Katie Danielson

Director and Managing Attorney, Homeless Advocacy Project

Milli Atkinson

Director, Immigrant Legal Defense Program

Pro Bono
Legal Services

Antonia More

Director and Managing Attorney, Pro Bono Legal Services Programs

Educational
Programs

Kerry Guido

Director of Educational Programs

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The Homeless Advocacy Project

The Homeless Advocacy Project (HAP) provides legal and supporting social services to individuals and families who are homeless or at imminent risk of homelessness, focusing on the most vulnerable individuals and families in our local community. We are partners with organizations and agencies across the city to ensure everyone we connect with receives the support they need.

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CARE Court

CARE Court was created by a new state law that allows family members, first responders and others to file petitions seeking services for persons who have schizophrenia or other psychotic disorders. In October of 2023, San Francisco became one of the first counties in the state to implement CARE Court. HAP was awarded funding by the California State Bar to represent Respondents in CARE Court.

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HAP Immigration

HAP provides immigration services for immigrants experiencing or at risk of homelessness, such as applying for citizenship, visas, asylum, or adjustment of status, or renewing work permits.

Consultations

Work authorizations

Consultations

Work authorizations

Consultations

Work authorizations

Green card applications

Citizen applications

Green card applications

Citizen applications

Cases

Work authorizations

Green card applications

Citizenship applications

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Immigrant Legal Defense Program

The Immigrant Legal Defense Program (ILDP) increases access to justice and protects the due process rights of low-income and unrepresented immigrants facing deportation.

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San Francisco Immigrant Legal Defense Collaborative

ILDP helps build legal capacity as the legal lead of The San Francisco Immigrant Legal Defense Collaborative (SFILDC), a collective of 16 San Francisco organizations that provide free, high-quality, culturally competent legal services to adults, children, and families in removal proceedings. This means Northern California agencies are better coordinated and equipped to defend individuals in deportation proceedings in the San Francisco Immigration Court.

Individuals provided full scope representation before Immigration Court since 2015

Applications filed for Asylum related forms of relief

Different countries were represented

Success rate in completed cases

Individuals provided full scope representation before Immigration Court since 2015

Applications filed for Asylum related forms of relief

Different countries represented

Success rate in completed cases

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Attorney of the Day Program

Attorneys of the Day (AODs) are experienced immigration lawyers who appear at the San Francisco Immigration Court to assist unrepresented respondents in their initial deportation proceedings. The AOD Program has partnered with Salesforce, PG&E, and Canal Alliance to hold two asylum clinics in 2024. These clinics have proven critical to ensuring that asylum seekers receive adequate time to secure full scope legal representation and qualify for employment authorization – serving 39 total respondents, of whom three have secured asylum, two have obtained employment authorization, and six received AOD assistance in filing their work permit applications.

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From Legal Fraud to Freedom for an Indigenous Family

JDC staff attorneys first met “Wilbur” (name has been changed) while serving as Attorney of the Day (AOD) at the San Francisco Immigration Court. At the time, Wilbur was represented by an out-of-state attorney who had developed a troubling reputation in the Bay Area for defrauding clients—charging thousands of dollars in deposits, doing little to no work on the cases, and withdrawing before final hearings. Over several months, AOD attorneys had observed this pattern while appearing as Friend of the Court.

At Wilbur’s hearing, he expressed frustration to the AOD attorney that his lawyer was absent and unresponsive to repeated calls. After a brief consultation, a JDC AOD staff attorney stepped in to attend the hearing. Wilbur’s prior counsel appeared via telephone, was clearly unprepared to proceed, and—at Wilbur’s request—ultimately withdrew from the case.

Wilbur later filed a bar complaint, and the attorney was subsequently suspended from practicing law in his jurisdiction.

JDC successfully represented Wilbur, his wife, and their child in their asylum claim. As an Indigenous Guatemalan man whose family suffered severe violence during the Guatemalan Civil War—and who later faced life-threatening danger as a public healthcare worker—Wilbur was found by the immigration judge to have been persecuted as a member of a disfavored group. Asylum was granted to him and his family.

JDC is now assisting the family with their applications for permanent residency. Meanwhile, Wilbur is taking English classes and preparing to continue his career in healthcare here in the United States.

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Pro Bono Legal Services

Each year, our staff and more than 2,000 volunteers assist 6,000 clients with legal consultation and representation in nearly every area of civil law.

In 2024, 550 volunteers donated 58,480 hours to support all of JDC's pro bono legal services programs. This represents about $53,099,840 in attorneys’ fees.

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Community Organization
Representation Project

Since 1996, the Community Organization Representation Project (CORP) has provided pro bono assistance to existing nonprofit organizations, and organizations seeking nonprofit status, that provide direct services to low-income and underserved Northern Californians. We assist these organizations, which do not have sufficient funds to pay attorneys: transactional issues of any kind, including nonprofit formation, employment law, corporate governance and structuring, commercial leases, reinstatement with IRS, risk management, intellectual property and business contract issues.

Diverse nonprofit clients with legal challenges assisted

Diverse nonprofit clients with legal challenges were assisted

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Family Law Project

The Family Law Project (FLP) assists low-income individuals and families with family law and related probate matters including divorce, legal separation, nullity, parentage, domestic abuse, guardianship, and conservatorship cases. JDC collaborates with CROC, WOMAN Inc, and the Superior Court of San Francisco to form a continuum of trauma-informed care, from restraining order advocacy to personal safety planning to holistic legal representation.

Family Law cases

Domestic violence survivors assisted

Survivors obtained protection from abuse or neglect; survivors also secured or preserved custody of their children

Survivors obtained, preserved or increased their visitation rights

Family law cases

Individuals provided self-help services

Domestic violence survivors assisted

Survivors obtained protection from abuse or neglect; survivors also secured or preserved custody of their children

Domestic violence survivors assisted

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Federal Pro Bono Project

The Federal Pro Bono Project (FPBP) provides information and advice to pro se civil litigants in the U.S. District Court for the Northern District of California. This is done via Legal Help Centers in the San Francisco and Oakland federal courthouses. The Project also facilitates placement of civil cases with pro bono attorneys for limited or full scope representation when the court appoints counsel.

Clients received legal assistance

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Low-Income Taxpayer Clinic

Our Low Income Taxpayer Clinic (LITC) assists low-income taxpayers who have tax issues with the IRS. This includes taxpayers in controversy with the IRS, individuals who have filed petitions with the U.S. Tax Court, and individuals who need help in obtaining other relief for a tax obligation.

Clients served

Consultations provided

Hours of service provided by volunteers

$0k

Liability reduced/benefits won

SIJ Findings Issued by SF Superior Court

New representation cases were handled

Consultations were provided

New representation cases were handled

Consultations were provided

Individuals attended 7 clinics

Hours of service provided by 48 volunteers

Individuals attended 7 clinics

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Special Immigrant Juvenile (SIJ) Project

The Special Immigrant Juvenile (SIJ) Project supports immigrant children in securing SIJ findings through the San Francisco Superior Court, which are legal determinations that the child has been abused, neglected, or abandoned and cannot safely return to their home country. With these findings, the children can then apply for SIJ status with assistance from JDC’s Immigration Program, beginning their path toward lawful permanent residency.

The SIJ Project assists immigrant children to obtain SIJ findings in the San Francisco Superior Court. With these findings, the children then apply for SIJ Status with the help of JDC’s Immigration program, which sets them on the path to legal, permanent residency.

New representation cases were handled

Consultations were provided

Individuals attended 7 clinics

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How CORP Helped Children Find Belonging at Camp Kaleidoscope

When a parent is diagnosed with cancer, the entire family feels the impact, especially the children. Camp Kaleidoscope, a Stanford student-led initiative, exists to support those children by creating a space where they can connect, heal, and just be kids. For one unforgettable week each summer, campers experience joy, friendship, and a powerful sense of belonging in a world that often feels turned upside down.

But bringing that kind of healing to life takes more than heart. It takes infrastructure, legal guidance, and long-term planning. And that’s where JDC’s Community Organization Representation Project (CORP) stepped in.

As Camp Kaleidoscope grew, it needed help becoming a formal nonprofit, creating policies to protect its mission, and ensuring that its future was secure. Through CORP, Camp Kaleidoscope was connected with pro bono legal teams who provided critical support. This heartfelt note from the Camp Kaleidoscope team says it all:

“First, I want to say thank you so much for your help connecting us with various legal teams to help make camp happen over the last year. These teams have helped us acquire 501(c)(3) status, improve our bylaws, and draft volunteer policies, and they continue to help us on additional deliverables. It’s no exaggeration to say that we couldn’t do it without them, and we couldn’t have connected with them without you and CORP. So, thank you. I don’t remember how I found CORP, but boy, am I glad I did.”

With a strong legal foundation in place, Camp Kaleidoscope is poised to serve 120 campers aged 6 to 18 from across the San Francisco Bay Area next year.

By offering pro bono legal support to mission-driven organizations like Camp Kaleidoscope, CORP helps turn vision into longevity. It ensures that organizations can have the tools, structure, and legal stability to grow sustainably and reach more lives.

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Educational Programs

Our educational programs help students succeed and explore their interest in a career in the law. From high school to law school, our programs break down barriers, build confidence, and show that the legal profession is for everyone.

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Educational Programs

of School-to-College graduates are first-generation college students

of School-to-College participants graduated high school

Students participated in our School-to-College program

of graduates were accepted into college

School-to-College graduates were first-generation college students

of School-to-College participants graduated high school

Students participated in our School-to-College program

of graduates were accepted into college

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Meet the People We Serve

Thank You to Our 2025 Donors

Thank you to all our donors who supported the work of the Justice & Diversity Center in 2025.

You provided high-quality legal help for thousands of the most vulnerable in our community going through the most difficult challenges of their lives.

You helped keep people in their homes, supported people escaping persecution and violence to find asylum, solved complex legal issues that can derail lives, and created pathways for the next generation of legal professionals to thrive.

Your donations made this work possible. We are deeply grateful to all who supported our work in 2024. We give a special acknowledgement to the major donors listed below, who generously gave permission to be publicly recognized. We also extend our heartfelt thanks to those who contributed anonymously or chose not to be listed.

Thank you!

Top Pro Bono Partners

The top pro bono partners are recognized as the most outstanding volunteers, selected based on the specific criteria established by each project.

A. Marisa Chun • Rebecca Kutlow • Atrina Mehdipour • Yasmine Mehmet • Pacific Gas & Electric Company • Mark Roelke • Sue Anna Yeh • Venable Vargas Trial Team

Major Individual Donors Contributing $1,000+

David Balabanian • Elizabeth Cabraser • David Carrillo • Mark Conrad • Charles Jung • Mr. and Mrs. Kadifa • Colin Kemp • Lata Krishnan • Lindsay Llewellyn • Barbara Lyons • Mary McNamara • Lindsey Mignano • Peggy Otum • Steven Taylor • Erica Villanueva • Colin West • Spencer Wilson

JDC Gala Sponsors and Major Organization Donors Contributing $5,000+

Arnold & Porter • Arthur & Charlotte Zitrin Foundation • Audet & Partners • Coblentz Patch Duffy & Bass • Cooley • Covington & Burling
Davis Wright Tremaine • Keker, Van Nest & Peters • Kilpatrick Townsend & Stockton • Morgan Lewis • Morrison & Foerster • Munger, Tolles & Olson
Nassiri & Jung • O'Melveny & Myers • Orrick • PG&E Corporation • Pillsbury Winthrop Shaw Pittman • Sheppard Mullin
Wilson Sonsini Goodrich & Rosati Foundation

If you’d like to make a gift, email JDC's Development Director Kate Applebaum at kapplebaum@sfbar.org or donate at the link below.

Donate Now

The Justice & Diversity Center is a 501(c)(3) nonprofit organization and contributions are tax-deductible.