Justice Associates, LLC

A Consultancy for Social Justice Philanthropy
 

 

 

 

About Us

Justice Associates partners with foundations, individual donors, and families to help them advance their philanthropic commitments to social justice and equity.  Through thoughtful, creative, and effective engagement, we work closely with you on projects vital to your philanthropic vision and leadership.

Founded by Jason McGill, Justice Associates is driven by his twenty-plus years of executive leadership and learning in the philanthropic sector.   Our clients benefit from the breadth and depth of his experience:

  • Expertise in the development of  impactful philanthropic  strategies, programs, and tactics aligned with organizational values and justice.
  • Deep skills guiding executives, Boards, and staff in creating grantmaking and related policies and practices that are rooted in equity and social justice. 
  • Direct, trusted advising of donors and families at all stages of building their philanthropic commitment.
  • A wide network of colleague funders,  advisors, and consultants with whom we partner to strengthen our work with clients.

"Life’s most urgent question is: What are you doing for others?"

— Rev. Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr.

 

How We Partner for Impact

Donor & Family Philanthropy

We know that each donor and family has a unique approach to building and advancing their philanthropy—and each has unique challenges.

We help our client donors and families define and execute their unique philanthropic vision.  This often includes advising donors and families in addressing generational and related dynamics around their philanthropy.
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Sample Projects...

  • Assist an individual donor to frame a clear philanthropic mission and strategy based on their values, and direct strategy execution.
  • Support strategic planning process between a family foundation board and non-family CEO/Senior Staff.
  • Design and implement philanthropic exploration, learning, and engagement projects for a donor’s young adult children.
  • Facilitate productive dialog among two donors and their adult children to find unity on the family’s philanthropic vision and strategy and verify an execution plan.

Philanthropic Strategy & Program

We have advised and led private foundations through the creation, revision, and implementation of strategies and programs that have distributed tens of millions of dollars in grants in the US and globally.

Our deep experience informs our approach to helping our clients of all kinds discern, develop, and deploy specific grantmaking strategies and programs that drive the impact of their missions. 

Sample Projects...

  • Build a short-term grantmaking program to support a funder’s responsiveness to emerging conditions.
  • Review an existing grant program to identify changes to strategy and approach that can amplify its impact.
  • Design a new grant program strategy, including movement-scoping, relationship building, and grantee identification.
  • Guide a foundation in winding down a grant program, tying off strategy, relationships, and grants. 

Social Justice & Equity Leadership

We have led initiatives to build  funders’ commitments to grants and governance practices rooted in  equity, inclusion, and justice.  We engage Board and staff to identify points of agreement and tension and then help you build unified, impactful practices with integrity.

We use our long experience to support clients in aligning their strategy and work  with social justice and equity principles.

Sample Projects...

  • Support a foundation’s senior staff to engage their Board in learning about and committing the foundation to an equity-and-justice framework.
  • Guide a foundation in creating grantmaking and governance  practices that reflect its commitment to justice and equity.
  • Design a learning journey for a family to explore and grow in their understanding of how social justice principles can magnify the impact of their grantmaking.

 

TESTIMONIALS

Jason gave tremendous gifts to Arcus as Vice President and Co-ED.  Our working relationship and authentic partnership showed he truly understood my personal commitment to social and environmental justice. His years of leadership and knowledge of philanthropy made him an invaluable guide to the Board and staff in translating Arcus’ commitment into a nimble, rational revised strategy for our LGBTQ work.

– Jon Stryker, Founder and President, Arcus Foundation

 

TESTIMONIALS

Jason’s depth of knowledge of donor and foundation philanthropy and his authentic engagement with founders, Boards, and staff make him a vital, thoughtful partner to all of us committed to advancing social justice philanthropy.

– Darren Walker, President, Ford Foundation

 

TESTIMONIALS

Jason and I have served together on the Philanthropy New York Board, and I engaged him as a subject expert for J.M. Kaplan Fund’s next generation education curriculum. Jason is a wonderful colleague: dynamic, charismatic, possessing diverse professional expertise, principled thinking, common sense, and a generous (and fun) spirit.  His valuable, trusted contributions make him an absolute pleasure to work with.

– Amy Freitag, Executive Director, J.M. Kaplan Fund

 

TESTIMONIALS

I have known Jason for well over a decade and still am always freshly impressed with his ability to combine  personal warmth and humanity with a razor sharp analytic brain.  His deep breadth of knowledge around philanthropic practice, from strategy to operations makes him an outstanding colleague and board member.

– Ronna Brown, President, Philanthropy New York

 

Guiding Principles

These interweaving principles inform our work with clients:

Long-term Perspective

We help our clients leverage one of philanthropy’s most distinctive strengths, its capacity to focus on and support long-term change—even if our project is short-term.

Learning and Rational Strategy

Advancing long-term justice requires a rational strategy that adapts as funders learn from success and setbacks. We use our expertise to help clients build and adapt strategies.

Positive Partnership

Philanthropy and movements thrive through strong, trusting partnerships with staff, grantees, funders and business. We support clients in building positive, effective partnerships.

Focus on Trust

We strive to ensure we earn and reinforce trust with our clients and all with whom we’re privileged to work.

Depth of Experience

We are a generalist consultancy with a depth of experience in these movements and geographies:

Movements

Aging

Criminal Justice Reform

Education Equity

Environmental Justice and Conservation

Faith-based Philanthropy

Gender Justice/Girls’ and Women’s Rights

Homelessness/Housing Rights

LGBTQ Justice

Racial Justice

Youth

Geographies

Caribbean

Central America

Eastern Africa

Mexico

New York City

Southern Africa

US—National

US—South

US—Southwest

US—West

“When I liberate myself, I liberate others. If you don’t speak out ain’t nobody going to speak out for you.”

— Fannie Lou Hamer

 

Bio

Jason McGill

Jason McGill

Founder & Principal

Jason McGill has worked at a national and international level in donor-centered and institutional philanthropy for more than twenty years.  His path has been fueled by honing long-term, trusting relationships with scores of individual donors, foundation board members, and philanthropy executives; and with numerous valued leaders in social, environmental, and economic justice movements in the Americas and Africa.

He worked most recently at the Arcus Foundation for six years, serving first as Vice President for Social Justice Programs and, for his final three years, as Co-Executive Director.  Arcus is one of the most prominent global funders of both social justice and species conservation, with an annual budget of US$40 million.  Prior to Arcus, he was for ten years the Vice President for Member Services at Philanthropy New York, the principle professional education and networking organization for New York City’s international philanthropic sector. Philanthropy New York’s 275+ member organizations annually distribute more than US$7 billion in grants globally.  Earlier in his career, Jason joined Sponsors for Educational Opportunity to create and lead an innovative national program to engage donors of color in sustained personal philanthropy within their communities of origin.

Jason also has extensive experience in Board governance and leadership.  His Board service in the philanthropic sector includes Funders for LGBTQ Issues, Philanthropy New York, and Funders Together to End Homelessness.  He has also served on several nonprofit Boards and as a Trustee for his faith denomination. His executive leadership across Board service includes terms as President, Vice Chair, Secretary, and Co-chair of Governance and Nominations, among other roles.

Jason completed his Ph.D. and MA degrees in History at the University of Michigan, and his B.A. (Sociology) and B.S. (Urban Studies) degrees at Cornell University.

Photo Credit: Brad Hamilton

Contact Us

We welcome talking with you about how we can work together to advance your mission.
Based in New York City, we happily work with clients located anywhere.

Jason McGill
+1 917.765.0277
jason@justiceassociates.org

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Justice Associates, LLC is a person of color- and LGBTQ-owned business.