Illinois Bar Foundation
The Illinois Bar Foundation is a public charity based in Springfield, Illinois, founded in 1951. It supports meaningful access to the justice system, especially for people with limited means, and provides assistance to lawyers who can no longer support themselves because of incapacity.
Illinois Bar Foundation at a glance
In short: Illinois Bar Foundation gave $329K across 33 grants in 2025 (avg $10K), mostly in Illinois. 52% of 2025 grantees were new. Source: 2025 IRS Form 990.
- Annual giving (2025)
- $329,000
- +119.3% vs 2024
- Grants made (2025)
- 33
- +135.7% vs 2024
- Average grant
- $9,970
- -6.9% vs 2024
- Median grant
- $7,500
- Total assets
- $8,885,015
- +31.1% vs 2024
- New grantees (estimate)
- 52% first-time grantees (17 of 33, 2025)
- Primary geography
- Illinois (92% of itemized 2025 grant dollars)
- Latest 990 filing
- Form 990, 2025 View filing
Data from IRS Form 990, 2025; updated October 2026. New grantees are estimated by matching recipient names across years (methodology).
How to apply to Illinois Bar Foundation
- How to Apply
-
For Access to Justice Grants, eligible organizations apply through the Foundation’s online application process. Applicants must be 501(c)(3) organizations serving Illinois and working within the program objectives. The Foundation says it encourages organizations that are not current grantees, or that have questions about project fit, to discuss their projects with it before applying. It requires grantees to submit mid-year and year-end reports. For awards of $10,000 or more, half is initially disbursed and the balance is released after the mid-year report is submitted and reviewed.
- Review Cycle
- No specific deadline is stated for the Access to Justice Grants or the Warren Lupel Lawyers Care Fund.
- Deadline
- No specific deadline is stated for the Access to Justice Grants or the Warren Lupel Lawyers Care Fund.
- Contact
Mailing address: 424 S Second Street, Springfield, IL 62701
Phone: (217) 525-1760
Website: https://illinoisbarfoundation.org
Application details from Grantable's research on the foundation's public materials; confirm on its website before applying.
Open Grants
4 open opportunities from Illinois Bar Foundation
Access to Justice Grants
Illinois Bar Foundation
Amount
Varies
Deadline
Deadline not published
Illinois JusticeCorps
Illinois Bar Foundation
Amount
Varies
Deadline
Deadline not published
Post-Graduate Legal Fellowship Program
Illinois Bar Foundation
Amount
Varies
Deadline
Deadline not published
Who Illinois Bar Foundation funds
How this funder distributes its grants
Top Recipients
Top 10 recipients in 2025
The largest 2025 recipient was Illinois Legal Aid Online ($20K). Together the top 10 received $148K.
Grant Size Distribution
82 grants across all recorded years
The most common grant size was under $50K: 82 grants of 82 (100%).
Geographic Focus
Where this funder awards grants
The Foundation’s Access to Justice Grants support organizations serving Illinois; its guidelines specify work within the state. The program page says it supports organizations around Illinois, and the Foundation’s 2025 grants went primarily to Illinois recipients: 92% of grant dollars went to recipients in Illinois, 3% to Missouri, 2% to Massachusetts, and 2% to recipients with an unspecified state. The Warren Lupel Lawyers Care Fund is described as serving Illinois statewide.
Grant Distribution by State
Share of 2025 grant dollars across all 33 itemized grants.
Cities
Is Illinois Bar Foundation open to new grantees?
52%
first-time grantees, 2025
In 2025, 17 of 33 grantees (52%) were first-time recipients. First grants averaged $8K; repeat grants $13K. How we count
Medians: $8K first-time, $10K repeat.
Estimate from itemized grant lists in IRS Form 990 filings (2019–2025). Recipient names are matched across years, so a renamed or misspelled grantee can look new; grants to individuals are left out. Methodology.
Giving History
Giving Over Time
Total grant dollars and number of grants per year
From 2019 to 2025, annual grant giving ranged from $120K (2021) to $329K (2025). In 2025 it made 33 grants totaling $329K.
Grants by year
Grant recipients and amounts by year
| Recipient | Purpose | Amount |
|---|---|---|
| Illinois Legal Aid Online Chicago, IL | To support their Statewide Legal Service Website project | $20,000 |
| Land of Lincoln Legal Assistance Foundation East St Louis, IL | To support their Rural Service Territory project To support their holistic legal service project | $20,000 |
| Prairie State Legal Services Rockford, IL | To support their Volunteer Lawyer program in Rockford, IL | $20,000 |
| Public Interest Law Initiative Chicago, IL | To support their Pro Bono Initiative program | $20,000 |
| Ascend Justice Chicago, IL | To support their Pro Bono project | $12,500 |
| Carpls Chicago, IL | To support their legal aid hotline and court-based advice desks | $12,500 |
| Chicago Volunteer Legal Services Chicago, IL | To support their Chancery Court Access to Justice project | $12,500 |
| James B Moran Center for Youth Academy Evanston, IL | To support their Driving Equity Through Advocacy and School-Based Legal Services | $10,000 |
| National Immigrant Justice Center Chicago, IL | To support their Immigration Court help desk for non-detained immigrants | $10,000 |
| Pro Bono Network Oak Park, IL | To support their Volunteer Attorney Recruitment and Support | $10,000 |
Ready to take the next step with Illinois Bar Foundation?
Financial History
Multi-year comparison from IRS filings
| Filing year | Total Assets | Revenue | Expenses | Grants paid | Grants | Net Investment Income |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2025 | $8,885,015 | $3,414,826 | $2,390,601 | $329,000 | 33 | $561,247 |
| 2024 | $6,779,125 | $2,270,476 | $2,086,614 | $150,000 | 14 | $270,124 |
| 2023 | $6,310,459 | $1,497,145 | $1,615,398 | $130,000 | 11 | $34,562 |
| 2022 | $5,917,371 | $1,487,268 | $1,376,549 | $150,000 | 14 | $83,472 |
| 2021 | $6,401,056 | $1,745,412 | $1,315,505 | $120,000 | 10 | $342,090 |
| 2020 | $5,106,371 | $1,757,700 | $1,485,391 | $137,500 | 12 | $108,756 |
| 2019 | $5,227,782 | $1,486,348 | $1,459,956 | $150,500 | 11 | $58,302 |
Research compiled by Grantable AI from public sources. Last updated September 2026.
Mission & Focus Areas
The Foundation states that its mission is to ensure meaningful access to the justice system, especially for those with limited means, and to assist lawyers who can no longer support themselves due to incapacity.
Its Access to Justice Grants support 501(c)(3) organizations serving Illinois in three areas: expanding civil legal aid for people with limited means, encouraging pro bono legal work, and educating Illinois residents about their rights and responsibilities under the law. Its Law School Clinic Grants support Illinois law school clinics providing civil legal services while helping train law students. The Foundation also operates the Warren Lupel Lawyers Care Fund, which provides financial assistance and subsistence to lawyers and their families in times of need. Illinois JusticeCorps places volunteers in courthouses to provide information and navigation assistance to people without attorneys.
Grantees’ stated missions illustrate the kinds of organizations supported. Illinois Legal Aid Online says it educates Illinoisans about their rights and connects them with lawyers and other solutions. Prairie State Legal Services says it provides or coordinates free civil legal services for low-income individuals, families, and groups. Public Interest Law Initiative says it engages, inspires, and empowers people advancing equal access to justice. Pro Bono Network says it expands pro bono legal services for legal aid agencies serving people below 150% of the poverty line.
Grantmaking
In filing year 2025, the Foundation reported 33 grants totaling $329,000. Awards ranged from $6,000 to $20,000, with a median grant of $7,500. Its website describes Access to Justice Grants as an annual program and states that decisions are made in spring for a July 1–June 30 grant cycle. The FY26 application process was announced on the Foundation’s website; that cycle is past as of September 29, 2026. The website also announced FY26 Law School Clinic Grants.
Among the largest reported 2025 awards were $20,000 each to Illinois Legal Aid Online for its Statewide Legal Service Website project, Land of Lincoln Legal Assistance Foundation for its Rural Service Territory and holistic legal service projects, Prairie State Legal Services for its Rockford Volunteer Lawyer program, and Public Interest Law Initiative for its Pro Bono Initiative. Other reported awards included $12,500 to Ascend Justice, CARPLS, and Chicago Volunteer Legal Services, and $10,000 to the James B Moran Center for Youth Academy, National Immigrant Justice Center, Pro Bono Network, and Center for Disability & Elder Law.
The Warren Lupel Lawyers Care Fund accepts applications year-round on a rolling basis. Its stated eligibility includes Illinois-licensed attorneys unable to work due to age, illness, injury, or disability; solo and small-firm practitioners; people and families facing serious illness; people in treatment for substance-use or mental-health issues; and families of deceased attorneys.
Leadership & Key People
Leadership team and compensation from IRS filings
The 2025 filing lists John Nisivaco as President, Lauren Tuckey as 1st Vice-President, Juan Thomas as 2nd Vice President, and Ryan Theriault as Immediate Past President. Directors listed include Mike Alkaraki, Deidre Baumann, Jason Blumenthal, Bernard Peter, Susan Rogaliner, and Rick Turner.
Illinois Bar Foundation is led by John Nisivaco, President since 2025 (on filings since 2019); none of the 32 officers listed in 2025 report compensation.
Officers on the 2025 filing
John Nisivaco
President
2nd Vice President → 1st Vice President, 2024
1st Vice President → President, 2025
On filings since 2019
3 hrs/week
No compensation reported
Stacey Hacker Meehan
Executive Director
On filings since 2021
35 hrs/week
No compensation reported
George Leynaud
Director
On filings since 2019
1 hr/week
No compensation reported
Perry J Browder
Director
Immediate Past President → Director, 2024
On filings since 2019
1 hr/week
No compensation reported
Jessica R Durkin
Director
On filings since 2020
1 hr/week
No compensation reported
Sarah Toney
Director
On filings since 2020
1 hr/week
No compensation reported
Susan Rogaliner
Director
On filings since 2020
1 hr/week
No compensation reported
Annemarie Kill
Director
On filings since 2021
1 hr/week
No compensation reported
Kelly Giraudo
Director
On filings since 2021
1 hr/week
No compensation reported
Angel Wawryznek
Director
On filings since 2023
1 hr/week
No compensation reported
Bernard Peter
Director
On filings since 2023
1 hr/week
No compensation reported
Judy Conway
Director
On filings since 2023
1 hr/week
No compensation reported
Mike Alkaraki
Director
On filings since 2023
1 hr/week
No compensation reported
Ted Donner
Director
On filings since 2023
1 hr/week
No compensation reported
Jason R Blumenthal
Director
On filings since 2024
1 hr/week
No compensation reported
Laura A Castagna
Director
On filings since 2024
1 hr/week
No compensation reported
Angel Traub
Director
New on the 2025 filing
1 hr/week
No compensation reported
Ann Pieper
Director
New on the 2025 filing
1 hr/week
No compensation reported
Deidre Baumann
Director
New on the 2025 filing
1 hr/week
No compensation reported
Heather McPherson
Director
New on the 2025 filing
1 hr/week
No compensation reported
Joseph Souligne
Director
New on the 2025 filing
1 hr/week
No compensation reported
Katie Twardak
Director
New on the 2025 filing
1 hr/week
No compensation reported
Letitia Wiggins
Director
New on the 2025 filing
1 hr/week
No compensation reported
Mary Milano
Director
New on the 2025 filing
1 hr/week
No compensation reported
Nelson Wood
Director
New on the 2025 filing
1 hr/week
No compensation reported
Rick Turner
Director
New on the 2025 filing
1 hr/week
No compensation reported
Tamkia Walker
Director
New on the 2025 filing
1 hr/week
No compensation reported
Dennis J Archer
Assistant Treasurer
Assistant Treasurer & Interim Executive Director → Assistant Treasurer & Interim Executive, 2021
Assistant Treasurer & Interim Executive → Assistant Treasurer, 2023
On filings since 2019
4 hrs/week
No compensation reported
Ryan Theriault
Immediate Past President
1st Vice President → President, 2024
President → Immediate Past President, 2025
On filings since 2019
1 hr/week
No compensation reported
Jo Anna Pollock
3rd Vice President
Director → 3rd Vice President, 2025
On filings since 2021
1 hr/week
No compensation reported
Lauren Tuckey
1st Vice President
3rd Vice President → 2nd Vice President, 2024
2nd Vice President → 1st Vice President, 2025
On filings since 2021
1 hr/week
No compensation reported
Juan Thomas
2nd Vice President
Director → 3rd Vice President, 2024
3rd Vice President → 2nd Vice President, 2025
On filings since 2022
1 hr/week
No compensation reported
Former officers (46)
- Former: Bridget Duignan (2019–2024) — Director
- Former: Sandra Crawford (2019–2024) — Immediate Past President
- Former: Cory White (2020–2024) — Director
- Former: R Stephen Scott (2020–2024) — Director
- Former: J Nelson Wood (2021–2024) — Director
- Former: Richard Turner Jr. (2021–2024) — Director
- Former: Tamika Walker (2022–2024) — Director
- Former: Jen Irmen (2023–2024) — Director
- Former: Jon Amarilio (2023–2024) — Director
- Former: F Michael Alkaraki (2024) — Director
- Former: Katherine A Twardak (2024) — Director
- Former: Marcos A Resendiz (2024) — Director
- Former: Lisa Nyuli (2019–2023) — Immediate Past President
- Former: Mark Karno (2019–2023) — Director
- Former: Claire Manning (2020–2023) — Director
- Former: George Schoenbeck III (2021–2023) — Director
- Former: Sonni Williams (2021–2023) — Director
- Former: Anna Krolikowska (2019–2022) — Director
- Former: Christopher Dore (2019–2022) — Director
- Former: Deane Brown (2019–2022) — Immediate Past President
- Former: Rory Weiler (2019–2022) — Director
- Former: Kristin Barnette McCarthy (2020–2022) — Director
- Former: Shawn Kasserman (2021–2022) — Director
- Former: Ted Graham (2022) — Director
- Former: Zachary Sorman (2022) — Director
- Former: Dennis J Orsey (2019–2021) — Director
- Former: Ava George Stewart (2021) — Director
- Former: Jennifer Haase (2021) — Director
- Former: Ava George (2019–2020) — Director
- Former: David M Anderson (2019–2020) — Executive Director
- Former: David Sosin (2019–2020) — Director
- Former: Gregory Shevlin (2019–2020) — Director
- Former: J Randall Cox (2019–2020) — Director
- Former: Jennifer Shaw (2019–2020) — Director
- Former: Lauren Tuckey Murray (2019–2020) — Secretary
- Former: Lawrence Stein (2019–2020) — Director
- Former: Mary Petruchius (2019–2020) — Director
- Former: Timothy Bertschy (2019–2020) — Director
- Former: Timothy Kelly (2019–2020) — Immediate Past President
- Former: William Peithmann (2019–2020) — 1st Vice President
- Former: David Berek (2019) — Director
- Former: James F McCluskey (2019) — Director
- Former: Keith Emmons (2019) — Director
- Former: Marron Mahoney (2019) — Director
- Former: Russell W Hartigan (2019) — Director
- Former: Steve Scott (2019) — Director
Data from IRS Form 990 filings, 2019–2025. "On filings since" is the earliest filing we hold that lists the person; hours are average hours per week as reported.
Frequently asked questions about Illinois Bar Foundation
How much does Illinois Bar Foundation give each year?
Illinois Bar Foundation gave $329K across 33 grants in 2025, according to its 2025 IRS Form 990. In 2024 it gave $150K across 14 grants.
What is Illinois Bar Foundation's typical grant size?
Illinois Bar Foundation's median grant in 2025 was $7,500, and its average grant was $9,970, across 33 grants on its 2025 IRS Form 990. Organizations receiving their first grant from Illinois Bar Foundation that year got $8K on average.
Where does Illinois Bar Foundation give grants?
Illinois Bar Foundation gives mostly in Illinois: 92% of the grant dollars itemized on its 2025 IRS Form 990 went to recipients there. The most frequent recipient cities were Chicago, IL (18 grants) and Rockford, IL (2 grants).
Does Illinois Bar Foundation give general operating support?
Yes: 18% of Illinois Bar Foundation's 2025 grants with a stated purpose (6 of 33) were for general or operating support, per its 2025 IRS Form 990.
Who are Illinois Bar Foundation's largest grantees?
Illinois Bar Foundation's largest 2025 grantees include Illinois Legal Aid Online ($20,000), Land of Lincoln Legal Assistance Foundation ($20,000) and Prairie State Legal Services ($20,000), according to its 2025 IRS Form 990. Together they received 18% of its itemized 2025 grant dollars.
How large is Illinois Bar Foundation?
Illinois Bar Foundation reported $8.9M in total assets on its 2025 IRS Form 990. Its revenue that year was $3.4M.
What does Illinois Bar Foundation fund?
The Foundation states that its mission is to ensure meaningful access to the justice system, especially for those with limited means, and to assist lawyers who can no longer support themselves due to incapacity. See mission & focus areas ↑
How do I apply for a grant from Illinois Bar Foundation?
For Access to Justice Grants, eligible organizations apply through the Foundation’s online application process. Eligibility and process details are in the grantmaking section of this profile. See how to apply ↑
What is Illinois Bar Foundation's EIN?
Illinois Bar Foundation's EIN (Employer Identification Number) is 37-0810222. IRS Form 990 filing data is available on this page for 2019–2025.
Data last updated October 2026. Sourced from IRS Form 990 filings. Research dossier generated September 2026.
Data update history
(8)
When this profile's IRS filing data changed on Grantable
- Updated Form 990 for fiscal year 2019 (received by the IRS May 13, 2020)
- Updated Form 990 for fiscal year 2020 (received by the IRS May 10, 2021)
- Updated Form 990 for fiscal year 2021 (received by the IRS March 1, 2022)
- Updated Form 990 for fiscal year 2022 (received by the IRS May 15, 2023)
- Updated Form 990 for fiscal year 2023 (received by the IRS May 8, 2024)
- Updated Form 990 for fiscal year 2024 (received by the IRS May 15, 2025)
- Added Form 990 for fiscal year 2025 (received by the IRS May 14, 2026)
- IRS filings on file for fiscal years 2019–2024
Live grants for the work Illinois Bar Foundation funds
Education Open opportunities, soonest deadline first.
Explore Open Grants
Browse active grant opportunities in Illinois Bar Foundation's focus areas in our free grants database
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Cite this profile
Grantable. (2026). Illinois Bar Foundation funder profile. GrantGraph. Retrieved October 17, 2026, from https://grantable.co/funders/illinois-bar-foundation-morg_02cceb5927d743fa85884816d312af1a
BibTeX
@misc{grantable_370810222_2026,
author = {{Grantable}},
title = {{Illinois Bar Foundation funder profile}},
howpublished = {GrantGraph},
year = {2026},
url = {https://grantable.co/funders/illinois-bar-foundation-morg_02cceb5927d743fa85884816d312af1a},
note = {Accessed 2026-10-17. Data licensed CC BY 4.0}
}The figures on this page are open data under CC BY 4.0: reuse them with credit to Grantable and a link. Download the data.
Figures come from Illinois Bar Foundation's IRS filings (methodology). AI-written summaries, news items and logos are not covered by the open licence. Spot an error? Email hello@grantable.co.
Illinois Bar Foundation down — hundreds of funders to go?