Montana Justice Foundation
The Montana Justice Foundation (MJF) is a public charity based in Helena, Montana. Established in 1979, it funds and supports work to improve access to justice, including civil legal services, legal education, effective administration of justice, and alternative dispute resolution.
Montana Justice Foundation at a glance
In short: Montana Justice Foundation gave $779K across 14 grants in 2025 (avg $56K), mostly in Montana. 21% of 2025 grantees were new. Source: 2025 IRS Form 990.
- Annual giving (2025)
- $778,850
- +22.9% vs 2024
- Grants made (2025)
- 14
- +7.7% vs 2024
- Average grant
- $55,632
- +14.1% vs 2024
- Median grant
- $11,000
- Total assets
- $6,246,428
- +34.8% vs 2024
- New grantees (estimate)
- 21% first-time grantees (3 of 14, 2025; small sample)
- Primary geography
- Montana (96% of itemized 2025 grant dollars)
- Latest 990 filing
- Form 990, 2025 View filing
Data from IRS Form 990, 2025; updated September 2026. New grantees are estimated by matching recipient names across years (methodology).
How to apply to Montana Justice Foundation
- How to Apply
-
Program Grants and Special Project Grants are application-based and submitted through MJF’s online system. Applicants should review the Grant Policy before applying. The Law-Related Education program accepts applications year-round.
- Review Cycle
- The stated 2026 Program Grant and Special Project Grant deadline was April 30, 2026, which has passed. MJF says the application period usually opens in early spring and closes in late April.
- Deadline
- The stated 2026 Program Grant and Special Project Grant deadline was April 30, 2026, which has passed.
- Contact
Mailing address: PO Box 1917, Helena, MT 59624-1917
Phone: (406) 523-3920
Website: https://mtjustice.org
Application details from Grantable's research on the foundation's public materials; confirm on its website before applying.
Open Grants
2 open opportunities from Montana Justice Foundation
Who Montana Justice Foundation funds
How this funder distributes its grants
Top Recipients
Top 10 recipients in 2025
The largest 2025 recipient was Montana Legal Services Association ($616K). Together the top 10 received $751K.
Grant Size Distribution
55 grants across all recorded years
The most common grant size was under $50K: 47 grants of 55 (85%).
Geographic Focus
Where this funder awards grants
MJF lists Montana as the geographic scope of its Program Grants and Special Project Grants. In its 2025 grantmaking, 96% of grant dollars went to recipients in Montana and 4% to a recipient in New York.
Grant Distribution by State
Share of 2025 grant dollars across all 14 itemized grants.
Cities
Is Montana Justice Foundation open to new grantees?
21%
first-time grantees, 2025
In 2025, 3 of 14 grantees (21%) were first-time recipients. With only 14 grantees, that is a small sample: one grantee more or less moves the share by about 7 points. First grants averaged $21K; repeat grants $65K. How we count
Medians: $25K 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 $277K (2023) to $934K (2020). In 2025 it made 14 grants totaling $779K.
Grants by year
Grant recipients and amounts by year
| Recipient | Purpose | Amount |
|---|---|---|
| Montana Legal Services Association Helena, MT | General Operating Support Funds Including Staff Salaries. | $616,150 |
| Partners for Justice Brooklyn, NY | Sustain existing public defense/restorative support for individuals entangled in the criminal legal system of the confederated salish and kootenai tribes on the flathead reservation. | $30,000 |
| Haven Bozeman, MT | Support salaries for two legal advocates. Contribution to a pool of translation funds for legal services for survivors with limited english proficiency and interpretation for those who are deaf or hard of hearing | $25,000 |
| Montana Fair Housing Butte, MT | Assist victims of discrimination in securing counsel with expertise in non-discrimination laws when needed. Securing translators in court cases when needed. Salaries for portions of staff salary. | $15,000 |
| YWCA Billings Billings, MT | Pay part of the ywca legal and victim services administrator's salary and benefits whose typical case load in 15active cases at a time with an average of 120 victims assisted annually. | $15,000 |
| Billings Mediation Center Inc Billings, MT | Training expenses. Support for 16th judicial trainees. Contract for ed to perform conflict resilience project tasks and court support. | $13,000 |
| Eastern Montana CASA Gal Inc Miles City, MT | Recruitment, travel, training, advocating and mentoring of casa volunteers in the 7th, 15th, 16th, and 17th judicial districts in addition to the tribal fort peck assiniboine sioux tribal children. | $12,000 |
| Montana Innocence Project Missoula, MT | Support for implementing staff attorney to conduct place-based work amongst Montana's rural and indigenous communities. 10% will support the staff attorney's salary. | $10,000 |
| CASA of Missoula Missoula, MT | Improve casa presence in in all 4th judicial district courts. Educational opportunities for casa volunteers including training. | $7,500 |
| Safe Harbor Inc Ronan, MT | Assist victims living on the flathead reservation and Lake county in securing legal assistance so as to not navigate the legal system on their own. Overhead costs of court fees, supplies, lodging for victims providing testimony, printing of documents | $7,500 |
Ready to take the next step with Montana Justice Foundation?
Financial History
Multi-year comparison from IRS filings
Figures below are from the organization’s filings. Grant totals and counts are reported separately from overall expenses.
| Filing year | Total Assets | Revenue | Expenses | Grants paid | Grants | Net Investment Income |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2025 | $6,246,428 | $2,859,538 | $1,187,548 | $778,850 | 14 | $309,373 |
| 2024 | $4,632,202 | $1,481,112 | $1,723,067 | $633,813 | 13 | $276,968 |
| 2023 | $3,866,493 | $2,573,296 | $583,985 | $277,482 | 9 | $75,804 |
| 2022 | $2,129,006 | $429,043 | $741,131 | $431,192 | 6 | $63,652 |
| 2021 | $2,640,313 | $534,657 | $849,730 | $593,488 | 13 | $93,998 |
| 2020 | $2,411,075 | $345,827 | $1,234,497 | $934,468 | 12 | $-135,318 |
| 2019 | $3,013,170 | $637,855 | $778,167 | $492,516 | 10 | $107,386 |
Research compiled by Grantable AI from public sources. Last updated September 2026.
Mission & Focus Areas
MJF’s mission is “to achieve equal access to justice for all Montanans through effective funding and leadership.” Its funding objectives include improving the availability, accessibility, and quality of legal services—especially for vulnerable and underserved people—educating the public about law and the legal system, promoting effective administration of justice, and expanding understanding of and access to alternative dispute resolution.
MJF’s grant programs support qualified nonprofit organizations whose work aligns with these objectives. Its 2025 grantees illustrate the range of supported work: Montana Legal Services Association describes its mission as providing free legal assistance in non-criminal matters to Montanans unable to afford it; HAVEN describes providing shelter, support, and legal advocacy for survivors of violence; and Montana Fair Housing describes assisting victims of housing discrimination in Montana. Other 2025 grantees include organizations whose missions involve child advocacy, domestic-violence assistance, and correcting wrongful convictions.
The foundation also describes an IOLTA program that supports legal aid, public legal education, and other access-to-justice activities; community education and grantee support; law-related education; and a loan repayment assistance program for legal aid lawyers. The loan repayment assistance program makes loans to eligible individuals, with a maximum loan amount of $2,500 per year; it is not a grant program for outside applicants.
Grantmaking
MJF’s 2025 filing reports 14 grants totaling $778,850. Grant amounts ranged from $6,200 to $616,150, with a median of $11,000. The largest award was $616,150 to Montana Legal Services Association for general operating support, including staff salaries. Other notable awards included $30,000 to Partners for Justice to sustain public-defense and restorative support for people involved in the criminal legal system of the Confederated Salish and Kootenai Tribes on the Flathead Reservation; $25,000 to HAVEN for legal-advocate salaries and language-access costs; and $15,000 to Montana Fair Housing for support related to discrimination cases, translators, and staff salaries.
MJF’s website reports that it awarded $2.34 million to 22 Montana nonprofits in 2026, its largest single-year grant total to that point. It describes its Program Grants as supporting qualified nonprofits aligned with its charitable objectives. Special Project Grants support discrete, innovative projects addressing specific needs; priority goes to proposals with a strong likelihood of lasting, sustainable impact in underserved communities. Examples include legal aid or self-help clinics, pro se forms, community legal education, and efforts to make judicial processes more accessible or consistent. Law-Related Education grants of up to $3,000 support projects that increase knowledge and awareness of the law.
Leadership & Key People
Leadership team and compensation from IRS filings
The 2025 filing lists Kyle Nelson as president; Carlo Canty as vice president; and David Rice as secretary. It also lists Ashley Burleson, Bill Bronson, Don Murray, John Heenan, Katherine Huso, Lexie Bass, and Margaret Weamer as trustees.
Montana Justice Foundation is led by Alissa Chambers, Executive Director on every filing since 2023; 1 of 22 officers listed in 2025 is compensated.
Officers on the 2025 filing
Alissa Chambers
Executive Director
On filings since 2023
40 hrs/week
$25K (2023) → $89K (2025)
Kyle Nelson
President
President → Trustee, 2024
Trustee → President, 2025
On filings since 2019
4 hrs/week
No compensation reported
Ashley Burleson
Trustee
On filings since 2019
2 hrs/week
No compensation reported
Don Murray
Trustee
On filings since 2019
2 hrs/week
No compensation reported
John Heenan
Trustee
On filings since 2019
2 hrs/week
No compensation reported
Margaret Weamer
Trustee
Vice President → President, 2020
President → Trustee, 2023
On filings since 2019
3 hrs/week
No compensation reported
Michele Robinson
Trustee
On filings since 2019
2 hrs/week
No compensation reported
Mike Lamb
Trustee
President → Trustee, 2020
On filings since 2019
3 hrs/week
No compensation reported
Katherine Huso
Trustee
On filings since 2023
2 hrs/week
No compensation reported
Molly Kelly
Trustee
On filings since 2023
3 hrs/week
No compensation reported
Lexie Bass
Trustee
On filings since 2024
2 hrs/week
No compensation reported
Tara Rice
Trustee
Secretary → Trustee, 2025
On filings since 2024
3 hrs/week
No compensation reported
Bill Bronson
Trustee
New on the 2025 filing
3 hrs/week
No compensation reported
Ryan Jones
Trustee
New on the 2025 filing
3 hrs/week
No compensation reported
Beth Baker
Executive Officio Board Members
Ex-Officio Trustee → Executive Officio Board Members, 2024
On filings since 2019
3 hrs/week
No compensation reported
David Rice
Secretary
Secretary → Trustee, 2024
Trustee → Secretary, 2025
On filings since 2019
2 hrs/week
No compensation reported
John Mudd
Executive Officio Board Members
Ex-Officio Trustee → Executive Officio Board Members, 2024
On filings since 2019
1 hr/week
No compensation reported
Katherine Bidegaray
Executive Officio Board Members
Ex-Officio Trustee → Executive Officio Board Members, 2024
On filings since 2019
1 hr/week
No compensation reported
Robert Minto
Treasurer
On filings since 2019
4 hrs/week
No compensation reported
Carlo Canty
Vice President
Vice President → President, 2024
President → Vice President, 2025
On filings since 2020
4 hrs/week
No compensation reported
Alex Clark
Executive Officio Board Members
On filings since 2024
1 hr/week
No compensation reported
Gillian Ellison
Executive Officio Board Members
On filings since 2024
2 hrs/week
No compensation reported
Former officers (13)
- Former: Don Macintyre (2019–2024) — Non-Board Committee Member
- Former: Patricia Cotter (2019–2024) — Emeritus Board Member
- Former: W. Ryan Jones (2019–2024) — Trustee
- Former: Maggie Weamer (2024) — Trustee
- Former: Molly Shepherd (2024) — Non-Board Committee Member
- Former: William Bronson (2024) — Vice President
- Former: Kim Schulke (2019–2023) — Immediate Past President
- Former: Niki Zupanic (2019–2023) — Executive Director
- Former: Ada Montague (2020–2022) — Trustee
- Former: Michael Manning (2020–2022) — Trustee
- Former: Caitlin Overland (2019–2020) — Trustee
- Former: Carey Matovich (2019–2020) — Trustee
- Former: Joella Bloomgren (2019) — Trustee
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.
Compensation Overview
From 2025 IRS filing
The highest reported compensation on the 2025 filing was $89K, to Alissa Chambers (Executive Director).
Frequently asked questions about Montana Justice Foundation
How much does Montana Justice Foundation give each year?
Montana Justice Foundation gave $779K across 14 grants in 2025, according to its 2025 IRS Form 990. In 2024 it gave $634K across 13 grants.
What is Montana Justice Foundation's typical grant size?
Montana Justice Foundation's median grant in 2025 was $11,000, and its average grant was $55,632, across 14 grants on its 2025 IRS Form 990. Organizations receiving their first grant from Montana Justice Foundation that year got $21K on average.
Where does Montana Justice Foundation give grants?
Montana Justice Foundation gives mostly in Montana: 96% of the grant dollars itemized on its 2025 IRS Form 990 went to recipients there. The most frequent recipient cities were Billings, MT (3 grants) and Missoula, MT (2 grants).
Does Montana Justice Foundation give general operating support?
Occasionally: 7% of Montana Justice Foundation's 2025 grants with a stated purpose (1 of 14) were for general or operating support, per its 2025 IRS Form 990.
Who are Montana Justice Foundation's largest grantees?
Montana Justice Foundation's largest 2025 grantees include Montana Legal Services Association ($616,150), Partners for Justice ($30,000) and Haven ($25,000), according to its 2025 IRS Form 990. Together they received 86% of its itemized 2025 grant dollars.
How large is Montana Justice Foundation?
Montana Justice Foundation reported $6.2M in total assets on its 2025 IRS Form 990. Its revenue that year was $2.9M.
What does Montana Justice Foundation fund?
MJF’s mission is “to achieve equal access to justice for all Montanans through effective funding and leadership.” See mission & focus areas ↑
How do I apply for a grant from Montana Justice Foundation?
Program Grants and Special Project Grants are application-based and submitted through MJF’s online system. Eligibility and process details are in the grantmaking section of this profile. See how to apply ↑
What is Montana Justice Foundation's EIN?
Montana Justice Foundation's EIN (Employer Identification Number) is 81-0391131. IRS Form 990 filing data is available on this page for 2019–2025.
Data last updated September 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
- Added Form 990 for fiscal year 2019 (received by the IRS February 17, 2020)
- Updated Form 990 for fiscal year 2020 (received by the IRS February 6, 2022)
- Updated Form 990 for fiscal year 2021 (received by the IRS February 15, 2022)
- Updated Form 990 for fiscal year 2022 (received by the IRS February 15, 2023)
- Updated Form 990 for fiscal year 2023 (received by the IRS January 19, 2024)
- Updated Form 990 for fiscal year 2024 (received by the IRS February 13, 2025)
- Updated Form 990 for fiscal year 2025 (received by the IRS October 9, 2025)
- IRS filings on file for fiscal years 2020–2025
Explore Open Grants
Browse active grant opportunities in Montana Justice Foundation's focus areas in our free grants database
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Cite this profile
Grantable. (2026). Montana Justice Foundation funder profile. GrantGraph. Retrieved October 12, 2026, from https://grantable.co/funders/montana-justice-foundation-morg_7bedcfef429c4635bbc5ca803a660fee
BibTeX
@misc{grantable_810391131_2026,
author = {{Grantable}},
title = {{Montana Justice Foundation funder profile}},
howpublished = {GrantGraph},
year = {2026},
url = {https://grantable.co/funders/montana-justice-foundation-morg_7bedcfef429c4635bbc5ca803a660fee},
note = {Accessed 2026-10-12. 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 Montana Justice 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.
Montana Justice Foundation down — hundreds of funders to go?