EXPO and LIFT Receive Microsoft Justice Grant

We are honored to announce that with our partners at EXPO, we have been selected as one of the 25 nationwide Catalyst Grant program grantees! The program, which is funded by Microsoft and administered by the Urban Institute, “supports the efforts of nonprofit organizations to use data and technology to advance racial equity and reform in the adult criminal legal system. Even brief legal system involvement can result in lost employment and housing, burdensome fines and fees, and destabilized family relationships.”

Tools like Legal Tune Up help people navigate unresolved legal issues and help prevent minor infractions from snowballing into life-altering consequences. EXPO and LIFT (which administers the Legal Tune Up Tool) are the only Catalyst program grantees in Wisconsin. We aim to mitigate the harms of unresolved legal issues, advance racial equity in civil legal barriers, improve the delivery of the tool, and analyze data from the tool to inform advocacy.

Together, this partnership will empower those who are vulnerable to involvement in the criminal justice system to resolve legal issues independently, analyze data to determine where outreach efforts need to focus next, ensure evidence-based recommendations for reforming civil legal processes to reduce racial disparities, and hold community forums to present findings and advocate for policy changes.

This partnership and grant helps us elevate people and expand justice for those too often left behind by the system with no resources to navigate it. Thanks to Microsoft and the Urban Institute, we are one step closer to a future where everyone, not just those who can afford an attorney, has access to justice. EXPO and LIFT share a goal to transform lives and reshape the justice system, and this grant allows us to do just that!