Sep. 13, 2012
Julia R. Wilson
See more on Julia R. WilsonOneJustice and Legal Aid Association of California San Francisco Litigation Specialty: pro bono legal services
As executive director of sister organizations, OneJustice and the Legal Aid Association of California, Wilson is very busy.
The two statewide nonprofit legal organizations divide her time between supporting more than 100 other nonprofits, law firms, law schools and corporate legal departments in providing free legal work for low-income people; leading advocacy efforts for the legal services delivery system; and serving as the legal services community's liaison to key access to justice partners.
Under Wilson's leadership, the organizations have grown and prospered, despite a brief dip in revenue at the end of 2008.
"We put a lot of work into ... figuring out what the revenue model [is] for both of these organizations and the work we do and how we are going to make that sustainable in ... a tough economic period," Wilson said.
In 2007, when Wilson became executive director of the sister organizations, their combined budget was approximately $760,000. Now their annual budget is between $1.6 and $1.8 million.
"We have seen an average annual growth rate of around 17 percent over the last 5 years," Wilson wrote in an email.
Wilson attributes the growth to the experience of being hit early in the recession and running the organizations as businesses.
"We are unusual in the larger nonprofit sector for sure, but definitely [more so] in the legal nonprofit, [because] a very high percentage of our budget is earned income," Wilson said.
The "earned income," Wilson said, consists of fee-for-service contracts in which nonprofits, law schools, law firms and other collaborating groups pay for the organizations' services, trainings and projects.
In 2007, earned income made up less than 22 percent of the organizations' total revenue. This fiscal year, it comprises about 46 percent of their total revenue.
"This means we are less reliant on foundation and government grants, which have been hit relatively hard during the economic recession," Wilson said in an email.
The funding helps Wilson focus on projects that assist needy people.
Among them is the Justice Bus project, which provides pro bono support and services in rural areas of the state, and OneJustice's Executive Fellowship program, which is a ten-month curriculum that supports and trains executive directors and emerging leaders in core business and management skills.
- CONNIE LOPEZ
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