Non-profit

Ella Baker Center for Human Rights

Website:

ellabakercenter.org

Location:

OAKLAND, CA

Tax ID:

94-3252009

Experian Number:

813354579

Tax-Exempt Status:

501(c)(3)

Budget (2022):

Revenue: $4,488,139
Expenses: $4,801,534
Assets: $20,761,764

Type:

Ethnic Interest Advocacy Group

Formation:

1996 (as Bay Area Police Watch)

Founder:

Van Jones

Executive Director:

Marlene Sanchez

Budget (2023):

Revenues: $2,568,581

Expenses: $4,189,317

Assets: $16,526,013

Contact InfluenceWatch with suggested edits or tips for additional profiles.

The Ella Baker Center for Human Rights is a left-of-center strategy and action center based in Oakland, California. The Center focuses on prison policy and promoting development in economically and socially struggling communities. 1

The group advocates for defunding the police, closing prisons, and treating shoplifting as a misdemeanor. In April 2024, the group opposed a bill that would have changed the classification of the crime of purchasing or soliciting a child for sex from a misdemeanor to a felony. The Center has received funding from the U.S. government. 2 3

Background

The Ella Baker Center for Human Rights was founded in Oakland, California, in 1996 by Van Jones, a far-left activist who worked in the Obama administration as the President’s Special Adviser for Green Jobs. The Center is named for Ella Baker, a civil rights activist in the 1960s involved in creating the Student Nonviolent Coordinating Committee, a civil rights group that later became a far-left Black Nationalist group. Jones is now a member of the Center’s board of directors. 4

The organization was initially created as “Bay Area Police Watch,” with the goal of “holding police accountable for their actions.” It changed its name to the Ella Baker Center for Human Rights by the end of 1996. 5

Advocacy

The Ella Baker Center runs “Audit Ahern,” 6 a project which calls for an audit of the Alameda County Sheriff’s Office to ensure that the office’s budget is aligned with social work projects such as increasing HIV testing, providing after-school programs, and providing housing. 7

The Ella Baker Center also advocates for legislation that aids in providing the formerly incarcerated employment and housing upon release to allow an easier return into society. 8

Additionally, the group co-manages “Restore Oakland” with Restaurant Opportunities Centers United, a labor-union-associated group that organizes restaurant workers around left-of-center policy advocacy. The project focuses on training members in the community to play larger roles in the economy which includes encouragement to launch businesses, restaurant job training, and job placement. 9

The Center participates in “Alternative Breaks,” a program through which university students can receive legislative training and participate in restorative justice circles while on spring break to advocate for those who are incarcerated. 10

Since 2013, the Center has sponsored the Night Out for Safety and Liberation to counterprogram the police-sponsored National Night Out and advocate for safety without policing. The event calls for defunding the police and redirecting funds to social programs. 11

Eliminating Prison Copays

In 2019, the Center supported Assembly Bill 45 which eliminated co-pays in California jails for using medical services. The bill passed and was signed into law. 12

COVID-19 Releases

In March 2020, the Center’s James King wrote an op-ed calling for the mass release of elderly prisoners to help the California correctional system fight the COVID-19 pandemic. King claimed that people age out of crime, and it would save lives by reducing prison overcrowding. 13

Senator Bill 94

The Ella Baker Center for Human Rights has supported a bill proposed by California State Senator Dave Cortese which would allow California judges to review death or life sentences which happened, “before June 5, 1990, after they have served at least 20 years of their sentence,”14Ella Baker Center for Human Rights staffer Glenn Backes of the Ella Baker Center for Human Rights commented, “California’s rapidly aging prison population is creating a public health crisis that comes at a significant cost to the state. This bill allows judges to look at very old cases and consider mitigating factors, including advanced age and reduced risk, when considering whether sentences imposed in the 1970s and 1980s are still in the interest of justice.”14

Prison Climate Advocacy

In August 2023, the Center released a report detailing how California prisons were unable to adapt to climate change. The report, based on a survey of prison inmates, found “evidence of power outages and generator failures, a lack of shade in outdoor spaces, and a lack of access to air-conditioned spaces or heated facilities during extreme weather events.” Some inmates even reported suffering from heat exhaustion while incarcerated. 15

In August 2024, the group posted that a mass release of prisoners on a national scale was the most humane way to adapt prisons to combat climate change. 16

Closing California’s Juvenile Justice Program

The Center supported legislation that closed the California Division of Juvenile Justice and its state youth prisons in June 2023 and transferred all the inmates into facilities in their home counties. In 2002, concerned parents had begun meeting at the Center’s headquarters and formed Books Not Bars to advocate for the closure of California’s juvenile justice program. 17

Opposition To Child Sex Trafficking Bill

In April 2024, the Center joined with Californians for Safety and Justice and the California Public Defenders Association to oppose Senate Bill 1414 which would change the crime of purchasing or soliciting a child for sex from a misdemeanor to a felony punishable with up to four years in prison. The groups opposed the bill because it claimed that it would punish some defendants more harshly and label them as a “sex offender.” 3

Smart Solutions Package

In April 2024, Center joined with the Tides Advocacy project Smart Justice California and a coalition of left-wing lawmakers in the California legislature to push the “Smart Solutions” crime package to counter proposed “tough on crime” legislation. The “Smart Solutions” package dealt with retail theft, fentanyl abuse, and support for crime survivors. The bills proposed alternatives to incarceration such as a diversion program for retail theft offenses and required increased staffing at grocery store checkout counters. 18

Opposition To Property Damage Bill

In April 2024, the Center opposed a bill that would have restored the power of California courts to award additional prison time if property was damaged during the commission of a felony. The group claimed that sentence enhancements could be broadly applied even to criminals who did not intend to destroy property. The group instead wanted California lawmakers to address the “root causes” of crime. 19

Opposition To Death Penalty

In January 2024, the Center supported a proposal to redesign San Quentin State Prison which would reduce the prison’s population and close its death row. The only objection the group had was it wanted to give death row inmates options to stay in the prison after death row was closed. 20

In April 2024, the Center joined with numerous other groups in filing a lawsuit in the California Supreme Court alleging the death penalty is “racially discriminatory and unconstitutional under the Equal Protection guarantees of the California Constitution.” The group alleged that the death penalty “destroyed black and brown communities” and pointed out that since California Governor Gavin Newsom (D) imposed a moratorium on carrying out capital punishment in 2019, seventeen people had been sentenced to death, 80 percent of whom were Black or Latino. 21

In December 2024, the Center supported the decision of President Joe Biden to commute 37 death sentences to life in prison without parole. 22

Defunding the Police

As late as May 2024, the Center posted on X (formerly Twitter) in support of defunding police. In November 2021 following the acquittal of Kyle Rittenhouse, the group called for the “complete divestment from police.” 2

Support For Closing Prisons

In May 2024, the Center supported the California Budget and Policy Center’s Monica Saucedo who urged the closure of five California state prisons instead of budget cuts. 23

In June 2024, the Center called for the closure of some California prisons and for cuts in the state corrections’ budget to prevent “tough on crime” leaders from refilling the 15,000 or so empty beds. 24

Support For Homeless Camps

In July 2024, the Center posted in opposition to an executive order signed by Governor Newsom allowing California law enforcement to break up homeless camps. 25

Opposition To Proposition 36

In 2024, the Center joined Initiate Justice Action, Initiate Justice, the California Black Power Network, and other groups in opposition to California Proposition 36, which would toughen penalties for shoplifting. The group denounced the campaign as “backed by the prison and police lobby and financed by giant corporations such as Walmart and Home Depot.” The campaign claimed that Proposition 36 would allow for simple drug possession for personal use to be prosecuted as a felony and enhanced sentences for those convicted of shoplifting. The campaign demanded instead that California focus on punishing wage theft, which it claimed cost Californians billions every year. The campaign also claimed it would add more offenses punishable under the state’s Three Strikes Law and would be used disproportionately to punish Black and Latino residents. 26

In July 2024, the Center made a post mocking the losses that Target suffered due to shoplifting and seemed to justify shoplifting as necessary to survive in a “sweltering capitalist hellscape that’s often literally on fire.” 27

In October 2024, the Center noted a $1 million donation to the California Republican Party by the organizers of the support Proposition 36 campaign. 28

Pro-Palestinian Nationalist Poster

In August 2024, the Center posted a poster created for its annual National Night Out for Safety and Liberation which featured the phrase “Protesting All Genocides” and several Palestinian nationalist symbols with the insinuation that Israel was committing genocide against the Palestinians in its military campaign against the terrorist group Hamas. 29

Helping Prisoners Vote

In August 2024, the Center posted in support of Assembly Bill 544 which would make it easier for inmates to vote while incarcerated. 30

Support for Commutations

In November 2024, the Center released a report calling on Governor Newsom to declare a mass clemency of California prisoners in order to bring families back together. 31

In December 2024, the Center applauded President Biden for releasing thousands of federal prisoners. The group urged President Biden to release thousands more prisoners including those who are chronically ill, aging, have young families, and have already served a significant part of their sentences. 32

Opposition To Immigration Enforcement

In December 2024, the Center for Human Rights joined other groups in protesting against immigration enforcement in California. 33

Funding

According to its 2016 990 form, the Ella Baker Center had total revenues of $4,018,054, total expenses of $1,870,150, and net assets of $5,471,624. 34

According to the Center’s 2023 tax returns, the group had $2,568,581 in revenue, $4,189,317 in expenses, and $16,526,013 in net assets. 35

The Ella Baker Center has received at least $23 million in grants since 1999. The California Endowment, a left-of-center grantmaking organization has provided it with at least $3 million in grants. Other top donors to the Center include the Tides Foundation, the Ford Foundation, the Nathan Cummings Foundation, and Natem Foundation. 36

In March 2024, the ex-wife of Amazon founder Jeff Bezos, MacKenzie Scott, awarded the Center a grant. 37

In 2024, the Center received a grant from the Environmental Protection Agency to “engage up to 1,350 individuals in California prisons and reentry communities to learn about the unique environmental and climate justice challenges faced by these communities.” In addition, the group will establish a state advisory board to make recommendations on how to improve California prisons. 2

In December 2024, the Biden Administration announced $1.6 billion in funds being administered through the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) to fund roughly 105 nonprofit organizations, municipal governments, universities and activist groups that advocate for “climate justice,” “Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion (DEI)” programs and “advance local, on-the-ground projects that reduce pollution, increase community climate resilience, and build community capacity.” 38 The Ella Baker Center for Human Rights was one of said organizations receiving funding from the EPA, with other listed organizations including Social and Environmental Entrepreneurs (SEE), Tennessee Educators of Color Alliance, El Puente, Front and Centered, and Solid Ground. 38

Leadership

Marlene Sanchez is the executive director of the Ella Baker Center for Human Rights. She previously held leadership roles at the Young Women’s Freedom Center, Communities United for Restorative Youth Justice (CURYJ), and was the former interim executive director at the Alliance for Girls. 39 Sanchez received $165,850 in total compensation in 2023. 35

Zachary Norris is the former executive director of the Ella Baker Center for Human Rights. Norris has a background focused on ending youth incarceration as co-founder of Justice for Families, a group which helped lead the closure of five juvenile prisons. Additionally, he is a former board member at Witness for Peace and Just Cause Oakland. 40 Norris received total compensation of $91,470 in 2016. 41

Holly Delany Cole is the board chair for the group as of December 2024. She is the director of the Flexible Leadership Awards Program within the Evelyn and Walter Hass, Jr. Fund. Previously, she was the co-director of the Community Resource Exchange. 42

Arron Jiron is the former board chair for the organization. Jiron is also a program officer at the left-wing S.D. Bechtel, Jr. Foundation. He has worked with the juvenile justice system and early education through his past involvement with the David and Lucile Packard Foundation and the Youth Opportunities Center in Nebraska. 43 44

References

  1. “Our Work.” Ella Baker Center. Accessed June 19, 2019. https://ellabakercenter.org/our-work.
  2. Pope, Nick. “Biden EPA Cuts Big Check for Pro-Defund the Police Activists to Pursue ‘climate Justice’ for Convicts.” The Daily Caller, August 1, 2024. https://dailycaller.com/2024/08/01/biden-epa-activists-defund-the-police-climate-justice-convicts/.
  3. Zavala, Ashley. “Purchasing a Child for Sex Is a Misdemeanor in California, Lawmakers to Debate Classifying It as a Felony.” KCRA, April 13, 2024. https://www.kcra.com/article/purchasing-child-sex-misdemeanor-california-lawmakers-debate/60485983.
  4. “Van Jones.” Ella Baker Center. Accessed June 19, 2019. https://ellabakercenter.org/van-jones.
  5. “About Us.” Ella Baker Center. Accessed June 19, 2019. https://ellabakercenter.org/about/about-us?language=en.
  6. “Our Work.” Ella Baker Center. Accessed June 19, 2019. https://ellabakercenter.org/our-work.
  7. “Save Money, Save Lives-Audit Sheriff Ahern.” Ella Baker Center. Accessed June 19, 2019. https://ellabakercenter.org/get-involved/save-money-save-lives–audit-sheriff-ahern.
  8. “Policy Change.” Ella Baker Center. Accessed June 19, 2019. https://ellabakercenter.org/policy-change.
  9. “Restore Oakland.” Ella Baker Center. Accessed June 19, 2019. https://ellabakercenter.org/restore-oakland.
  10. Rezk, Nataly. “Alternative Breaks Offers First-Hand Experience with Underserved Communities.” Daily Bruin, August 4, 2024. https://dailybruin.com/2024/08/03/alternative-breaks-offers-first-hand-experience-with-underserved-communities.
  11. Sanchez, Marlene. “Reimagining Safety and Liberation Without Police.” YES! Magazine, September 21, 2022. https://www.yesmagazine.org/opinion/2022/09/21/safety-liberation-without-police.
  12. “Eliminating Copays in Prison (AB 45).” ACLU of Southern California. Accessed December 27, 2024. https://www.aclusocal.org/en/legislation/eliminating-copays-prison-ab-45.
  13. King, James. “A Plea to Governor Newsom: Don’t Abandon Elderly Incarcerated People to Die from Covid-19.” The Appeal, March 30, 2020. https://theappeal.org/gavin-newsom-california-prisons-coronavirus-covid-19/.
  14. “Senator Cortese’s Bill Would Allow Judicial Review of Old Sentences.” Senator Dave Cortese, January 19, 2023. https://sd15.senate.ca.gov/news/senator-corteses-bill-would-allow-judicial-review-old-sentences.
  15. “Uncovering Climate Hazards in California’s Prisons.” UCLA Luskin, August 25, 2023. https://luskin.ucla.edu/uncovering-climate-hazards-in-californias-prisons.
  16. “Ella Baker Center.” X (formerly Twitter), August 1, 2024. https://x.com/ellabakercenter/status/1819052967062098365?t=ouIguDjvtvtFdx5FjizPLA&s=19.
  17. Bernstein, Nell. “The Untold Story of How a Stubborn Group of Parents Helped Shutter the Nation’s Largest Youth Prison System.” The Appeal, April 26, 2023. https://theappeal.org/california-division-juvenile-justice-books-not-bars-the-imprint/.
  18. Yu, Yue Stella. “Progressive Democrats Say Services, Not Penalties, Will Cut Crime.” CalMatters, April 2, 2024. https://calmatters.org/politics/capitol/2024/04/california-crime-progressives-bills/.
  19. Holden, Lindsey. “Will California Assembly Retail Theft Plan Satisfy Civil Rights Groups, Prop. 47 Opponents?” Sacramento Bee, April 10, 2024. https://www.sacbee.com/news/politics-government/capitol-alert/article287524415.html.
  20. Pena, Luz. “San Quentin State Prison Could Soon Be Transformed into a Rehab Space and Eliminate Death Row.” ABC7 San Francisco, January 6, 2024. https://abc7news.com/san-quentin-state-prison-rehab-center-eliminate-death-row-reimagining/14283499/.
  21. “Wilmerhale Joins Groups Challenging California’s Death Penalty for Racial Disparities.” WilmerHale, April 9, 2024. https://www.wilmerhale.com/en/insights/news/20240409-wilmerhale-joins-groups-challenging-californias-death-penalty-for-racial-disparities
  22.  “Ella Baker Center.” X (formerly Twitter), December 23, 2024. https://x.com/ellabakercenter/status/1871187748520083767?t=FHT9w6eLQ3J0LEaYZ0Gfxg&s=19.
  23. “Monica Saucedo.” X (formerly Twitter), May 22, 2024. https://x.com/MLSaucedo/status/1793341558529610184?t=jicab0YpXHyuLlGzZd1taQ&s=19.
  24. “Ella Baker Center.” X (formerly Twitter), June 10, 2024. https://x.com/ellabakercenter/status/1800233720517099633?t=eBpW6KBd_vwEbR9zmGTJww&s=19.
  25. “Ella Baker Center.” X (formerly Twitter), July 25, 2024. https://x.com/ellabakercenter/status/1816533254633361791?t=-FZPiuFF3-GimZx_ABuTzQ&s=19
  26. Aazami, Shervin. “Prop 36 Is a Prison Spending Scam That Will Ruin Countless Lives. We Have to Stop It.” Knock LA, September 24, 2024. https://knock-la.com/prop-36-is-a-prison-spending-scam-that-will-ruin-countless-lives-we-have-to-stop-it/.
  27. “Ella Baker Center.” X (formerly Twitter), July 22, 2024. https://x.com/ellabakercenter/status/1815481938679132465?t=AYMUl_9gabj6B1LdgaXngA&s=19.
  28. “Ella Baker Center.” X (formerly Twitter), October 18, 2024. https://x.com/ellabakercenter/status/1847291800886677529?t=BX4-qnWFm2IQ1GCvfQjf5w&s=19
  29. “Ella Baker Center.” X (formerly Twitter), August 6, 2024. https://x.com/ellabakercenter/status/1820946331437035891?t=TNkMo8qLs8CiRHwx1v9TzA&s=19.
  30. “Ella Baker Center.” X (formerly Twitter), August 15, 2024. https://x.com/ellabakercenter/status/1824142502733156579?t=vx0S_L6W7bYeUZMbU7VPcA&s=19.
  31.  “Ella Baker Center.” X (formerly Twitter), November 30, 2024. https://x.com/ellabakercenter/status/1862979971842527243?t=jTeeTavui-mWRfZ9XIQHGA&s=19.
  32. “Ella Baker Center.” X (formerly Twitter), December 18, 2024. https://x.com/ellabakercenter/status/1869536895350305130?t=Tuf3_rbXNEZ2EhAgHrTGKQ&s=19
  33. “Ella Baker Center.” X (formerly Twitter), December 2, 2024. https://x.com/ellabakercenter/status/1863627084196950055?t=cQz6Y05cUhHUmoYpK66jWw&s=19.
  34. Return of Organization Exempt from Income Tax (Form 990). Ella Baker Center for Human Rights. 2016. Schedule A, Part I, Lines 12, 18, 22.
  35.  “Ella Baker Center for Human Rights in California, Full Filing – Nonprofit Explorer.” ProPublica. Accessed December 27, 2024. https://projects.propublica.org/nonprofits/organizations/943252009/202403169349306115/full.
  36. Information provided by FoundationSearch. Californians for Population Stabilization. Accessed June 19, 2019. www.FoundationSearch.com.
  37. Beaty, Thalia. “Billionaire Philanthropist Mackenzie Scott Donates $57 Million to Bay Area Nonprofits.” KQED, March 20, 2024. https://www.kqed.org/news/11980101/billionaire-philanthropist-mackenzie-scott-donates-57-million-to-bay-area-nonprofits.
  38. Pope, Nick. “Biden’s Lame Duck Gravy Train For ‘Environmental Justice’ Activists Pours Cash Into Anti-Police, Pro-DEI Groups.” Daily Caller, December 13, 2024. https://dailycaller.com/2024/12/13/biden-epa-environmental-justice-grants-left-wing-activists/
  39. “Marlene Sanchez (She/Her).” Ella Baker Center for Human Rights. Accessed December 27, 2024. https://ellabakercenter.org/team/marlene-sanchez/.
  40. “Zachary Norris.” Ella Baker Center. Accessed June 19, 2019. https://ellabakercenter.org/about/staff-and-board/zachary-norris?language=en.
  41. Return of Organization Exempt from Income Tax (Form 990). Californians For Population Stabilization. 2017. Schedule A, Part VII, Line 10.
  42. “Holly Delany Cole (She/Her).” Ella Baker Center for Human Rights. Accessed December 27, 2024. https://ellabakercenter.org/team/holly-delany-cole/.
  43. “Arron Jiron.” Ella Baker Center. Accessed June 19, 2019. https://ellabakercenter.org/about/staff-and-board/arron-jiron-0?language=en.
  44. “Our Team.” Ella Baker Center for Human Rights. Accessed January 15, 2025. https://ellabakercenter.org/team/
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Nonprofit Information

  • Accounting Period: December - November
  • Tax Exemption Received: September 1, 1999

  • Available Filings

    Period Form Type Total revenue Total functional expenses Total assets (EOY) Total liabilities (EOY) Unrelated business income? Total contributions Program service revenue Investment income Comp. of current officers, directors, etc. Form 990
    2022 Dec Form 990 $4,488,139 $4,801,534 $20,761,764 $2,624,339 N $4,381,119 $82,031 $23,670 $363,181 PDF
    2021 Dec Form 990 $3,553,376 $4,292,296 $18,713,132 $263,562 N $3,342,866 $273,905 $4,804 $386,568
    2020 Dec Form 990 $7,073,936 $3,237,248 $19,326,409 $141,535 N $6,614,582 $16,814 $383,711 $125,313
    2019 Dec Form 990 $7,724,681 $2,625,553 $15,755,858 $123,562 N $7,476,095 $20,352 $226,993 $184,884 PDF
    2018 Dec Form 990 $5,158,220 $1,989,340 $10,587,860 $118,953 N $5,048,261 $16,118 $90,568 $183,475 PDF
    2017 Dec Form 990 $4,315,151 $2,382,127 $7,581,966 $176,141 N $4,489,484 $9,700 $13,274 $166,406 PDF
    2016 Dec Form 990 $4,018,054 $1,870,150 $5,586,168 $114,544 N $4,015,258 $10,436 $3,950 $179,912 PDF
    2015 Dec Form 990 $4,062,091 $1,758,178 $3,393,922 $69,025 N $4,053,173 $2,500 $1,338 $164,508 PDF
    2014 Dec Form 990 $1,048,052 $720,444 $1,063,523 $42,539 N $1,021,502 $850 $1,213 $149,695 PDF
    2013 Dec Form 990 $1,123,978 $947,110 $810,139 $116,763 N $1,123,804 $525 $1,500 $164,258 PDF
    2012 Dec Form 990 $1,066,186 $2,102,209 $749,080 $232,572 N $1,091,680 $800 $2,109 $243,504 PDF
    2011 Dec Form 990 $2,413,639 $2,244,627 $1,698,864 $176,647 N $2,415,999 $900 $5,050 $192,237 PDF
    2010 Dec Form 990 $1,529,990 $2,382,862 $1,494,347 $148,541 N $1,540,298 $3,377 $9,226 $190,789 PDF

    Additional Filings (PDFs)

    Ella Baker Center for Human Rights

    1970 BROADWAY STE 1125
    OAKLAND, CA 94612-2234