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Non-profit

Robert F. Kennedy Center for Justice and Human Rights (RFK Center)

Website:

rfkhumanrights.org/
Location:

WASHINGTON, DC
Tax ID:

13-2522784
Tax-Exempt Status:

501(c)(3)

Budget (2021):

Revenue: $7,527,165
Expenses: $11,322,131
Assets: $60,116,357
Type:

Human Rights Advocacy
President:

Kerry Kennedy

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Robert F. Kennedy Center for Justice and Human Rights (“RFK Center”) is a human rights advocacy and litigation organization. It is run by Kerry Kennedy, one of the seven children of the late U.S. Senator Robert F. Kennedy (D-NY) and his wife Ethel. 1

Activities

The Robert F. Kennedy Center for Justice and Human Rights explicitly grounds all of its legal activism in a “pursuit of racial and economic equality,” and hosts educational and leadership development programs to further this end. 2

The RFK Center has formed partnerships with a number of organizations, mainly litigation groups, to both bring “visibility to grassroots initiatives” and build “public demand for reform where it’s needed most.” 3

As of October 2023, its partners have included Abogadas y Abogados Para La Justicia y Los Derechos Humanos, an indigenous women’s rights group; Advancement Project, a civil rights group; American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU), one of the largest civil rights groups in the nation; American Federation of Teachers (AFT), the second-largest teachers union in the nation; Black Alliance for Just Immigration (BAJI), a left-of-center advocacy group; Center for Health and Gender Equity, an advocacy group that the RFK Center joined in suing the Trump administration; Civic Works, a Baltimore-based human rights education group; Civil Rights Corps, a litigation from that aims to empower “communities to change the unjust legal system”; Freedom for Immigrants, an immigration advocacy group; Haitian Bridge Alliance, a litigation group that fights discrimination against Black migrants; March for Our Lives, an anti-gun rights group; National Bail Fund Network, a criminal justice reform group and bail fund; and Southern Poverty Law Center, a controversial left-of-center “hate group” watchdog. 4

Financials

In 2021, Robert F. Kennedy Center for Justice and Human Rights reported revenue of $7,527,165, expenses of $11,322,131, and net assets of $57,506,680. 5

Leadership

As of 2023, the president of the Robert F. Kennedy Center for Justice and Human Rights was Kerry Kennedy. She is a human rights activist and lawyer with a focus on women’s rights, indigenous land rights, ethnic violence, criminal justice reform, immigration impunity, and environmental justice. 6

Kennedy has chaired the board of Amnesty International USA and has sat on the boards of United States Institute of Peace, Human Rights First, Kailash Satyarthi Children’s Foundation, Laureate and Leaders, Nizami Ganjavi International Center, HealthEVillages, as well as the RFK Center’s international chapters. 7

References

  1. “Kerry Kennedy.” Robert F. Kennedy Center for Justice and Human Rights . Accessed October 22, 2023. https://rfkhumanrights.org/who-we-are/our-people/kerry-kennedy.
  2. “Mission.” Robert F. Kennedy Center for Justice and Human Rights . Accessed October 22, 2023. https://rfkhumanrights.org/who-we-are/mission.
  3. “Our Partners.” Robert F. Kennedy Center for Justice and Human Rights . Accessed October 22, 2023. https://rfkhumanrights.org/who-we-are/partners.
  4. “Our Partners.” Robert F. Kennedy Center for Justice and Human Rights. Accessed October 22, 2023. https://rfkhumanrights.org/who-we-are/partners.
  5. Return of Organization Exempt from Income Tax (Form 990). Robert F. Kennedy Center for Justice and Human Rights. 2021. Part I, lines 12, 18, 22.
  6. “Kerry Kennedy.” Robert F. Kennedy Center for Justice and Human Rights. Accessed October 22, 2023. https://rfkhumanrights.org/who-we-are/our-people/kerry-kennedy.
  7. “Kerry Kennedy.” Robert F. Kennedy Center for Justice and Human Rights. Accessed October 22, 2023. https://rfkhumanrights.org/who-we-are/our-people/kerry-kennedy.

Directors, Employees & Supporters

  1. Luz Vega-Marquis
    Officer/Board Member
  2. Margaret Huang
    Former Program Director

Donation Recipients

  1. Youth Represent (Non-profit)
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Nonprofit Information

  • Accounting Period: December - November
  • Tax Exemption Received: October 1, 1968

    • 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
    2021 Dec Form 990 $7,527,165 $11,322,131 $60,116,357 $2,609,677 N $6,635,960 $28,350 $482,337 $1,424,607
    2020 Dec Form 990 $16,870,439 $10,885,449 $64,254,561 $2,927,075 N $16,304,907 $20,850 $327,494 $1,004,221
    2019 Dec Form 990 $18,171,530 $10,987,340 $63,899,123 $8,604,153 N $18,203,666 $27,175 $436,820 $1,360,680 PDF
    2018 Dec Form 990 $43,116,912 $10,718,953 $55,140,274 $8,577,485 N $42,942,139 $26,402 $324,465 $1,427,770 PDF
    2017 Dec Form 990 $9,239,064 $7,359,062 $15,854,950 $849,383 N $9,690,229 $23,776 $158,271 $1,086,856 PDF
    2016 Dec Form 990 $9,983,598 $6,998,573 $13,493,358 $495,895 N $10,496,055 $24,600 $96,216 $896,678 PDF
    2015 Dec Form 990 $12,460,265 $8,352,870 $10,661,989 $722,058 N $12,978,316 $26,344 $127,489 $562,595 PDF
    2014 Dec Form 990 $7,215,508 $8,839,039 $8,011,757 $2,050,065 N $7,575,354 $118,470 $74,958 $852,018 PDF
    2013 Dec Form 990 $9,172,254 $7,717,507 $8,495,263 $696,467 N $6,534,353 $77,131 $83,467 $773,361 PDF
    2012 Dec Form 990 $7,720,760 $7,602,825 $6,626,258 $482,273 N $7,779,517 $22,295 $44,075 $654,775 PDF
    2011 Dec Form 990 $7,128,781 $6,198,261 $6,479,760 $533,637 N $7,795,746 $22,340 $57,525 $912,229 PDF

    Additional Filings (PDFs)

    Robert F. Kennedy Center for Justice and Human Rights (RFK Center)

    1300 19TH STREET NW SUIT
    WASHINGTON, DC 20036-1609