The Step Forward Foundation is a taxpayer-funded left-of-center legal-service organization that provides free legal advice and representation to immigrants, including illegal immigrants, as well as victims of domestic abuse, human trafficking, and sexual assault. ^{1 2 3 4}

The Foundation focuses on immigration, family, employment, and hate crime law, including representing clients seeking asylum, green card renewals, and cancellations of orders for removal from the country. ⁵

Activities

The Step Forward Foundation is based in Morgan Hill, California, an affluent suburb of Silicon Valley, and serves clients in Santa Clara, San Benito, and Monterey Counties in California south of San Francisco Bay. ^{6 7}

The Foundation focuses on four practice areas: immigration law, family law, employment law, and “stop the hate.” ⁸

On immigration law, the Foundation represents clients in cases filed with U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services including Deferred Action for Childhood Arrival (DACA) cases, asylum processes, green card renewals, cancellations of removal cases, and specialized visa applications. ⁹

On family law, the Foundation offers services to victims of domestic violence, sexual assault, and human trafficking regarding obtaining child custody, child support, divorce, spousal support, and more. ¹⁰

On employment law, the Foundation offers legal services focused on employment disputes such as discrimination, workplace harassment, wrongful termination, and more. ¹¹

The Foundation’s fourth practice area, “stop the hate,” focuses on legal consultations for alleged victims of hate crimes. ¹²

History

The Step Forward Foundation received its tax-exempt designation from the Internal Revenue Service in 2009. ¹³ The organization began as a family-based charity and transitioned to offering legal services when its founder became a licensed attorney. ¹⁴

People

Since August 2021, the executive director of the Step Forward Foundation has been Mimi Nguyen. Nguyen was previously an attorney for the Foundation from February 2018 to January 2019. From January 2019 to July 2021, Nguyen was an attorney for Catholic Charities of Santa Clara County. Previously, Nguyen was a staff attorney for the Asian Law Alliance, a California-based Asian American-oriented public interest law firm that supports left-of-center immigration, voting, and welfare policy objectives. ¹⁵

The founder of the Foundation is Karen Schulz. Schulz previously worked as a volunteer attorney at the Katharine and George Alexander Community Law Center focused on social justice immigration legal practice. As of March 2024, Schulz is an attorney for the U.S. Department of Justice. ¹⁶

Partners

The Step Forward Foundation partners with Asian Americans for Community Involvement, Bay Area Legal Aid, Community Solutions, the Santa Clara District Attorney’s Office, Santa Clara Law – Katharine and George Alexander, and YWCA – Golden Gate Silicon Valley. The Foundation is also part of several collaboratives, including the Santa Clara District Attorney’s Family Justice Center, the South Bay Coalition to End Human Trafficking, the South Bay Deportation Defense Network, and the South Bay Legal Immigration Services Network. ¹⁷

Funding and Expenditures

According to tax filings, in 2022, the Step Forward Foundation received $1,889,895 of its $2,040,094 in revenue from government grants. The organization also received $113,509 from other contributions, gifts, and grants, and $36,690 from client fees. ¹⁸ In its 2019 annual report, the Foundation reported all its funding came from county, state, and federal grants. ¹⁹

That same year Step Forward Foundation directed the majority of its expenses ($1,572,892 of $1,742,082) to legal services for low-income communities. It spent $101,108 on compensation for executive director Mimi Nguyen. ²⁰

1. “Step Forward Foundation.” Step Forward Foundation. Accessed March 13, 2024. https://www.stepfwd.org/
2. “Mission.” Step Forward Foundation. Accessed March 13, 2024. https://www.stepfwd.org/mission.
3. “Success Stories.” Step Forward Foundation. Accessed March 13, 2024. https://www.stepfwd.org/stories.
4. Step Forward Foundation. Return of an Organization Exempt From Income Tax (Form 990). 2022.
5. “Practice Areas.” Step Forward Foundation. Accessed March 13, 2024. https://www.stepfwd.org/practiceareas.
6. ^[1] “Step Forward Foundation.” Step Forward Foundation. Accessed March 13, 2024. https://www.stepfwd.org/
7. “Service Area.” Step Forward Foundation. Accessed March 13, 2024. https://www.stepfwd.org/service-area.
8. “Practice Areas.” Step Forward Foundation. Accessed March 13, 2024. https://www.stepfwd.org/practiceareas.
9. “Practice Areas.” Step Forward Foundation. Accessed March 13, 2024. https://www.stepfwd.org/practiceareas.
10. “Practice Areas.” Step Forward Foundation. Accessed March 13, 2024. https://www.stepfwd.org/practiceareas.
11. “Practice Areas.” Step Forward Foundation. Accessed March 13, 2024. https://www.stepfwd.org/practiceareas.
12. “Practice Areas.” Step Forward Foundation. Accessed March 13, 2024. https://www.stepfwd.org/practiceareas.
13. “Step Forward Foundation.” Guidestar. Accessed March 13, 2024. https://www.guidestar.org/profile/20-8172439.
14. “Annual Report 2018.” Step Forward Foundation. Accessed March 13, 2024. https://drive.google.com/file/d/1PXmE9zvoQZ8rEWcm2c8v9qTFxwzqNHe2/view.
15. “Mimi Nguyen.” LinkedIn. Accessed March 13, 2024. https://www.linkedin.com/in/mimi-nguyen-/.
16. “Karen Schulz.” LinkedIn. Accessed March 13, 2024. https://www.linkedin.com/in/karen-schulz-29055619/.
17.  “Additional Resources.” Step Forward Foundation. Accessed March 13, 2024. https://www.stepfwd.org/additional-resources.
18. Step Forward Foundation. Return of an Organization Exempt From Income Tax (Form 990). 2022.
19. “Annual Report 2019.” Step Forward Foundation. Accessed March 13, 2024. https://drive.google.com/file/d/1Ke0DkcO5nkfqPUj2P_GbktPiF0MwKEpj/view.
20.  Step Forward Foundation. Return of an Organization Exempt From Income Tax (Form 990). 2022.