The Catalyst Grant Program is a collaboration between the Urban Institute and the Microsoft Justice Reform Initiative to support the efforts of nonprofit organizations to use data and technology to advance racial equity and reform in the adult criminal legal system.

Issues around inequality and the criminal legal system pose fundamental societal questions about bias, fairness, and equity. Racism and racial biases are embedded in the criminal legal system and lead to disproportionate harm to communities of color, particularly Black communities. The Urban Institute and the Microsoft Justice Reform Initiative are collaborating on the Catalyst Grant Program to help organizations address these inequities by using data and technology to advance racial equity and reform at the front end of the adult criminal legal system.   

We are seeking proposals for local projects that advance the focus areas of the Microsoft Justice Reform Initiative, which include supporting policies, programs, and practices that prevent unnecessary system involvement and decrease racial and ethnic disparities at the front end of the criminal legal system (i.e., criminal legal system activities and relevant actors up to and including sentencing). We look forward to hearing from organizations across the United States who want to join the 85 current and past grantees as they work to deploy technology and analysis, visualization, and dissemination of data toward better systems and outcomes for all people.