Attach to Form 990 or Form 990-EZ.
Go to
www.irs.gov/Form990 for instructions and the latest information.
| (i) Name of supported organization | (ii) EIN | (iii) Type of organization (described on lines 1- 10 above (see instructions)) | (iv) Is the organization listed in your governing document? | (v) Amount of monetary support (see instructions) | (vi) Amount of other support (see instructions) | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Yes | No | |||||
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Total |
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Calendar year
(or fiscal year beginning in)
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(a) 2019 | (b) 2020 | (c) 2021 | (d) 2022 | (e) 2023 | (f) Total | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Gifts, grants, contributions, and membership fees received. (Do not include any "unusual grant.") .. | 9,377,718 | 12,367,891 | 10,926,410 | 11,101,936 | 9,714,645 | 53,488,600 |
| 2 | Tax revenues levied for the organization's benefit and either paid to or expended on its behalf .... | ||||||
| 3 | The value of services or facilities furnished by a governmental unit to the organization without charge.. | ||||||
| 4 | Total. Add lines 1 through 3 | 9,377,718 | 12,367,891 | 10,926,410 | 11,101,936 | 9,714,645 | 53,488,600 |
| 5 | The portion of total contributions by each person (other than a governmental unit or publicly supported organization) included on line 1 that exceeds 2% of the amount shown on line 11, column (f) .. | 4,238,052 | |||||
| 6 | Public support. Subtract line 5 from line 4. | 49,250,548 | |||||
Calendar year
(or fiscal year beginning in)
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(a) 2019 | (b) 2020 | (c) 2021 | (d) 2022 | (e) 2023 | (f) Total | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 7 | Amounts from line 4.. | 9,377,718 | 12,367,891 | 10,926,410 | 11,101,936 | 9,714,645 | 53,488,600 |
| 8 | Gross income from interest, dividends, payments received on securities loans, rents, royalties and income from similar sources... | 260,054 | 219,103 | 243,425 | 558,632 | 707,874 | 1,989,088 |
| 9 | Net income from unrelated business activities, whether or not the business is regularly carried on.. | ||||||
| 10 | Other income. Do not include gain or loss from the sale of capital assets (Explain in Part VI.).. | 96,425 | 96,425 | ||||
| 11 | Total support. Add lines 7 through 10 | 56,548,698 | |||||
Calendar year (or fiscal
year beginning in) ![]() |
(a) 2019 | (b) 2020 | (c) 2021 | (d) 2022 | (e) 2023 | (f) Total | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Gifts, grants, contributions, and membership fees received. (Do not include any "unusual grants.") . | ||||||
| 2 | Gross receipts from admissions, merchandise sold or services performed, or facilities furnished in any activity that is related to the organization's tax-exempt purpose | ||||||
| 3 | Gross receipts from activities that are not an unrelated trade or business under section 513 ..... | ||||||
| 4 | Tax revenues levied for the organization's benefit and either paid to or expended on its behalf... | ||||||
| 5 | The value of services or facilities furnished by a governmental unit to the organization without charge | ||||||
| 6 | Total. Add lines 1 through 5 | ||||||
| 7a | Amounts included on lines 1, 2, and 3 received from disqualified persons | ||||||
| b | Amounts included on lines 2 and 3 received from other than disqualified persons that exceed the greater of $5,000 or 1% of the amount on line 13 for the year. | ||||||
| c | Add lines 7a and 7b.. | ||||||
| 8 | Public support. (Subtract line 7c from line 6.) | ||||||
Calendar year
(or fiscal year beginning in)
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(a) 2019 | (b) 2020 | (c) 2021 | (d) 2022 | (e) 2023 | (f) Total | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 9 | Amounts from line 6... | ||||||
| 10a | Gross income from interest, dividends, payments received on securities loans, rents, royalties and income from similar sources.. | ||||||
| b | Unrelated business taxable income (less section 511 taxes) from businesses acquired after June 30, 1975. | ||||||
| c | Add lines 10a and 10b. | ||||||
| 11 | Net income from unrelated business activities not included on line 10b, whether or not the business is regularly carried on. | ||||||
| 12 | Other income. Do not include gain or loss from the sale of capital assets (Explain in Part VI.) .. | ||||||
| 13 | Total support. (Add lines 9, 10c, 11, and 12.).. | ||||||
| Section A - Adjusted Net Income | (A) Prior Year |
(B) Current Year (optional) |
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| 1 | Net short-term capital gain | 1 | ||||
| 2 | Recoveries of prior-year distributions | 2 | ||||
| 3 | Other gross income (see instructions) | 3 | ||||
| 4 | Add lines 1 through 3 | 4 | ||||
| 5 | Depreciation and depletion | 5 | ||||
| 6 | Portion of operating expenses paid or incurred for production or collection of gross income or for management, conservation, or maintenance of property held for production of income (see instructions) | 6 | ||||
| 7 | Other expenses (see instructions) | 7 | ||||
| 8 | Adjusted Net Income (subtract lines 5, 6 and 7 from line 4) | 8 | ||||
| Section B - Minimum Asset Amount | (A) Prior Year |
(B) Current Year (optional) |
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| 1 | Aggregate fair market value of all non-exempt-use assets (see instructions for short tax year or assets held for part of year): | 1 | ||||
| a | Average monthly value of securities | 1a | ||||
| b | Average monthly cash balances | 1b | ||||
| c | Fair market value of other non-exempt-use assets | 1c | ||||
| d | Total (add lines 1a, 1b, and 1c) | 1d | ||||
| e |
Discount claimed for blockage or other factors (explain in detail in Part VI): |
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| 2 | Acquisition indebtedness applicable to non-exempt use assets | 2 | ||||
| 3 | Subtract line 2 from line 1d | 3 | ||||
| 4 | Cash deemed held for exempt use. Enter 0.015 of line 3 (for greater amount, see instructions). | 4 | ||||
| 5 | Net value of non-exempt-use assets (subtract line 4 from line 3) | 5 | ||||
| 6 | Multiply line 5 by 0.035 | 6 | ||||
| 7 | Recoveries of prior-year distributions | 7 | ||||
| 8 | Minimum Asset Amount (add line 7 to line 6) | 8 | ||||
| Section C - Distributable Amount | Current Year | |||||
| 1 | Adjusted net income for prior year (from Section A, line 8, Column A) | 1 | ||||
| 2 | Enter 85% of line 1 | 2 | ||||
| 3 | Minimum asset amount for prior year (from Section B, line 8, Column A) | 3 | ||||
| 4 | Enter greater of line 2 or line 3 | 4 | ||||
| 5 | Income tax imposed in prior year | 5 | ||||
| 6 | Distributable Amount. Subtract line 5 from line 4, unless subject to emergency temporary reduction (see instructions) | 6 | ||||
| Section D - Distributions | Current Year | |
|---|---|---|
| 1 Amounts paid to supported organizations to accomplish exempt purposes | 1 | |
|
2
Amounts paid to perform activity that directly furthers exempt purposes of supported organizations, in excess of income from activity |
2 | |
| 3 Administrative expenses paid to accomplish exempt purposes of supported organizations | 3 | |
| 4 Amounts paid to acquire exempt-use assets | 4 | |
| 5 Qualified set-aside amounts (prior IRS approval required - provide details in Part VI) | 5 | |
| 6 Other distributions (describe in Part VI). See instructions | 6 | |
| 7Total annual distributions. Add lines 1 through 6. | 7 | |
|
8
Distributions to attentive supported organizations to which the organization is responsive (provide details in Part VI). See instructions |
8 | |
| 9 Distributable amount for 2023 from Section C, line 6 | 9 | |
| 10 Line 8 amount divided by Line 9 amount | 10 | |
| Section E - Distribution Allocations (see instructions) |
(i) Excess Distributions |
(ii) Underdistributions Pre-2023 |
(iii) Distributable Amount for 2023 |
|
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 Distributable amount for 2023 from Section C, line 6 | ||||
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2
Underdistributions, if any, for years prior to 2023 (reasonable cause required-- explain in Part VI).
See instructions. |
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| 3 Excess distributions carryover, if any, to 2023: | ||||
| a From 2018....... | ||||
| b From 2019....... | ||||
| c From 2020....... | ||||
| d From 2021....... | ||||
| e From 2022....... | ||||
| fTotal of lines 3a through e | ||||
| g Applied to underdistributions of prior years | ||||
| h Applied to 2023 distributable amount | ||||
|
i
Carryover from 2018 not applied (see instructions) |
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| j Remainder. Subtract lines 3g, 3h, and 3i from line 3f. | ||||
| 4Distributions for 2023 from Section D, line 7: | ||||
| $ | ||||
| a Applied to underdistributions of prior years | ||||
| b Applied to 2023 distributable amount | ||||
| c Remainder. Subtract lines 4a and 4b from line 4. | ||||
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5
Remaining underdistributions for years prior to 2023, if any. Subtract lines 3g and 4a from line 2. If the amount is greater than zero, explain in Part VI. See instructions. |
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6
Remaining underdistributions for 2023. Subtract lines 3h and 4b from line 1. If the amount is greater than zero, explain in Part VI. See instructions. |
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7 Excess distributions carryover to 2024. Add lines 3j and 4c. |
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| 8 Breakdown of line 7: | ||||
| a Excess from 2019..... | ||||
| b Excess from 2020..... | ||||
| c Excess from 2021..... | ||||
| d Excess from 2022..... | ||||
| e Excess from 2023..... | ||||
| Facts And Circumstances Test |
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| Return Reference | Explanation |
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| Software ID: | |
| Software Version: |
| Return Reference | Explanation |
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| Form 990, Part I, Line 1, Description of Organization Mission: | Guided by Unitarian Universalist principles and the Universal Declaration of Human Rights, UUSC strives to advance human rights, dismantle systems of oppression, and uplift and affirm the inherent worth and dignity of all people. We center the voices and experiences of those most affected and strengthen those grassroots groups and movements who are organizing themselves to advance these goals. In order to accomplish this, we offer justice education and leadership development; engagement and mobilization for advocacy; partner support; and grant funding. UUSC aims to leverage our particular strategic assets and strengths to disrupt criminalization and systemic oppression of people based on their identities; support self-determination and defend the rights of people who are or may be forced to leave the places they call home due to climate, conflict, or economic hardship, and address the root causes of forced displacement; and respond to humanitarian crises as partners with people whose access to aid is most limited, by helping them to rebuild their lives and by addressing the human rights issues or violations that make them more vulnerable. UUSC Strategy In all of our work, UUSC and our partners work with the communities most affected by injustice, including: In Burma, our partners are focused on protecting the rights of the ethnic minority communities. In the CEECCNA (Central and Eastern Europe, the Caucasus, Central and North Asia), our partners are working with those most impacted by the full-scale Russian invasion, including women, LGBTQ+ people, the Roma, Black and African-descended people, and people with disabilities and their caregivers. In Mexico and Central America, UUSC's partners work with people who have been displaced from their home countries by state-sanctioned and gender-based violence, are at risk of being displaced, or who have been repatriated and are in continued danger. In the U.S., our partners work with criminalized populations, including undocumented people and those at risk of deportation. In Louisiana, and the Pacific, UUSC's partners are advancing and protecting the rights of populations at risk of climate-forced displacement. In the Bahamas, UUSC is supporting grassroots partners working with the communities most impacted by Hurricane Dorian, including Haitian immigrants who are subjected to ongoing discrimination and completely ignored by the mainstream response to the hurricane. In Haiti, we are partnering with organizations working with women, activists, and journalists fighting for their sovereignty and self-determination in the face of Haiti's political crisis. UUSC Grantmaking In the past year, UUSC made over 100 grants and amendments worth $2.3 million to grassroots organizations working to advance human rights in countries around the world. UUSC's approach to grantmaking centers on building relationships of trust and reciprocity and providing flexible general operating support to organizations on the frontlines of human rights struggles. In FY24, 97% of UUSC grant funds were designated as general operating support for partners. This is especially important in a global environment in which NGOs increasingly face crackdowns from authoritarian governments intent on closing the civic space for human rights and civil society. One partner shared of UUSC, "Everything they do in terms of trying to 'decolonize' grantmaking isn't just talk. They actually practice it. They make simpler for people in terms of accessing funds." UUSC's partners often share how impactful and appreciated this approach is, as some funders continue to be hyper focused on quantifiable outcomes that they fail to recognize that funding things such as staff salaries, administration, and security are essential to an organizations' existence and allow organizations to sustain their strategic priorities for better success. One partner organization shared that UUSC's approach supports the mental health and psychological wellness of their staff. Another shared that the flexible funding and in-person visit from UUSC staff gave them a boost of confidence and support for their work. Looking forward, a partner shared that they simply hope UUSC will continue to "maintain that solidarity, flexibility, and close accompaniment" that characterize our partnerships. Another shared that they hope UUSC will continue to "support security related and organizational running and development cost for long term as there are many donors who only fund for the activities but not the operational cost which makes a lot of burdens for human rights and women led organizations" in their contexts. A partner went so far as to say that funders have told them they need to propose more "sexy" projects to receive more funding, while they appreciate UUSC's commitment to their critical work advancing the not sexy" sustaining work of climate justice. UUSC Impact Framework For UUSC, "impact" means building movements for systemic change. Impact means using our power and privilege as a US-based nonprofit to amplify the power of the grassroots by following the leadership of communities directly affected by injustice. It is addressing immediate harms and their root causes, to dismantle oppressive systemsincluding those from which we benefit. In short, our impact can be seen in the steps we take on the way to building a more just, equitable, and regenerative world. In the past year, UUSC has developed a new Impact and Accountability Framework. With this framework, we seek to have even more means to evaluate the extent to which we are contributing to systemic change impacts and are accountable to our partners and stakeholders. The framework centers around three key intersecting outcomes that are at the heart of what UUSC brings to our human rights work. 1. Partners and UUSC supporters increase their capacity for addressing the human rights and social justice needs of their communities. 2. UUSC members and allies in social justice learn about UUSC partners' areas of work, how areas are thematically and systemically linked, and how to translate this all into action. 3. UUSC works to model a culture among INGOs, human rights funding networks, and other social justice stakeholders that is equitable, antiracist, anticolonial, and partner led. The Impact and Accountability Framework is iterative and in its first year of use. At this early stage, it encompasses activities and over 40 indicators within the above outcomes that we will use to identify baseline data and track both qualitative and quantitative measures of impact into the future. UUSC Impact Highlights The outcomes and activities we choose to highlight in our work, therefore, are chosen because they help us understand whether or not our work is supporting our overall impact and accountability outcomes, as we strive to make progress on our human rights goals. In all cases, we aim to put our grassroots partners at the center, showing the power of social change when it is led by communities confronting oppression and injustice. The following is a reflective but not at all exhaustive look at our impact and accountability in action. |
| Form 990, Part III, Line 4a: | Climate Justice Expenses $3,495,298 including grants of $661,559. Revenue: $5,581. UUSC's climate justice work centers upholding the self-determination of communities and Indigenous nations in the face of climate change and climate forced displacement. UUSC's partners advance critical programs and advocacy, for example: KiriCAN in Kiribati is a climate justice network comprising youth, women, and LGBTQ+ peoples addressing the complex climate crisis and intersecting issues. Honoring local traditional knowledge and community members' requests, KiriCAN provides training relevant to the daily human rights issues experienced in the community. The organization has also combined its work to raise awareness of human rights among the people of Kiribati with training related to climate change adaptations on waste and tree planting. This combination has significantly impacted communities, empowering participants to speak out for their rights at risk due to climate change and building momentum for greater grassroots advocacy at local, regional, and national levels. Ecological Solutions Foundation (ESF) in the Solomon Islands centers its critical work around enhancing the community's capacity to build resilience to climate change impacts. By implementing ecosystem-based adaptation strategies and solutions and by engaging in policy advocacy, ESF paves the way for a more resilient future. UUSC is collaborating to research the impacts of climate change on women, youth, elderly people and people with disabilities. UUSC supports coalition and bridge-building in key advocacy and decision-making spaces that advances our partners' goals, for example: The Legal Justice Coalition convened by UUSC provided key recommendations related to climate forced displacement to inform the Special Rapporteur on Economic Social, Cultural, and Environmental Rights (REDESCA's) U.S. country visit report. REDESCA has since released their official findings and recommendations in August 2023 including protections for UUSC's partners. UUSC prepared three leaders from two Tribal Nations to attend the Inter-American Court on Human Rights hearing to provide testimony to support the Court's Advisory Opinion on Climate Crisis and Human Rights. UUSC, supporters, and partners brought these and other issues related to UUSC's climate work to the Hill in January, meeting with ten members of Congress to build awareness and push for concrete change. As part of the Legal Justice Coalition and with EarthRights International, Jean Charles Choctaw Nation filed a Title VI complaint under the Civil Rights Act of 1964 against the Louisiana Division of Administration, Office of Community Development (OCD) for their discriminatory implementation of the federally funded Isle de Jean Charles resettlement program. The resettlement program has been largely perceived by federal agencies as a success for how federal resettlement programs should be done, and this complaint highlights how the resettlement has been a failure. This ongoing advocacy and the direct engagement of leaders from Louisiana and Alaska in regional mechanisms actively supports their self-determination and strengthens their understanding and experience with regional bodies and institutions to defend and uphold their human rights. Loss & Damage has been a central feature of UUSC and partners' advocacy at the international stage for years and it was gratifying that finally at the 28th Conference of Parties in Dubai, there was an adoption of the operationalization of the loss and damage fund. There is yet much more work to be done to resource that fund and implement a reparatory framework to compensate impacted communities. UUSC and partners continue to advocate that the principles of polluter pays and common-but-differentiated-responsibilities and adaptive capacities are followed in determining State contributions. UUSC supported over 20 representatives from 18 organizations around the world to participate and engage at COP28. UUSC partners led actions, organized side events, tracked and supported the negotiations, and built solidarity and their leadership capacities. UUSC approaches the climate crisis with an understanding that those who have caused it must pay for the economic and non-economic losses and damages our partners face. UUSC worked with Climate Justice Resilience Fund to garner Scottish government funds to support three years of grants for partners in the Pacific addressing intangible impacts of climate change, including aspects like loss of cultural sites, burial sites, language, security and safety, impacts to health, trauma, education and other human rights, etc. This is the second round of funding that UUSC is receiving from the CJRF-Scottish government to address loss and damage and is an important resource to not only support directly affected communities, but to also model how multilateral and bilateral funds can be effectively utilized; how grantmaking and climate finance can be decolonized and the multiple impacts of community-based strategies. Over the past year, we have distributed a first round of this funding, held two convenings that brought partners into conversation with each other and with the funders, and engaged in a participatory process to develop values and guidelines, resource distribution, and a learning framework for the three- year grant program. This work upholds UUSC's work of decolonizing funding and ensuring that those most directly impacted by the climate crisis have direct access to those who wield power and financial resources. UUSC recognizes the need for funding to reach impacted communities directly, and last year supported a coalition of Pacific partners as they developed an essential new mechanism for funding climate adaptation and addressing loss & damage. The call for an independent loss & damage fund emerged as a goal during the a 2022 UUSC-supported gathering that resulted in the KIOA Climate Emergency Declaration. UUSC worked with partners to provide grant support for stakeholder gatherings, conducted background research to support the development of the fund, and supported the fund's launch. In August, the new Kato Pacific Community Climate Fund was launched in an event in KIOA. |
| Form 990, Part III, Line 4b: | Migrant Justice & Mesoamerica Expenses $2,538,982 including grants of $480,557. Revenue: $4,051. In Mesoamerica, a key focus of partner work centers on recognizing the structural nature of oppressive situations, resisting, and building alternatives that help communities thrive. For example: UUSC partner Scalabrinianas Mision con Migrantes y Refugiados (SMR) in Mexico leverages its strong relationships with neighbors and city government officials in Mexico City to provide protection, security, and access to services. Through SMR's legal defense and shelter programming, the organization has emphasized the structural nature of housing instability and resource scarcity for people in migration, and highlighted government's responsibility to address it. Pop No'j in Guatemala has developed an agroecological accompaniment program with mostly Indigenous families who have experienced migration - many of them young people deported from Mexico and United States, as well as those whose family members remain disappeared somewhere between Guatemala and the U.S. The home farms serve as occupational therapy, an activity with tangible nutritional benefits that also allows them to focus on something productive in the midst of tremendous pain, anguish and readjustment to family and community life. Fundacin entre Mujeres (FEM) coordinates a water collection brigade, which is composed of primarily younger community members who build and install water tanks and cisterns for families so that they can harvest and store rainwater. The members of the brigade, who are mostly women, mentioned that they overcame self-doubt about their own capabilities and learned building and logistics skills, while strengthening their relationships with families who can maintain the systems into the future. UUSC supports partners who are leading advocacy for systemic change in their communities, for instance: During the International Day for the Elimination of Violence Against Women, a global initiative of 16 days of activism, was led by our partner Equality Bahamas. The aim is to call on citizens to show how much they care about ending violence against women and girls and call on their government to share how they are investing in gender-based violence prevention. They hosted a series of events and facilitated civic participation. Likewise, Foro de Mujeres por la Vida in Honduras, where over 90% of crimes against women go unsolved, was the principal organizer of the March 8th mobilization in San Pedro Sula for International Women's Day. Foro led a march through the streets to the central plaza of San Pedro Sula and installed the names of murdered and disappeared women and girls and read their public statement calling for justice and safety, reminding everyone that living in fear is not normal. UUSC recognizes the continuing upheavals in Haiti and in the past year has intentionally expanded our advocacy and partnerships in this area. Our commitment to stand in solidarity with the Haitian people called us to broaden the scope of our work and fund peasant and worker organizations across the country, in alignment with our ongoing coalition-based advocacy. We are intentionally partnering with grassroots and worker-led movements working on systemic alternatives to the root causes of injustice in the region to enable stronger and enduring solutions for the long-term. |
| Form 990, Part III, Line 4c: | International Justice & Accountability and Crisis Response Expenses $3,558,204 including grants of $1,086,903. Revenue: $5,682. The year brought new crises and authoritarian crackdowns to many of UUSC's partners world- wide. Grant funds supported partner organizations to reach communities who lack access to services in times of crisis and who are uniquely targeted by repressive governments. UUSC's crisis response support is very valuable at such a crucial time providing essential supplies and services for survivors. For example: Partners in Burma faced human and manmade crises with Cyclone Mocha, increased aerial attacks from the Burmese military junta, and government repression. UUSC provided rapid response funds in coordination with 12 partners to address immediate humanitarian needs on-the-ground. Additionally, partners supported refugees who were victimized due to their sexual orientation, some who were subjected to sexual violence and/or trafficking, and others in need of escape from their unsafe situations. Using our rapid response fund, UUSC funded the acquisition and distribution of seven Starlink satellites to seven partners who work deep inside Burma. In areas with little to no communication access, these satellites are critical for intelligence sharing and for hospital and school operations. As the needs of internally displaced persons in Burma grow, UUSC funding has supported psychosocial programs and training for leaders and staff at IDP camps in Karenni state. Partners have advanced knowledge and networking through trainings in international diplomacy, many human rights topics, community leadership, and cybersecurity. These trainings offer opportunities for youth in conflict zones to continue their education and advance community members' safety and skills in engaging with international advocacy. A partner organization in Burma shared, "When we don't have time to wait, UUSC support fills the urgent needs." UUSC advances the advocacy capacity and needs of our partners. UUSC led a civil society delegation in Washington, D.C., which included a panel discussion at the United States Institute for Peace (USIP) and a meeting with Senate Staffers and the Tom Lantos Human Rights Commission. With our partners, UUSC helped draft a faith-led letter to Secretary of State Blinken urging him to take swift action to limit the Burmese military junta's access to jet fuel. UUSC also organized several Hill meetings to discuss the Biden Administration's budget proposal to the Appropriation Bills for FY24 to prevent a decrease in assistance to Burma. UUSC has supported informational briefs and co-organized monthly events with partners, focusing on current armed conflict and increased displacement. Participants have included members of the State Department staff, UN agency staff, INGOs, NGOs and individuals. UUSC facilitates partners' participation in decision-making spaces. At the 68th meeting of the Commission on the Status of Women, UUSC partners co-organized & co-facilitated a delegation. Four UUSC partners and allies: Karen Women's Organization (KWO), Kachin Women's Association Thailand (KWAT), and Women's League of Burma (WLB), attended the meeting. UUSC also helped schedule meetings with the UK, US, Australia, Slovenia, Swiss, Norway, and Burma missions to push for increased accountability. In Central and Eastern Europe, the Caucuses, and Central and North Asia (CEECCNA), UUSC works to support partners' ability to advance human rights in a context of continued crackdowns and repressions. Continuing the regional trend, the country of Georgia recently passed legislation that will impose sweeping curbs on LGBTQ+ rights in the country. Cognizant of these developments, UUSC is distributing new grants to support LGBTQ+ organizing and opposition to anti-LGBTQ legislation. UUSC partner Queer Svit supported 400 trans people to change their documents before Russia lifted a trans-ban and saved three people facing deportation from Russia for ''LGBT-propaganda.'' In Poland, UUSC partner Mudita leads online and in person support spaces, providing psychosocial and employment support, resources for Ukrainian refugees with disabilities and their families, an emergency shelter, and an integration point in Warsaw. Another partner, Nomada, described using UUSC's grant funds to become "more independent in our field work, especially in emergency situations or when our clients are in remote places or incapable of travelling by public transport." Nomada documents abuse against refugees, intervened with the local authorities, and works to support refugee women entering the labor market. UUSC partner Chiricli supplied humanitarian and psychological aid to more than 215 Roma people with disabilities, providing food, lactose-free milk, diapers, and vitamins to communities. As Chiricli explained, "state village's councils [have] discriminated against Roma with disabilities by not providing them state humanitarian aid. Thanks to [the support] of UUSC, Roma families could survive in the time of war." UUSC engages in funder advocacy and organizing to support the self-determination of directly impacted partners and fill gaps in human rights funding. UUSC collaborated on research to identify the needs for a dedicated fund and provided a seeding grant on to support the new Dalan Fund, a CEECCNA collaborative fund centering intersectional feminist and LGBTQI+ organizations in the region. The fund aims to provide flexible funding to the region, filling gaps in funding and breaking down silos to propel intersectional and cross-movement organizing. For More Information The impacts and feedback shared here offer a glimpse into UUSC's impact and accountability to our partners and human rights movements of which we are a part. More information about our work can be found at uusc.org. |
| Form 990, Part III, Line 4d: | UU College of Social Justice The UU College of Social Justice is a program created as an act of radical imagination between the Unitarian Universalist Association (UUA) and Unitarian Universalist Service Committee (UUSC). UUCSJ is a joint program of the UUA and UUSC and its staff are employees of the UUSC. Mission The mission of the UU College of Social Justice is to inspire and sustain effective and spiritually grounded activism for justice. We do this in alignment with the strategic approaches, prioritized issues, and missions of UUSC and the UUA: UUSC Mission: UUSC advances human rights and social justice around the world, partnering with those who confront unjust power structures and mobilizing to challenge oppressive policies. Our work is grounded in the belief that all people have inherent power and dignity. UUA Mission: The mission of the Unitarian Universalist Association (UUA) is to equip congregations for health and vitality, to support and train lay and professional leaders, and to advance Unitarian Universalist values in the world. Strategy UUCSJ is a key strategy by which both UUSC and the UUA realize their independent and intertwined missions to advance the justice-centered values of Unitarian Universalism and human rights. UUCSJ provides justice education and leadership development to a wide variety of UU constituents, including clergy, lay leaders, and youth, and UUSC members and partners. Impact Framework The goal of the Impact & Accountability Framework is to discern UUCSJ's contribution to inspiring and sustaining effective and spiritually grounded activism for justice, especially in the work of global solidarity building and the dismantling of systems of oppression. UUCSJ's framework is shaped by both UUSC and the UUA's impact frameworks: For UUSC, "impact" means building movements for systemic change. Impact means using UUSC's power and privilege as a US-based nonprofit to amplify the power of the grassroots by following the leadership of communities directly affected by injustice. It is addressing immediate harms and their root causes, to dismantle oppressive systemsincluding those from which we appear to benefit within empire. In short, our impact can be seen in the steps we take on the way to building a more just, equitable, and regenerative world. These are ambitious goals to be sure. Achieving them takes time, and the work that will make them possible is not always easily quantifiable. For the UUA, the framework of impact is held within the concept of "Meeting the Moment." This framework asks: What is the shared moment we are in? What are the most urgent and important needs of this moment? What is this moment calling us to do and become? UUCSJ Impact Highlights Since its inception, UUCSJ has offered a distinct form of justice education designed to forge lifelong connections to movements for social change. Instead of focusing on theory in isolation, UUCSJ provides opportunities for participants to learn directly from the leaders of grassroots movements working for justice. The themes, stories, and outcomes we choose to highlight in our work, therefore, are chosen because they help us understand whether or not our work is supporting those long-term, systemic impacts, as we strive to make progress on advancing the justice-centered values of Unitarian Universalism and human rights. In all cases, we aim to put our grassroots partners at the center, showing the power of social change when it is led by communities confronting oppression and injustice. A few highlights of our work include: In FY24, UUCSJ developed and successfully led an experiential education program called "Practice the Practice: Experiential Education for Religious Professionals." Religious professionals are a diverse group that includes clergy, directors of religious education, seminarians, and many others. They come from many different communities and are at various stages of their own learning about what it means to be in solidarity with grassroots movements in a responsible way. Many of them, regardless of their stages of learning, are expected to lead experiential education journeys for their work. UUCSJ provided a much needed intervention that allowed professionals to skill up together and not at the expense of community partners. For the practicum for this program, UUCSJ hosted a journey in New Orleans, Louisiana for the Practice the Practice course, called PTP 2024 New Orleans Abolition: Surviving and Flourishing as a Collective (Place- based Justice Education). This experiential journey to New Orleans was the culmination of a series of sessions that began with an online and community of practice components. As one participant of the program shared, UUCSJ "built a practice that enabled us to explore and embody Bernice King's statement that social justice is LOVE applied to systems, policies and cultures." Feedback from the community partners who supported the event celebrated that the program had been experienced locally as generative and not extractive in the ways usually associated with learning delegations. In ongoing work, UUCSJ continues to partner with BorderLinks, which has worked towards transformative change and justice by bringing the voices of people in migration to the forefront and confronting the policies and circumstances that led to a militarized border for over 35 years. By facilitating immersive educational experiences, BorderLinks strives to dismantle systems of oppression through teaching practices of education that honor our wholeness as human beings all while envisioning a world without borders. UUCSJ and BorderLinks know that spiritual learning, taking action, and reflection are key to understanding complex issues facing those in migration. In FY24, CSJ supported delegations to BorderLinks and amplified learning platforms to offer collaborative designed to help people connect the injustice dots and imagine a future of collective liberation. UUCSJ continues to inspire and sustain effective and spiritually grounded activism for justice through our core support of: UUCSJ Experiential Internship Equity program. The goal of the UUCSJ Experiential Internship Equity Fund is to support experiential learning opportunities in support of faithful justice organizing. Too often, we've seen organizations offer low or unpaid internships, often placing the experiential learning opportunity out of reach for all but the most advantaged. This program increases the capacity of grassroots justice organizations while increasing accessibility to these learning opportunities. IN FY24, this program supporting spiritually grounded justice activism with Black Lives Unitarian Universalist (BLUU), Diverse and Revolutionary Multicultural Ministries (DRUUMM), as well as several UU State Action Networks (SANs). UUCSJ Skilled Volunteer Program, which provides a framework to help skilled volunteers deepen their understanding of systems of injustice and reflecting on one's personal connection to justice work as well as a stipend to increase accessibility to skilled volunteering. FY24 supported skilled volunteers engaged in essential Pink Haven coalition efforts and the efforts of social justice organizers in Alabama. Also of note: UUCSJ has been a primary creator, through our role in the Unitarian Universalist Climate Justice Coalition, of the first known continental UU Climate Justice Revival, planned for the last weekend of September 2024. We have put many hours of staff time and creativity into the co- creation of a major skill up for UUs to connect their activism to their faith and the intersectional work of climate justice and look forward to sharing the impacts of this labor in the FY25 narrative. UUCSJ has also held the bulk of the responsibility for planning the 2024 United Nations Multigenerational Seminar, scheduled for the third weekend of September, which we will also share more about in the FY25 narrative. |
| Form 990, Part VI, Section A, line 6 | A party who has made a donation in the last twelve months is considered a UUSC member. This is the only class of organizational member. |
| Form 990, Part VI, Section A, line 7b | UUSC members are entitled to voting rights specified by Massachusetts statute. |
| Form 990, Part VI, Section B, line 11b | The draft of the Form 990 is discussed and reviewed with the audit committee of the Board of Trustees for their comments, input and approval. All the members of the governing body receive either a hard copy or an electronic copy of the Form 990 before it is filed. |
| Form 990, Part VI, Section B, line 12c | UUSC regularly and consistently monitors and enforces compliance with the conflict of interest policy which covers all staff and the board of trustees. In doing so, all decisions (financial or non-financial) are scrutinized to ensure that they are not self-serving with respect to UUSC personnel or members of the board of trustees. Human Resources decides if a conflict of interest exists for UUSC personnel and elevates the matter to the President/LEO or the Chair of the board of trustees as appropriate. The board completes a conflict of interest form annually which is then shared with the full board. Any conflicted individual is prohibited from voting or making any decisions related to the matter. |
| Form 990, Part VI, Section B, line 15 | The compensation of the President/LEO is determined by the executive committee of the board of trustees, all of whom are independent of the President/LEO. The compensation is determined by reference to comparability data. The President/LEO's compensation is reviewed and potentially adjusted annually upon board approval. The organization maintains contemporaneous documentation of the deliberation and decision. Compensation for other officers is determined by the President/LEO. Such compensation is similarly determined by reference to comparability data. |
| Form 990, Part VI, Section C, line 19 | UUSC makes its governing documents, conflict of interest policy and financial statements available to the public by publishing them on its website. Additionally, the Form 990 and financial statements are available through the Massachusetts Attorney General's website. |
| Form 990, Part XI, line 9: | Change in Value of Split-interest Gifts -29,124. |
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