Our Mission

The Impact Fund's mission is to enhance the ability of lawyers to bring public interest impact litigation in the areas of civil rights, poverty and environmental justice. Founded in 1992, The Impact Fund continues to fulfill its mission in three primary ways:

First, our Grant Making Program grants money to public interest lawyers to advance costs in systemic impact litigation. Since its inception this program has awarded over $4.3 million dollars, which has facilitated a wide range of impact litigation across the nation.

Second, our Equal Justice Litigation Program provides as-needed counseling, advice and assistance on procedural and substantive issues that arise in complex litigation. In addition, The Impact Fund acts as co-counsel on selected cases, where its expertise is most helpful. Our legal team also organizes amicus efforts on procedural and attorneys fees.

Third, The Impact Fund provides high-quality training programs on various aspects of class action and impact litigation. Programs are conducted several times per year in various locations across California. The Impact Fund provides a discounted rate for these trainings to law students and lawyers in the non-profit sector.

The Impact Fund is a designated Support Center for Legal Service Projects funded by the California State Bar Association's Legal Services Trust Fund.



Our History

Founded in 1992, Executive Director Brad Seligman established The Impact Fund upon the idea of helping smaller firms and non-profits litigate "big" cases. In a small, storefront office, with the assistance of a group of leading public interest litigators (The Impact Fund's current Board of Advisors), Mr. Seligman hashed out the basic criteria for what would become The Impact Fund's current Grant-Making Program.

Fifteen years later, the small, one-man team, has grown into a sizeable, 501(c)(3) non-profit organization, headquartered in Berkeley, CA. Over the past 12 years, The Impact Fund has expanded its direct services and programs to include: trainings, advice and counseling, amicus representation, research and co-counseling. Most notably, The Impact Fund has headed up the largest civil rights class action team ever assembled, to take on the world's largest employer, Wal-Mart Stores Inc., in the largest class action discrimination suit in history.

The Impact Fund has been able to expand and take on big cases, such as Wal-Mart, because of the growing support of individual donors, the California Legal Services Trust Fund, private firms and family foundations. As we move forward into our next ten years, we hope that you continue to support us in our continued battle for social justice.