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LAST PRISONER PROJECT

EIN 83-4502829 DENVER, CO

Revenue 2024
$2,266,193
Expenses 2024
$2,738,267

Program services were 82.9% of total expenses calculated — Part IX's program-services column over total expenses, both as filed.

As filed

Subsection
03
NTEE code
I43
Classification
1000
Street
1312 17TH ST SUITE 640

These codes are the IRS's own and are shown exactly as filed. What each one means is in the Business Master File documentation (opens in a new tab).

Mission and programs · 2024

Mission

THE LAST PRISONER PROJECT (LPP) IS A NATIONAL, NONPARTISAN NONPROFIT ORGANIZATION DEDICATED TO CANNABIS CRIMINAL JUSTICE REFORM. WE AIM TO END AMERICA'S POLICY OF CANNABIS CRIMINALIZATION, AS WELL AS TO REPAIR THE HARMS OF THIS DISCRIMINATORY AND COUNTERPRODUCTIVE CRUSADE. WE ACCOMPLISH THIS BY FOCUSING ON THREE CRITICAL CRIMINAL JUSTICE REFORM INITIATIVES: RELEASE, RECORD CLEARANCE, AND REENTRY SUPPORT. BEYOND RELEASE, RECORD CLEARANCE, AND REENTRY, WE ALSO WORK TO GET OUR INCARCERATED CONSTITUENTS ACCESS TO RESOURCES LIKE FOOD, HEALTHCARE, AND PHONE CALLS BY HELPING TO FUND THEIR COMMISSARY ACCOUNTS.

Activities or mission (Part I)

LEGAL AND SOCIAL SERVICES FOR THOSE IMPACTED BY THE CRIMINAL JUSTICE SYSTEM.

  • POLICY AND ADVOCACY:OUR POLICY TEAM WORKS WITH LOCAL, STATE, TRIBAL, AND FEDERAL POLICYMAKERS, PUBLIC OFFICIALS, AND COMMUNITY-BASED ORGANIZATIONS TO DEVELOP, ADVANCE, AND IMPLEMENT JUST, EQUITABLE, AND EFFECTIVE CANNABIS-RELATED POLICIES, PRACTICES, AND PROGRAMS. WE DO THIS BY PROVIDING NONPARTISAN, EVIDENCE-BASED TECHNICAL ASSISTANCE TO JURISDICTIONS WORKING TO ADVANCE CANNABIS LAWS THAT PROVIDE RETROACTIVE RELIEF.

    Expenses $999,854 · Revenue $4,400

  • REENTRY AND SUPPORT:OUR REENTRY RESOURCES FOCUS ON ENSURING THAT OUR CONSTITUENTS HAVE THE TOOLS AND SUPPORT THEY NEED WHEN COMING HOME FROM INCARCERATION. THIS INCLUDES FINANCIAL SUPPORT FOR HOUSING, TRANSPORTATION, MEDICAL NEEDS, EMPLOYABILITY SKILLS AND TRAINING, AND FINANCIAL WELLNESS COUNSELING. TO THAT END, EVERY YEAR, LPP DISPERSES DIRECT MICROGRANTS TO SYSTEM-IMPACTED CONSTITUENTS. FURTHERMORE, OUR FAMILY SUPPORT FUND ALLOCATES A PORTION OF LPP'S FUNDING DIRECTLY TO THE CHILDREN OF OUR CONSTITUENTS TO HELP THEM ACCESS EDUCATIONAL RESOURCES WHILE THEIR PARENT IS INCARCERATED.OUR ADVOCACY CAMPAIGNS USE THE FACES AND STORIES OF INDIVIDUALS NEGATIVELY IMPACTED BY CANNABIS PROHIBITION AND OTHER MISGUIDED DRUG POLICIES TO HELP TO CHANGE THE NARRATIVE ABOUT THESE ISSUES. WE ALSO PRODUCE REPORTS, COMMENTARY, AND SHAREABLE CONTENT THAT EXPLORE THE SORDID HISTORY BEHIND-AND DEVASTATING IMPACT OF-OUR DRUG NATION'S "WAR ON DRUGS." THIS RESEARCH IS OFTEN LEVERAGED TO ASSIST ADVOCATES, ACADEMICS, AND POLICYMAKERS AS THEY WORK TO END THE CRIMINALIZATION OF CANNABIS AND EFFECTUATE OTHER DRUG POLICY REFORMS.

    Expenses $792,191 · Grants $643,213

  • LEGAL:THE LPP TEAM FIGHTS TO SECURE THE "FULL FREEDOM" OF EVERY LAST PERSON IN PRISON FOR UNJUST CANNABIS LAWS. THE FIRST STEP IS ENSURING THE RELEASE OF THOSE STILL INCARCERATED FOR NONVIOLENT, CANNABIS-RELATED OFFENSES. WE ACCOMPLISH THIS THROUGH OUR PRO BONO LEGAL SERVICES, WHERE WE WORK TO SECURE FREEDOM FOR OUR CONSTITUENTS THROUGH EXECUTIVE CLEMENCY PETITIONS, COMPASSIONATE RELEASE MOTIONS, AND OTHER RELEVANT LEGAL MECHANISMS. OUR LEGAL ARM ALSO IDENTIFIES AND PURSUES STRATEGIC LEGAL ACTIONS (AMICUS BRIEFS, CLASS ACTION SUITS, INDIVIDUAL CLAIMS, ETC.) THAT SUPPORT OUR EFFORTS TO EFFECTUATE DRUG POLICY AND CRIMINAL JUSTICE-RELATED REFORMS.

    Expenses $478,106

As filed on the 2024 return. The filer continues this part on Schedule O, which is not shown here.

Officers and directors · 2024

As listed in Part VII of the 2024 return, in the order the filer printed them. Each return names its own; this is not a roster the organization keeps with us.

  • DEAN RAISE

    TREASURER

    Total calculated
    $0
    Hours/week
    1

  • STEPHANIE SHEPARD

    BOARD CHAIR

    Total calculated
    $0
    Hours/week
    40

  • TAHIRA REHMATULLAH

    DIRECTOR

    Total calculated
    $0
    Hours/week
    1

  • MUTULU OLUGBALA

    DIRECTOR

    Total calculated
    $0
    Hours/week
    1

  • SARAH GERSTEN

    EXECUTIVE DIRECT

    Total calculated
    $186,012
    From this org
    $186,012
    From related orgs
    $0
    Other
    $0
    Hours/week
    40

    Schedule J breakdown matched by us

    Base
    $186,012
    Bonus
    $0
    Other
    $0
    Deferred
    $0
    Nontaxable benefits
    $0
    Filer's total
    $186,012

  • MARY BAILEY

    MANAGING DIRECTOR

    Total calculated
    $119,555
    From this org
    $119,555
    From related orgs
    $0
    Other
    $0
    Hours/week
    40

Compensation is as filed in Part VII: reportable pay from this organization and from related organizations, other compensation, and hours per week. The total, marked calculated, is our sum of the three dollar columns, with a blank column counted as $0; the form itself has no total. On a Form 990-EZ the columns are Part IV's instead, and on a Form 990-PF Part VIII's — compensation, contributions to benefit plans, and expense account — and the total sums those. A Schedule J breakdown is as filed: base pay, bonus, other, deferred compensation and nontaxable benefits from this organization, with any from related organizations beside each, and the filer's own total. It is shown with the Part VII listing of the same name on the same return. The form gives no key between the two, so that pairing is ours, and is marked matched by us. Earlier years are each on their own filing page.

Filings

  • 2024
    Revenue
    $2,266,193
    Expenses
    $2,738,267
    Contributions
    $2,105,281
    Grants paid
    $643,213
  • 2023
    Revenue
    $2,975,136
    Expenses
    $3,042,077
    Contributions
    $2,974,496
    Grants paid
    $517,251
  • 2022
    Revenue
    $3,436,225
    Expenses
    $4,194,709
    Contributions
    $3,436,225
    Grants paid
    $1,316,672

The four totals the IRS asks for on Part I of the Form 990, as filed. A dash means the figure was not present on the return — not that it was zero.

Other returns filed

  • 2021 · 990

    Revenue
    $3,608,667
    Expenses
    $2,675,019
    Assets (EOY)
    $2,678,733

  • 2020 · 990

    Revenue
    $2,280,057
    Expenses
    $738,359
    Assets (EOY)
    $1,701,303

  • 2019 · 990

    Revenue
    $241,174
    Expenses
    $208,114
    Assets (EOY)
    $33,342

Nonprofiteer parses Forms 990, 990-EZ and 990-PF, in a window of recent tax years. These returns are recorded from the IRS e-file index, so their figures were extracted by that index rather than read from the return here — treat them as a different source from the filings above, not as more of the same record. A dash means the index carries no figure; Form 990-T listings carry none at all.

Grants made

No itemized grants to organizations. Schedule I is filed only by organizations that granted more than $5,000 to a recipient, so most filers have none.

Grants received

The 10 largest by cash amount. The API serves every itemized grant.

Other IRS files

Auto-Revocation List

Not listed. The IRS publishes this list for organizations whose exemption was automatically revoked for failing to file for three consecutive years.

Publication 78

Listed as of 13 October 2026, under deductibility PC.

These are two separate IRS files on two separate schedules, shown as published and not reconciled with each other. Neither is a statement about whether a contribution is deductible today: 19,245 organizations appear in Publication 78 while the IRS's own revocation file lists them as currently revoked, more than half of those revoked before 2019. Absence from Publication 78 is evidence of nothing, and presence is not evidence either. Verify current status with the IRS before relying on it.

What this page reflects

The registration facts above come from the IRS Business Master File published 13 October 2026 and read 26 October 2026, for every organization at once. Returns through tax year 2024, the newest we have parsed for this organization.