What it does
Namati, inc. (namati) is dedicated to putting the law in people's hands. We strive to build a just world, in which every one of us can take part in the decisions and demand accountability from the institutions that affect our lives. Namati's work enables poor and underprivileged people to exercise their legal rights to protect and promote their social, cultural, and economic livelihoods. Our activities primarily consist of providing and training others to provide legal aid services. Namati intends to build a global network of practitioners to facilitate the sharing of tools and resources, foster dialogue, and ultimately create a movement for legal empowerment worldwide.
Land, environment, and climate (lec)in kenya, sierra leone, and myanmar, namati and our partners work to strengthen a global movement of grassroots advocates advancing land, environmental, and climate justice. Paralegals support communities to negotiate projects on their land through organizing, collective bargaining, and enforcement of community rights.in 2025, in sierra leone, paralegals supported 220+ communities in sittia chiefdom to secure a landmark agreement protecting 79,000 hectares of mangroves and ensuring communities receive over 40% of revenue. In kenya, communities advanced negotiations with the northern rangelands trust carbon project, resulting in a transition toward community-led ownership. In myanmar, paralegals supported more than 64,000 people to protect community lands. Globally, the carbon justice campaign connected these local efforts to systemic change. We convened teams and grassroots justice network members to share lessons, support advocacy, and influence carbon market standards reaching over 1,000 organizations through peer learning and practical tools. Together, these efforts shaped national legislation and contributed to updates to verra's carbon standard, strengthening fpic, transparency, and community benefit sharing.
Grassroots justice networkthe grassroots justice network (gjn) remains the world's largest collective of grassroots justice defenders and their allies. Our members represent more than 4500 civil society organizations working directly with communities across 190 countries. Gjn continues to bring people together to connect, learn, and take collective action. In 2025, the gjn focused on developing a curriculum that distills field-tested, grassroots insights, as well as establishing the infrastructure needed to run the grassroots justice network academy - a world class institute and learning community focused on strengthening legal empowerment work globally, slated to launch in 2026.
Citizenship in kenya and bangladesh, paralegals work together with people to secure and use identification (id) documents, ensuring they can access their fundamental rights as citizens. Without basic documents like birth certificates, id cards, or passports, people cannot access essential services or participate in governance. In 2025, 7,108 id documents or entitlements like access to government welfare schemes were secured, which positively affected the lives of 11,661 people. Paralegals support community ambassadors to take action outside of their own cases to know, use, and shape the law. In 2025, the citizenship program engaged with over 250 community ambassadors through in-person workshops and virtual calls that strengthened skills in advocacy tactics, public speaking, campaigning, organizing, and risk mitigation. Ambassadors use these skills to engage in collective action and encourage improvement in id systems to ease access for all citizens. In 2025 in kenya, more than a decade of communities knowing, using, and shaping the law culminated in a historic victory: the abolition of discriminatory vetting for identification documents.