A lawsuit alleges the founder of D.C.-area nonprofits used grant funds to support a real estate business and other personal projects, and violated the terms of a 2025 settlement with the District.
D.C. Attorney General Brian Schwalb is suing Allyson Abrams, a Bowie, Maryland, resident and founder of Empowerment Justice Center and Empowerment Liberation Cathedral. The suit accuses her of diverting more than $125,000 in D.C. government grants.
According to the lawsuit, the District awarded both of Abrams’ nonprofits more than $475,000 from 2019 to 2025 for outreach efforts, counseling and addiction treatment services for “at-risk community members.”…