The JEHT Foundation was established in 2000 by its trustees, Jeanne Levy Hinte, Jeff Levy Hinte, William Zabel, and Robert Crane, as a socially responsible non-profit organization dedicated to engaging diverse constituencies and tactics, "since being 'right' rarely, if ever, ensures success." The foundation's name derives from the core values behind its proposed mission: "justice, equality, human dignity, and tolerance." Its early work involved cooperation with the New York Community Trust, and by 2002 the JEHT Foundation had begun convening trustee board meetings with programs focusing on community justice and human rights and an initial grants budget of $5 to $6 million. By 2005, that had grown to $35 million, with an expansion to focus heavily on international justice and democratizing the electoral process. The Foundation sometimes involved itself in controversial or timely concerns, such as the Abu Ghraib and Guantanamo situations in 2005 and Hurricane Katrina relief in 2006. In 2006, Kenneth Levy-Church joined the trustees, and the Foundation devoted more attention to juvenile justice initiatives, as well as issues relating to health, mental health, palliative care, and the death penalty. By December 2008, JEHT was operating with five trustees and 24 staff members out of its New York City-based office. At that time, the Foundation advertised its primary areas of interest as: 1) criminal justice, focusing on reducing incarceration levels, avoiding wrongful arrests or inappropriate convictions and sentences, and promoting reentry planning; 2) juvenile justice, acknowledging the need for age-appropriate approaches to criminal justice; 3) international justice as a route for U.S. participation in developing international rule of law, human rights, and humanitarian standards; and 4) fair and participatory elections, ranging from technical integrity issues to reducing barriers to electoral participation. Grant making efforts worked to support innovative, results-oriented projects, legal strategies, and evidence-based research that might impact policy decisions. Frequent grantees included the ACLU, the Brennan Center for Justice, Human Rights First, and the Vera Institute of Justice, among many others.

The JEHT Foundation was closely connected with the Rockit Fund, sharing Robert Crane and Kenneth Levy-Church as organizers, and in January 2008, Jeanne and Kenneth Levy-Church also established the Fair Food Foundation dedicated to bringing fresh food to needy urban areas. Unfortunately, these efforts ended in December of 2008 with the arrest of Bernie Madoff for securities fraud on December 15, 2008. Most of JEHT's funds had been invested with Madoff for more than 30 years, since Jeanne Levy-Church's father chose to invest his real estate fortune with Bernard L. Madoff Investment Securities L.L.C. These events forced both the JEHT Foundation and the Rockit Fund to cease operations abruptly.