Nonprofit Legal Clinic: Hosted by Lawyers for Civil Rights Boston

Lawyers for Civil Rights Boston is offering a timely legal clinic to help support MA nonprofits in navigating the complex legal environment under the current federal administration.

Since the Supreme Court's 2023 Affirmative Action ruling, and increasingly since the 2025 Presidential Inauguration, The Boston Foundation (TBF) and LCR-Boston have heard from nonprofit EDs, board chairs, HR managers, and other nonprofit leaders that they are struggling to navigate the various Executive Orders from the administration, especially those that pertain to Diversity Equity and Inclusion (DEI), prompting nonprofits to assess their website language, programmatic offerings, governance documents, grant applications, and more. For organizations serving disproportionately impacted populations, many of whom are living in fear, these legal questions and uncertainty are further compounded.

*Below are some examples of legal guidance needs relating to DEI that are being expressed across the sector:

• How nonprofit leaders can manage risk, minimize liability, and avoid legal problems, while continuing their important DEI work.

• Whether current nonprofit programs, target populations, operations, and HR programs (e.g. affinity groups, training, hiring outreach, etc.) are safe, and how to think about these issues as they create new programs and operations.
• Legal risks of scaling back DEI programs.
• Review of language used in external and internal communications, hiring, contracts, and operations.
• Navigating specific requests received from federal agencies tying grant funding eligibility to DEI related work or language.
• Legal rights of organizations that have lost federal funding unexpectedly, and how to proceed once funding is lost.
• New and existing best practices in DEI.

TBF is grateful to be able to support LCR Boston in connecting with MA nonprofit leaders one-on-one, via this upcoming clinic, to unpack their questions and aid them in navigating this complex legal environment. Please find the July 17^th clinic inquiry form here. Please note, space is limited, so in the event it is full, LCR Boston will reach out to you in advance of their next clinic. For questions about this clinic, please be in touch with Priya Lane, BizGrow Director, by email: plane@lawyersforcivilrights.org.