A Note from Our Founder

Greetings,

Thank you for your interest in our work.

I built Good Works Legal Solutions after years of watching capable, deeply committed nonprofit leaders make decisions that ended up costing their organizations time, money, and momentum. Not because they didn’t care, and not because they were reckless. But because the rules were complex, authority lines were unclear, and there was rarely space to slow down, calm down, and think things through before pressure took over.

The moment that confirmed this work for me came years into supporting a multinational nonprofit virtually, long before I ever met the team in person. At a convening, an operations lead with HR responsibility came up to me in tears and gave me a big, long, joyful bear hug. She thanked me for making her feel safe and supported when the stakes were high. Others from the organization shared similar reflections that day.

What stayed with me was not just the gratitude, but the realization that this sense of safety—having someone who could help you think clearly in difficult, high-pressure moments—is something every nonprofit leader deserves. Not just those who can afford on-call legal counsel. Too many leaders are carrying enormous responsibility without access to that kind of support, even though the consequences of getting it wrong are the same across budgets.

 What I see leaders struggling with most is fear of making the wrong call, uncertainty about where authority truly sits between boards and executives, and hesitation to act when the rules feel unclear. In my practice, HR issues, in particular, come up again and again. Absent clear structures and baseline legal knowledge, many organizations end up leaning on personal relationships and interpersonal dynamics to resolve issues that should never have been personal in the first place.

I wish more nonprofit leaders knew that strong governance and legal compliance are not distractions from mission. They are what make mission sustainable. When governance breaks down, the ability to do social good weakens with it. Every organization needs someone paying attention to legal and compliance matters, whether that role is held by a lawyer, a compliance professional, or a leadership team that has been given the tools to do it well. This work should not be reserved for the few organizations with the deepest resources.

Much of what I do through Good Works Legal Solutions is helping leaders understand what nonprofit law actually requires, and then build systems and practices that make good governance and compliance much harder to mess up.

This work is intentionally different from my law practice. We are not here to give legal advice or represent you as your lawyer. Instead, we serve as a governance and compliance thought partner, focused on strengthening the underlying systems that too often make legal problems inevitable in the first place. The goal is preventive governance and legal health, upstream of crisis, so leaders develop the literacy to recognize red flags early and build systems designed to reduce avoidable legal risk.

To me, good governance is an act of stewardship. It reflects respect for the people an organization serves, and for the people who support its work. I am often reminded of the biblical story of the woman who gave her last penny to the temple. Nonprofits should be run as if they are accountable to her. People give what they have because they believe in the mission. Governance is how we honor that trust.

I am glad you’re here, and I look forward to supporting you as you strengthen your good works.

Warmly,

Nancy