Georgetown Law Executive Education - Nonprofit Foundations - Legal Foundations of Nonprofit Organizations: Governance, Strategy, and the Organizational Lifecycle

As the nonprofit sector continues to grow in complexity and global reach, legal professionals working in or alongside mission-driven organizations must understand the legal, governance, and operational frameworks that shape nonprofit work.

This five-week, live online program provides a structured, practical introduction to nonprofit law and governance, designed for professionals building foundational knowledge in this space.

Through interactive, faculty-led sessions, structured hypotheticals, and peer discussion, participants will explore how nonprofits are formed, governed, and regulated while examining the legal and strategic challenges nonprofit leaders face in practice.

To reinforce learning in a practical and collaborative way, participants will engage in structured program activities designed to connect legal doctrine with organizational decision making.

These include individual, weekly practice-based discussion assignments aligned with each session’s focus, as well as assigned pre-work and light readings.

In addition to the weekly, 90-minute online sessions, participants will complete at least one-hour asynchronous elective, which will be made available after Session 3 of the program. These electives allow participants to tailor their learning experience and deepen expertise in areas aligned with their professional interests, including at least one of the following:

Engagement with the IRS for Tax-Exempt Organizations
Legal and Ethical Considerations in Nonprofit Advocacy
Launching and Sustaining Nonprofit Organizations

Whether advising nonprofit clients, supporting organizational operations, or exploring a transition into mission-driven work, this program equips participants with the legal insight, strategic perspective, and practical tools needed to navigate the nonprofit sector with clarity and confidence.

Please see the Program Description and Program Fee & Policies tabs for more information on learning objectives, audience, format, and program fees.

Martina Watson Pickett is a Staff Attorney with the Nonprofit & Small Business Legal Assistance Programs at the D.C. Bar Pro Bono Center. In this role, she focuses on providing legal support to nonprofit organizations through direct counseling, legal clinics, and educational programming. She also builds partnerships with community organizations, law firms, and government agencies to expand access to legal resources for nonprofits across the District.

Before joining the Pro Bono Center, Martina was a Clinical Teaching Fellow at Georgetown University Law Center. There, she began developing scholarship focused on business sustainability and alternative ownership structures. Her work pays particular attention to racial equity and the long-term economic resilience of mission-driven organizations and communities of color.

Martina holds a B.A. in Psychology from Winston-Salem State University and a J.D. from New York Law School, and an LL.M. in Advocacy from Georgetown University Law Center. She is licensed to practice law in New York and the District of Columbia.