The Neighborhood Business Initiative

The mission of the Neighborhood Business Initiative (NBI), a Goodwin-run pro bono program, is to bring business-related legal services to the front doors of entrepreneurs and small business owners who are members of, or whose businesses positively impact, communities that face discrimination based on race, ethnicity, immigration status, gender and/or LGBTQ+ status.

Our Story

In 2001, we collaborated with the Economic Justice Project of the Lawyers Committee for Civil Rights Under Law of the Boston Bar Association and Accion U.S.A. to help a corner grocery store owned by a Brazilian immigrant secure a working capital loan. The success of this transaction inspired an ongoing partnership to support Boston neighborhood entrepreneurs and small business owners through direct representation, workshops on business law topics, and legal clinics.

During its early years, the initiative was a true grassroots operation. Our lawyers would often go on listening tours in Boston neighborhoods to speak with local small businesses and understand — from their own perspective — their most pressing needs. In 2005, we formalized NBI as an in-house legal services organization led by a steering committee of lawyers and professionals. The initiative has since continued to grow internally — expanding to New York in 2013, California in 2016 and Washington, D.C. and the United Kingdom in 2021 — and externally through new community partnerships and neighborhoods.

Today, after over 20 years since NBI’s founding, our local committees of lawyers and business professionals continue to expand and evolve the ways in which we support entrepreneurs and small business owners.