The Collaborative Clinic for Nonprofit Viability

The Collaborative Clinic for Nonprofit Viability (CCNV) is a collaborative initiative designed to safeguard the existence and effectiveness of the community groups, grassroots organizations, and nonprofits that make up the backbone of civic society. These organizations face legal and political threats when they are targeted by legislation, regulatory scrutiny, and strategic lawsuits intended to silence dissent and dismantle community power.

With centers at Howard and Yale Law Schools, CCNV is a collaborative housed within the Yale Center for Environmental Justice—a joint initiative of Yale Law School, Yale School of the Environment, and Yale’s Center for the Study of Race, Indigeneity, and Transnational Migration (RITM). The Clinic operates through a collaborative model leveraging services provided by law school clinics, law firms, and pro bono partners in support of organizations with organizational, compliance, and legal needs.

Is your EJ or Indigenous nonprofit interested in a Health Check?

Attorney-supervised law students will walk you through our “Health Check” process to help you identify governance, compliance, and legal vulnerabilities. While CCNV does not provide policy expertise or legal advice, once the health check is completed, CCNV can connect you to trusted pro-bono legal support through our national network. Requests to meet with CCNV for a Health Check, or to learn more about our work, may be sent to ccnv@yale.edu. CCNV also plans to offer in-person, on-site clinics for coalitions in under-served regions in the future. Please contact us if you are interested in collaborating or co-hosting a clinic.