Regina Hopkins of Nonprofit Legal Assistance Program Retires in June

The D.C. Bar Pro Bono Center is sad to announce that Regina Hopkins, longtime Assistant Director in charge of the Nonprofit and Small Business Legal Assistance Programs, will retire effective June 30, 2018. Regina has led the nonprofit and small business programs, formerly known as the Community Economic Development Project, for 12 years.

One of Regina’s major contributions has been her development and heralding of legal education for nonprofit executives and small business owners in D.C. In addition to 30 in-person trainings per year, the Pro Bono Center now has on-demand webinars and podcasts, sample manuals, legal alerts, and this newsletter, which make up an extensive list of educational resources available to organizations for free at www.lawhelp.org/dc/ced.

Her education initiatives and brief advice clinics have proven that if organizations learn the basics of potential legal issues, they stand a better chance of seeking help when – or even before – legal problems arise. Under Regina, the annual number of on-going pro bono legal matches made by the Pro Bono Center between organizations and law firms has tripled since 1999!

Regina has shared a wealth of legal knowledge with the D.C. nonprofit community beyond the Pro Bono Center, having served on local nonprofit boards, including as Vice Chair of the Center for Nonprofit Advancement, and having provided training in collaboration with D.C. government and greater D.C.-area nonprofit networks.

Her work has also made a national impact, with groups that provide pro bono assistance to nonprofits in other jurisdictions across the country now partnering with the Pro Bono Center on trainings or using her resources as a model for their materials.  

The Pro Bono Center will greatly miss Regina. She has been an innovator, a problem solver, a generous colleague - and someone with whom we all enjoy working!  

Regina will retire to Cape Cod with her husband, who retired a few years earlier. She looks forward to living closer to her siblings, and enjoying the delights of Cape Cod ice cream on warm summer days.