White & Case Award in Law and Social Entrepreneurship
The Grunin Center annually awards the White & Case Award in Law and Social Entrepreneurship to a graduating JD student and LLM student who exhibit academic excellence and demonstrate commitment to the field of law and social entrepreneurship.
The White & Case Award in Law and Social Entrepreneurship is made possible thanks to the generous support of the White & Case Social Entrepreneurship Fund.
2026 Award Recipients
Josh Badzik JD '26
Originally from Cincinnati, Ohio, Josh Badzik joined NYU Law with a strong interest in international business, entrepreneurship, and the role of law in driving innovation and impact.
At NYU Law, Josh was a Student Fellow in the Entrepreneurship and Venture Capital Program, where he engaged with emerging issues at the intersection of startups, venture finance, and transactional law. He also served as President of the Social Enterprise and Startup Law Group (SE-SL), supporting programming and professional development opportunities for students interested in entrepreneurship, innovation, and impact-driven business.
In his 2L year, Josh explored these interests through participation in the International Transactions Clinic. As a clinician, he advised mission-driven clients on a range of cross-border transactional matters, gaining experience working with financial institutions, investment funds, and non-profit organizations. He then served as an Advanced Clinician during his 3L year, helping facilitate the onboarding of new clients and clinicians while continuing to support the Clinic’s work.
As a Tepper Research Fellow with the Grunin Center, Josh conducted legal research, data collection, and analysis on the evolving legal and regulatory frameworks governing social enterprises in the United States. Through his work supporting the Social Enterprise Law Tracker, he contributed to research examining how legal innovations can facilitate business activity through specialized corporate forms.
Josh spent his final semester abroad at NYU Paris and Sciences Po, where he studied artificial intelligence law, global technology disruption, and impact investment funds, gaining a comparative perspective on emerging legal and policy issues shaping the global economy.
Josh holds a B.S.B.A. in Economics and a B.S. in Public Policy Analysis from The Ohio State University. Upon graduation, Josh will join the New York office of McDermott Will & Schulte.
Sonal Rawat LLM '26
Sonal Rawat is an LL.M. candidate in International Legal Studies at NYU School of Law, where her work sits at the intersection of access to justice, social entrepreneurship, and women's rights. At NYU, she serves as an LL.M. Legal Changemaker at the Grunin Center, where she is a co-founder of SheLeads Circles. SheLeads uses peer mentorship circles to deliver legal literacy to women entrepreneurs in peri-urban Chile, and is one of the first projects to emerge from the LL.M. Legal Changemakers Incubator.
She also represented NYU Law in Tokyo as one of two LL.M.s selected for the Social Enterprise and Startup Law Group's Alternative Breaks trip, where she engaged with international law firms, social startup incubators, and policy teams on legal innovation and social entrepreneurship.
Prior to NYU, Sonal clerked at the Supreme Court of India, and thereafter worked at Panscience Innovations, where she contributed to the early-stage development of Nyaai AI, a legal AI platform focused on expanding access to justice. She also co-founded Meraki: For All through the UN Millennium Fellowship, addressing menstrual rights and access for women workers and students in India.
She has been selected as an LL.M. Public Interest Fellow to join the Global Justice Center following graduation, where she will continue her focus on women's rights at the international level. She holds a law degree from National Law University, Delhi, is admitted to practice law in India, and plans to sit for the New York Bar Exam in July 2026.
Previous Award Recipients
- Juliet Kim JD '25
- Chloe Yujin Lee LLM '25
- Julia Spencer JD '24
- Mansi Srivastava LLM '24
- Eli Wallach JD '23
- Isabella Lordoy LLM '23
- Madhu Narasimhan JD '22
- Jaime Begara Bretón LLM '22
- Hannah Yang JD '21
- Elizabeth Damaskos JD '20
- Julia Kaplan LLM '20