Tepper Fellows: Social Enterprise Law Research Assistants

Overview 

Each year, the Grunin Center hires research assistants who are responsible for keeping the Social Enterprise Law Tracker up to date with respect to the laws and regulations that are shaping the types of legal forms available to social enterprises in the United States. This work involves performing legal research, as well as data collection, data analysis, and data entry.

Applications are no longer open for 2025-26 Tepper Fellowships. For up-to-date information on Grunin Center events and programs, subscribe to the Center's newsletter. Applications for 2026-27 Tepper Fellows will open at the beginning of that academic year.

Social Enterprise Law Tracker Co-Founder and Tepper Fellow Advisor

Rob Esposito

Mr. Esposito is a Managing Director and Senior Counsel at Apollo Global Management, Inc. He joined Apollo in 2020 in the Legal Department. Prior to that, Mr. Esposito was an associate in the Private Funds Group at Paul, Weiss, Rifkind, Wharton & Garrison LLP, and was an M&A and private funds associate in the New York offices of two international law firms. Mr. Esposito previously served as a Jacobson Fellow in Law and Business at New York University Law School, and as a professional lecturer in law on the adjunct faculty at The George Washington University Law School. Mr. Esposito received his AB from Dartmouth College, his JD from Wake Forest University School of Law, and his. LLM, with highest honors, in International and Comparative Law from The George Washington University Law School.

“When we co-founded the Social Enterprise Law Tracker (SELT), we were driven by an academic interest in the intersection of emerging corporate law and cutting edge technology. The interactive SELT website was a product of that combined interest. I am honored and grateful to NYU Law for embracing its stewardship and maintenance of the SELT website since its founding, and am delighted to continue participating in its evolution as an advisor to the Tepper Fellows and the Grunin Center.” - Rob Esposito 

Hannah Yang

Hannah is a corporate associate at Morrison Foerster. She represents publicly and privately held companies in a variety of corporate and securities law matters. She advises on mergers and acquisitions, private equity transactions, securities regulation, governance matters, and securities offerings. Hannah her JD from New York University School of Law, where she was awarded the White & Case Award in Law & Social Entrepreneurship. While there, she served as the articles editor for the NYU Environmental Law Journal and as a research assistant at the Grunin Center for Law and Social Entrepreneurship. Hannah received her AB in chemistry from Princeton University.

2025-26 Tepper Fellows

Shelby Hobohm JD ’27

Shelby grew up in Dallas, Texas, and earned her BA in government, BS in mechanical Engineering, and MSE in nuclear engineering at The University of Texas at Austin. Prior to law school, she worked as an applied research engineer studying radiation effects on electronics while completing the coursework portion of her in-progress PhD in Nuclear Engineering. At NYU Law, Shelby is co-chair of the Social Enterprise and Startup Law Society and a clinician in the International Transactions Clinic. She is interested in exploring the ways that the law can incentivize sustainable business practices, the connection between emerging technologies and social entrepreneurship, and sustainable investing practices. Shelby spent the past summer as an IP Litigation Summer Associate at Latham & Watkins in Austin, Texas. She will spend the upcoming summer as an Energy & Project Development Summer Associate at Morgan, Lewis & Bockius in Washington, DC.

Casey Martin JD ’27

Casey is originally from Darien, Connecticut, and graduated from Cornell University in 2022 with a BS in industrial and labor relations and minors in business and law and society. Prior work experiences include undergraduate research on emerging climate disclosure regulations and conservation finance, as well as two years spent as a business analyst for a financial services company. On campus, she is the co-president of Law Women, a Clinician in the International Transactions Clinic, and a staff editor for the Journal of Law and Business. She is interested in the intersection of business and sustainability, in particular how market-based regulations can improve both business performance and social outcomes. Casey spent her past summer as an intern at the Delaware Supreme Court, and will spend the coming summer as a summer associate in Simpson Thacher & Bartlett’s New York Office.

Van Tran JD ’27

Van Tran holds a BA in international studies from Rhodes College (’23). Prior to joining NYU Law, she worked in impact consulting, development, and research as a Business Development Fellow at a San Francisco-based social impact consultancy and as a research assistant at UC Berkeley, where she assisted in investigating corporate influence on food security. Other prior positions include working at data and development positions at organizations such as the ACLU, Results for America, East-West Center, C4ADS, and Transparency International. 

    Mary Grace Babbo JD ’28

Mary Grace earned her BA in the program of liberal studies, music and Italian studies from the University of Notre Dame. Prior to law school, she served as chief of staff to the CEO at Diligent Corporation, a governance, risk and compliance software company; worked in business development and operations for Universal Music Group’s eCommerce division; and was a business strategy consultant at McKinsey & Company, where she also held a fellowship with the McKinsey Global Institute, the firm’s business and economics think tank. At NYU, as a Jacobson Leadership Program in Law and Business Scholar, she is interested in how law and business together can drive long-term value for companies across their customers, employees, shareholders and other stakeholders. 

Morgan Duffield JD ’28

Morgan is a 1L pursuing her JD and a 2025–26 Tepper Fellow. She earned her undergraduate degree in legal studies from UC Berkeley and performed research at the Berkeley Center for Law and Technology at Berkeley Law. It was during this time that she was first introduced to the concept of social entrepreneurship. After graduating, she moved to New York City to work as a legal and compliance analyst at Blackstone, gaining exposure to the world of complex institutional investing. Her background in business and her interest in the social impact space inform her work at the intersection of law and innovation.