2019 Grunin Prize
The Grunin Center administers the Grunin Prize for Law and Social Entrepreneurship to celebrate the contributions of lawyers who purposefully engage in advancing the fields of social entrepreneurship, impact investing, and sustainable development.
The Grunin Center for Law and Social Entrepreneurship is made possible through a generous endowment from NYU School of Law graduates Jay Grunin ’67 and Linda Kalmanowitz Grunin ’67, and the Grunin Foundation. Jay and Linda have dedicated their philanthropic endeavors to investing in innovative projects that have measurable impacts creating meaningful, transformative change.
Grunin Prize Winner
Social Finance, Inc. - Veterans CARE Project
Legal Team
Navjeet K. Bal, Managing Director and General Counsel, and Leslie Cornell, Associate General Counsel.
The Project
The Veterans CARE project is the first Social Impact Bond dedicated to serving our nation’s Veterans. This unique public-private partnership brings together impact investors and multiple jurisdictions (VA, Massachusetts, Boston and NYC) to scale a proven, employment-first model and to support Veterans with post-traumatic stress disorder to achieve economic stability.
For more information on the Veterans CARE Project, please see the announcement of the 2019 Grunin Prize!
Grunin Prize Finalists
Learn more about the finalists below:
- Rastegar Panchal RPCK - Blended Finance Structure for a Multi-Strategy Investment Fund
Nominated Legal Team
Chintan Panchal, Founding Partner; Heather Eisenlord, Partner; Joshua Teitelbaum, Senior Counsel; and Adhiti Gupta, Associate.
The Project
A multi-strategy impact fund structure for Circulate Capital designed to allow the fund manager to benefit from a USAID Development Credit Authority (DCA) loan guarantee program by using a split debt/equity waterfall with an internal reserve to comply with the DCA’s requirement that the taxpayers’ dollars not be utilized to subsidize returns of the limited partners. This structure also works in tandem with a grant funded technical assistance facility for incubation and ecosystem building activities.
- Cutting Edge Counsel - Community-Based Direct Public Offering for Nonprofit Organization
Nominated Legal Team
John Katovich, President; Kim Arnone, Principal; and Brian Beckon, Principal.
The Project
A Direct Public Offering (DPO) for TechSoup that marks the first time the Securities and Exchange Commission has qualified a nonprofit to raise funds nationally through a Regulation A+/Tier 2 offering, allowing TechSoup to offer its securities in all U.S. states, territories, and in Canada. The TechSoup DPO represents a form of securities offering for all types of issuers that aims to increase economic connectivity to their communities, open investments to all, and foster a more fair and democratic form of capitalism.
- Orrick, Herrington & Sutcliffe - Forest Resilience Bond
Nominated Legal Team
Neil Golden, Partner; Devin Canavan, Managing Associate; Rene Kathawala, Pro Bono Counsel; Perry Teicher, Impact Finance Attorney; Torsten Marshall, Retired Lawyer and Former Partner; Stephen Spitz, Partner; Stephen Ashley, Partner; Maria Bergenhem, Associate; John Narducci, Partner; Lina Thoreson, Counsel; and Sue Chang, Associate.
The Project
The Forest Resilience Bond (FRB) is an innovative financing vehicle that enables private capital to finance much-needed forest restoration and resilience across the western U.S. The FRB was designed to enable larger investments by allowing multiple beneficiaries to repay the investment and having repayment include yearly cash flow streams more compatible for fixed income investors.
- Leapfrog Investments - Insurance to Crowd in Equity Investors into Impact Investment Funds Supported by OPIC
Nominated Lawyer
Tom Brunner, Retired, Partner
The Project
Designed and placed in the insurance market novel insurance that protects impact investment fund investors from potential losses due to the Overseas Private Investment Corporation (OPIC) priority in receiving fund distributions and thereby helps make OPIC participation in such funds possible.
- Christopher Michael P.C. - Perpetual Purpose Trust
Nominated Lawyer
Christopher Michael, Attorney
The Project
The Perpetual Purpose Trust is an alternative ownership structure designed to offer a low-cost, streamlined and perpetual form of ownership that enables a company to embed its mission into its legal DNA and allows it to include multiple stakeholder groups in its governance and profit-sharing structures. In the case of employee-owned businesses, the Perpetual Purpose Trust also provides an alternative to the Employee Stock Ownership Plan (ESOP) that is not governed by Employee Retirement Income Security Act (ERISA).
Judging Panel
- Deborah K. Burand
- Edward Diener
- Jay Grunin
- Ginger Lew
- Trevor Morrison
- Helen Scott
- Darrin Williams