Annual Conferences
The Annual Conference on Legal Issues in Social Entrepreneurship and Impact Investing – in the US and Beyond, co-organized by the Grunin Center and the Impact Investing Legal Working Group, takes place at NYU Law. Attended by students, lawyers and other stakeholders from across the globe, this leading conference explores salient legal, ethical, and social themes affecting the fields of social entrepreneurship and impact investing.
2026 Annual Conference on Legal Issues in Social Entrepreneurship and Impact Investing – in the US and Beyond
The Grunin Center's next annual conference will take place June 2 and 3, 2026. Follow the Grunin Center on LinkedIn and subscribe to our newsletter to receive updates on the 2026 Annual Conference on Legal Issues in Social Entrepreneurship and Impact Investing – in the US.
2026 Conference Co-Chairs
Ruth Gao, Associate General Counsel for Impact Investments, Robert Wood Johnson Foundation
Ruth serves as associate general counsel for Impact Investments at the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation. Ruth brings a wealth of knowledge to her role, with experiences spanning private equity, venture capital, mergers and acquisitions, and initial public offerings.
Inspired by a vision to empower social entrepreneurs, Ruth spent a year in Jakarta working for a microfinance institution before attending NYU Law with the goal of understanding how the law may be used to enable change and impact. In 2019, she returned to NYU Law as a fellow at the Grunin Center for Law and Social Entrepreneurship where she supported the International Transactions Clinic. Her fellowship deepened her knowledge of the impact investing field and led her to serve as associate general counsel at Calvert Impact, a global non-profit investment firm.
Previously, Ruth was in private practice as an associate at Ropes & Gray LLP and O’Melveny & Myers LLP, where she counseled fund managers and limited partners in the forming and raising of and investment in private equity funds. She also maintained an active pro bono practice for various not-for-profits and small businesses.
Ruth's commitment to work with impact coupled with her diverse background and passion for positive change, positions her as a valuable contributor to the legal and impact investment community.
Ruth holds a JD from NYU School of Law and a BBA in strategy and accounting with high distinction from the University of Michigan Ross School of Business.
Alycia Kellman, Deputy General Counsel at the Coalition for Green Capital
Connect with Alycia on LinkedIn
Alycia Kellman is a seasoned impact investment attorney with expertise in climate finance, fund formation, and alternative investments. She serves as deputy general counsel at the Coalition for Green Capital, which aims to mitigate climate change by accelerating investment in clean energy technologies to create jobs, cleaner air, cleaner water, and cheaper power.
Prior to joining CGC, Alycia built and led the legal and compliance functions as general counsel and chief compliance officer at Grounded Capital, a private equity firm specializing in net-zero real estate, renewable energy, and regenerative agriculture investments. She was previously chief legal officer at SunFunder, where she structured innovative debt funds to support clean energy access for underserved communities in the Global South. Earlier in her career, she was vice president of legal and compliance at the Grassroots Business Fund, a nonprofit focused on economic empowerment that invests in small and medium-sized enterprises in emerging markets.
Alycia holds a JD from Georgetown University Law Center, an MA in human rights and democratization from the University of Witwatersrand in South Africa, and a BA in political science from Yale University.
Josh Nathan, Director, Impact Investments and Staff Attorney, Social Finance
Josh Nathan is a Director, Impact Investments and Staff Attorney at Social Finance, based in Boston. Josh supports a variety of workforce development impact investing projects including Pay It Forward Funds.
Previously, Josh served as an academic director at Bridge International Academies, a social enterprise improving the quality of education in developing countries. Josh started his career as a Teach For America corps member teaching eighth grade English in Dorchester, Massachusetts.
Josh holds MBA and JD degrees from the Kellogg School of Management and the Pritzker School of Law at Northwestern University. Josh graduated magna cum laude from Amherst College with a BA in English.
Jen Barnette, Special Counsel, Cooley
Jen Barnette is special counsel at Cooley where she leads the firm’s Social Impact practice. Jen is a proven leader in the impact investing field, with more than a decade of experience advising mission-driven companies and impact investors across a wide range of industries, spanning climate tech, responsible AI, digital health, edtech and consumer goods. She is sought out for her corporate governance expertise, particularly related to Delaware public benefit corporations (PBCs) and structuring hybrid for-profit and nonprofit collaborations. She has taught a course on social enterprise law at UC Berkeley School of Law for several years and is a frequent speaker on corporate structures to scale impact and financial returns. Jen holds a JD from UC Berkeley School of Law, an MA in Global Studies from UC Santa Barbara and BA in International Studies, cum laude, from the University of Miami.
Previous Annual Conferences
- 2025 Conference
The in-person 2025 Conference focused on the following themes:
- Collaborative Models and Partnerships in Impact Investing
- Shaping the Future of Impact
- Safeguarding Purpose in Times of Change
- 2024 Conference
The in-person 2024 Conference focused on the following themes:
- Navigating Incentives in Impact Investing
- Revolutionizing How Nonprofits Engage—Philanthropy, Private Capital and More
- Charting the Course: Navigating the Future of Impact Investing
- Preserving our Future: Environmental Resilience, Climate, and Nature Conservation
- 2023 Conference
The in-person 2023 Conference focused on the following themes:
- Distributive Power and Wealth: Is the Impact Space Ready and Willing to Democratize Capital?
- Impact Investing in Times of Crisis: Governance, Collaboration, Restructurings, Data, and Resilience
- Dynamic Impact Capital: Evolving Rules, Players, Structures, and Products
- A Tale of Diverging Regulatory Environments: Navigating Local and Global Regulations and Developing the Skills to Respond
- People's Choice topics were explored over a variety of Table Talk discussions reflecting conference participants’ suggestions.
- 2022 Conference
The remote 2022 Conference focused on the following themes:
- Blending Finance to Advance Climate Adaptation and Resilience
- Elevating Beneficiaries: Inclusive Design in Impact Instruments
- Legal Implications of Minority Wealth Equity Strategies
- Prepare for Impact: Training Lawyers for ESG, Impact Investing, and Social Enterprise Practices
- 2021 Conference
The remote 2021 Conference focused on the following themes:
- Investing in Climate Action
- Creating Responsible Exits and Restructurings
- Growing The Skills and Expanding the Mindsets of Our Legal Community
- Putting a Lens on Impact Investments
- Certifying and Regulating Impact
- Building Resilient Communities
- 2020 Conference
The 2020 IILWG/Grunin Center Annual Conference did not take place. We sadly came to this decision out of concern for the health and safety of the more than 400 participants who come from all over the world to New York City to attend this conference at NYU School of Law.
- 2019 Conference
The 2019 Conference focused on the following themes:
- Creating and Documenting “New” Impact Investment Products
- Embedding SDGs and ESG into Deals and Enterprises
- Blending Capital for Scale
- Engaging in Place-Based Impact Investing and Social Entrepreneurship
- Governing for Good—Taking a Longer-Term View
- People’s Choice (variety of topics reflecting Conference participants’ suggestions)
- 2018 Conference
The 2018 Conference focused on the following themes:
- Policy and regulation of impact investing and social entrepreneurship
- Blending and scaling capital
- Building investment-ready social enterprises
- Embedding impact into deal structures
- Mainstreaming impact
- People’s choice (variety of topics reflecting conference participants’ suggestions)
- 2017 Conference
The 2017 Conference focused on the following themes:
- Growing the global community of lawyers working in the field of social entrepreneurship and impact investing
- Planning for market uncertainty when investing in social enterprises or managing social enterprises
- Aggregating capital for impact investing
- Creating and documenting new impact investment products