Lawyers play a critical role in designing, implementing, and advancing models by which economic and social activity are conducted globally. The Grunin Center administers the award of an annual Grunin Prize for Law and Social Entrepreneurship to recognize lawyers’ participation in the ways in which business is increasingly advancing the goals of sustainability and human development.
The Grunin Prize aims to reward the innovation, potential impact, and replicability and/or scalability of projects and solutions developed by lawyers to advance the fields of social entrepreneurship and impact investing.
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 Jay and Linda Grunin Foundation. Jay and Linda have dedicated their philanthropic endeavors to investing in innovative projects that have measurable impacts creating meaningful, transformative change.
The 2024 Grunin Prize
The 2024 Grunin Prize will be awarded at a special ceremony on June 4, 2024, in New York City. This ceremony will take place as part of the Annual Conference on Legal Issues in Social Entrepreneurship and Impact Investing—in the US and Beyond, which is co-hosted at NYU School of Law by the Grunin Center for Law and Social Entrepreneurship and the Impact Investing Legal Working Group.
The 2023 Grunin Prize attracted numerous nominations from across the globe, which were representative of the extraordinary legal community of practice that is emerging in this field. Learn more about our 2023 finalists and winner.
Why apply for the Grunin Prize? Grunin Prize finalists receive recognition from a global community of lawyers, academics, policymakers, and other impact professionals. Finalists are invited to participate in the annual IILWG/Grunin Center conference to showcase their projects in front of hundreds of conference attendees. Past finalists and winners have also received media exposure.
See submission guidelines below and complete your submissions by Friday, January 19, 2024. For any questions or concerns related to the Grunin Prize, please contact the Grunin Center at law.gruninsocent@nyu.edu
Eligibility Criteria
The Grunin Prize is open to individual lawyers or legal teams from across the globe. Practitioners, legal educators, policymakers, in-house counsel, and other legal teams that develop an innovative social enterprise or impact investment solution using existing law, legal education, or new legal structures are eligible to apply.
- The Grunin Prize will recognize inputs, such as new uses of old laws or reframing of the conceptual framework surrounding the law, and outputs, such as the development of a new legal structure or organizational design.
- The nominated project must be completed or implemented on or before December 31, 2023. Only projects that have been completed or implemented within the past year will be considered.
- Examples of the types of legal projects that may be submitted for consideration include: innovative financing, contracting or entity structure, enacted legislation or adopted model laws, or design of new legal courses or tools.
Qualifying projects will be evaluated against the following criteria: innovation, potential impact, and replicability and/or scalability.
Nominations
To apply for the Grunin Prize or to nominate another party’s project, please complete the Grunin Prize submission form.
- Applicants and nominators can submit more than one project for consideration. A separate submission form must be completed for each project.
- Applicants and nominators are welcome to resubmit a previously nominated project that did not receive the Grunin Prize.
- If nominating another party’s project, nominators must coordinate with nominees to ensure all required information is provided in the submission form.
- Supplemental materials will not be accepted. However, as needed, applicants may be asked to provide additional information for consideration by the judging panel.
- Once notified, finalists will be expected to (i) participate in an interview with the judging panel on June 3, 2024, and (ii) liaise with the Grunin Center to coordinate a communications plan and develop a Grunin Prize video.
Timeline
- January 19, 2024: Deadline to complete submission forms.
- April 26, 2024: Finalists will be announced.
- June 3, 2024: Finalists will meet with the judging panel.
- June 4, 2024: The Grunin Prize will be awarded at a special ceremony.
Judging Panel
The screening panel is be composed of an internal prize committee that will select the finalists.
The final judging panel is composed of NYU Law representatives and industry experts who will select the Grunin Prize winner based on the submission materials, references, and a final interview.
Stay tuned to meet the 2024 Judging Panel, which will be announced soon.