Loading…
This event has ended. View the official site or create your own event → Check it out
This event has ended. Create your own
View analytic
Thursday, May 30 • 1:45pm - 2:45pm
Legal Innovations in Social Entrepreneurship: Law as a Proactive Strategy to Achieve Social Change

Sign up or log in to save this to your schedule and see who's attending!

Tweet Share

Social entrepreneurs often do not fit neatly within the traditional nonprofit or for-profit legal categories. Instead they primarily focus on mission and may require different forms of capital. This means the law must catch up to reflect this growing trend. In the past few years, we’ve seen various legal innovations such as the creation of alternative for-profit legal structures to distinguish socially-responsible businesses (in addition to B Corp certification for existing businesses). Social entrepreneurs are also increasingly interested in accessing capital through crowdfunding, which soon will include the possibility of receiving equity contributions from the public. Come hear from Ashoka Fellows, Rafael Alvarez who helped others replicate his non-profit “subsidiary” model to scale his organization, and Sasa Vucinic who plans to launch IndieVoices, a crowdfunding platform to direct patient capital to independent media projects around the world. The session panelists will also engage in a provocative discussion regarding the future of social enterprise law, how social entrepreneurs can best utilize their lawyer as a co-creator, and the limits of pro bono legal services.

Featured Contributors
avatar for Rafael Alvarez

Rafael Alvarez

Founder & CEO, Genesys Works
Named by Forbes Magazine as one of the world’s top 30 social entrepreneurs, Rafael Alvarez is founder and CEO of Genesys Works. Established in 2002, Genesys Works is a non-profit corporation that changes the trajectory of life for underprivileged high school students, from one destined to a lifetime of low wage, dead-end jobs, to one in which they will fully participate in the economic mainstream. The way the organization accomplishes... Read More →
avatar for Chloe Holderness

Chloe Holderness

Managing Director, Lex Mundi Pro Bono Foundation
As the Managing Director of the Lex Mundi Pro Bono Foundation, Chloe Holderness has spent the last six years mobilizing and engaging the global legal profession to support and empower social entrepreneurs with access to the pro bono legal support they need to bring about high impact and sustainable social change. See www.lexmundiprobono.org and www.lawforchange.org. Before joining the Foundation, Ms. Holderness worked in the legal, finance and... Read More →
avatar for Henry Kahn

Henry Kahn

Partner, Hogan Lovells US LLP
I am a practicing corporate and securities regulatory lawyer, and have done this for 32+ years. I particulalry like to delve into tricky governance issues, both those that affect my client's abilities to pursue and achieve their strategic objectives, and even more so those that impeded non-profits with whom I am involved achieve their mission and enhance their organizaitonal sustainability. In some instances, it is necessary to be a disrutpor... Read More →
avatar for Jonathan Ng

Jonathan Ng

Global Legal Director, Ashoka
Jonathan oversees Ashoka’s in-house legal matters for its global headquarters. He manages Ashoka’s relationships with its pro bono legal counsel, which includes some of the leading global law firms. He also coordinates with Ashoka’s 33 country offices on matters related to corporate structuring, governance and compliance. Ashoka believes it is uniquely situated to be a leader in developing the emerging area of law and social... Read More →
avatar for Alicia Plerhoples

Alicia Plerhoples

Associate Professor of Law, Georgetown University Law Center
Alicia Plerhoples is Associate Professor of Law and the Director of the Social Enterprise & Nonprofit Law Clinic. She joined the Georgetown faculty in 2012, having previously taught at Stanford Law School and University of California Hastings College of the Law. She has been active in the local and national social enterprise movement, often speaking about laws that best facilitate the work of social entrepreneurs. Prior to teaching, Professor... Read More →
avatar for Andrea Schwartzman

Andrea Schwartzman

Partner, Latham & Watkins LLP
Andrea Schwartzman advises fund sponsors on the organization and operation of a wide range of private investment funds, including US and global buyout funds, infrastructure funds, power and energy funds, credit opportunity and other debt funds, co-investment funds, real estate funds, venture and growth capital funds, and funds-of-funds.

Thursday May 30, 2013 1:45pm - 2:45pm
Newseum Room 807 555 Pennsylvania Ave NW Washington, DC 20001
  Breakout Sessions

Attendees (2)