News
Contributors
Inaugural Grunin Prize Given for Development of Performance Aligned Stock Investment Product, Benefitting Socially Responsible Companies
WASHINGTON, D.C.—Womble Bond Dickinson’s Impact Business Group is the inaugural winner of the Grunin Prize for social entrepreneurship. The prize recognizes the firm’s development, with Ron Boehm of BOMA Investments, Andy Lower of ADAP and John Berger of Relevée, of a new investment product called “Performance Aligned Stock.”
Presented by Grunin Center for Law and Social Entrepreneurship at the NYU School of Law, the Grunin Prize recognizes “the variety and impact of lawyers’ participation in the ways in which business, whether for-profit or not-for-profit, is increasingly advancing the goals of sustainability and human development.” The award was presented at a June 5 ceremony at the 2018 conference of the Grunin Center for Law and Social Entrepreneurship, co-organized with the Impact Investing Legal Working Group.
In a press release, Deborah Burand, associate professor of clinical law and co-director of the Grunin Center, said, “An extraordinary legal community of practice is emerging in the fields of social entrepreneurship and impact investing as evident by our six Grunin Prize finalists. The award of the Grunin Prize celebrates a remarkable achievement that members of this legal community are making toward developing innovative, scalable, and social entrepreneurial solutions to some of the world’s most pressing challenges.”
Pam Rothenberg, the founder, and leader of Womble Bond Dickinson’s Impact Business Group said, “The Impact Economy is rapidly moving into the mainstream, and NYU’s Grunin Center adds tremendous credibility to the Impact space. We at Womble Bond Dickinson are honored to be named the first-ever winner of the Grunin Prize, and we remain dedicated to our mission of Powering Commerce in the Impact Economy by helping our clients ‘Do well while doing good.’”
Womble Bond Dickinson was the first law firm in the country to form a multi-disciplinary, cross-sector Impact Business Group specifically focused on serving the growing Impact Economy. The Grunin Prize honors the collaborative work of a team comprised of Rothenberg, experienced corporate transactions attorney Alex Park, veteran tax attorney Howard Solodky and Director of Impact Strategies Mark Newberg, as well as BOMA founder Ron Boehm, Relevée’s John Berger and ADAP Capital’s Andy Lower to create Performance Aligned Stock.
This innovation has helped Relevée, a socially responsible jewelry business in India, and stands to aid many more Impact businesses. Relevée uses ethically sourced gems and precious metals and employs women as artisans and goldsmiths, paying them a transformative middle-class wage. In addition, proceeds from the sale of this jewelry benefit the survivors of human trafficking, child marriage, child labor and other human rights abuses.
Click here to read additional coverage of Womble Bond Dickinson winning the inaugural Grunin Prize in the NYU Law School Magazine.
