Nordlicht Family Scholarship
The Nordlicht Family Scholarship in the Grunin Center for Law and Social Entrepreneurship is part of NYU’s innovative initiative to support social entrepreneurship through legal studies. The Scholarship is awarded to JD students who intend to pursue a career in social entrepreneurship by following a curriculum which combines legal and business skills with the ultimate goal of creating innovative solutions to pressing social problems. The scholarship is limited to JD applicants with financial need as defined by the Law School. Nordlicht Family Scholars are fully integrated members of the Jacobson Leadership Program.
The Nordlicht Family Scholarship is made possible thanks to the generous support of the Nordlicht Family.
Current Scholar
Chiandredi Johnson JD ’27
Chiandredi, born and raised in the Bronx, graduated as the Salutatorian of the Class of 2021 from the Macaulay Honors College at Baruch College with a BBA in Accounting. She also earned her MS in Taxation from Baruch in 2022 and received her NY CPA license in April 2024.
During her time at Baruch, Chiandredi was deeply involved in leadership and advocacy, serving as an Honors Program Ambassador, Peer Mentor, Student Assistant to the Office of Student Life, and Treasurer, later as Co-President, of the Pre-Law Society. She was also active in the Women of Color (WOC) program, where she led the program’s newsletter, writing about financial literacy and the experiences of women of color, and connected with other through discussions on race, womanhood, and generational trauma.
Prior to law school, Chiandredi worked as a Real Estate Tax Associate at PwC, where she specialized in real estate tax compliance and strategic planning. Her role involved incorporating innovative tax solutions and providing clients with actionable recommendations.
During her free time, Chiandredi enjoys playing with the NY Women’s Rugby Club. It was here that her interest in tax law expanded after observing the underutilization of incentives and guidance provided to nonprofit groups. She looks forward to exploring tax policy reform and strategies for maximizing tax benefits for nonprofits and small businesses.
Former Nordlicht Scholars
Tanya Bansal JD ’25
Before joining NYU Law, Tanya spent 4 years in the Middle East working on strategy, policy, and government.
Tanya was the first and the youngest person to be hired into the strategy team advising His Excellency the Director General of Economic Affairs at the Abu Dhabi Department of Economic Development, the principal entity responsible for economic strategy, policymaking, and regulation in the UAE’s capital. In her role, she supported the design and implementation of various strategic projects to increase Abu Dhabi’s competitiveness, including drafting the proposal for the first ever regulatory framework for SPACs (special purpose acquisition vehicle) in the Arab world, launching a USD 1.3bn Abu Dhabi IPO Fund to support public listings on the local stock exchange, expanding development finance options available to small and medium enterprises, and designing a USD 2.7bn industrial strategy to double manufacturing GDP in Abu Dhabi by 2031.
Prior, she spent three years as a management consultant with Monitor Deloitte’s Government and Public Services practice, where she advised government clients in the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia on multi-million-dollar economic development programs to increase economic diversification away from oil and improve the quality of life for citizens and workers. The most rewarding moment in her career was when three female athletes she had interviewed to design a USD 60mn Paralympic sports strategy, represented Saudi at the Tokyo 2020 Games.
A proud “senior member of the mission”, Tanya graduated from NYU Abu Dhabi, where she was the recipient of a full merit-based scholarship and graduated with honors in Economics and Finance. Tanya is thrilled to start NYU Law with her identical twin, Megha, during fall 2023. She is also honored to be a Jacobson Leadership Program in Law and Business Scholar, and looks forward to exploring how the right legal frameworks, policy and business incentives can accelerate inclusive economic development.
Visit LinkedIn to learn where Tanya is now.
Kevin Kuate Fodouop JD ’23
Originally from Paris, France, Kevin studied math, computer science, and statistics at Ecole Polytechnique and Harvard University before spending 6 years in the tech industry. Throughout his tech career, he shifted his focus from initially working on technology-centered products to ventures driven by societal impact, most recently leading product and growth teams in health tech and education tech. Prior to law school, Kevin was the Head of Growth at Mos.com, an education-tech startup that helps alleviate the student debt crisis by making college funding more accessible to students across the US.
At NYU, Kevin focused on technology policy and regulation and explored how law and policy can get ahead of complex innovations to design business rules and incentives capable of fostering an equitable tech-enabled society. Kevin spent his 1L summer with the Antitrust Bureau of the New York State Attorney General's Office and his 2L summer at Cravath, Swaine & Moore LLP. Kevin served as an Executive Editor on the NYU Law Review and as the President of student groups Rights over Tech and the Asia Law Society. Kevin is now an antitrust law clerk at Wachtell, Lipton, Rosen & Katz.
Visit LinkedIn to learn where Kevin is now.
Logan Cotton ’22
Logan joined NYU Law School after four years in Washington, DC, as part of Deloitte Consulting’s Government and Public Sector practice. In his work as a strategy consultant, Logan supported government clients and socially-minded private sector clients as they developed new products, revised business strategies, and worked to bolster their impact on end-users. Logan is especially proud of opportunities he had to work with social entrepreneurs in Uganda, India, and Chile. Each of these projects demonstrated the immense creativity of entrepreneurs around the world, in addition to the potential for the public and private sectors to collaborate for productive outcomes.
Prior to Deloitte, Logan taught 6th-grade English in Houston, Texas, through Teach for America. His students were thoughtful and curious, seizing upon opportunities to read and discuss texts that tackled topics of interest and significance to their lives. In addition to teaching, Logan coached the 7th-grade football team, community organized through Leadership for Educational Equity and Black Lives Matter, and explored Houston’s taco scene.
Logan attended Tufts University for his undergraduate degree and is a proud Chicago native. In his spare time, he reads about housing policy, plays rugby, and has a fledgling collection of comic books.
Visit LinkedIn to learn where Logan is now.
Michael Strother ’21
Michael was born and raised in the Philadelphia area, and graduated from the University of Pennsylvania with a degree in English concentrating in Medieval Literature. Prior to law school, he worked as an editor for several major publishers in New York. At NYU he holds leadership positions in several student groups including First Generation Professionals (President), Health Law and Policy Society (Treasurer), and the Social Enterprise and Start-Up Law Group (Alternative Break Co-Chair), and is a member of both BALSA and OUTLaw. He spent his 1L summer at Cleary Gottlieb, his 2L summer at White & Case, and worked as an associate at White & Case for almost two years.
Visit LinkedIn to learn where Michael is now.
Riley Jones ’20
Hailing from Chicago's South Side, Riley is a social entrepreneur with a passion for creating pathways to opportunity. In 2015, he co-founded Bloc, a company using emerging technologies to prepare young people for the future of work. He was recognized by Forbes as a 30 Under 30 Social Entrepreneur in 2019. He holds a B.A. in Political Science and American Studies from Columbia University. Since graduating from NYU Law, he has served as a Director of Ventures at CityBridge Education and an Advisory Board Member for the Margaret Walker Center at Jackson State University.
Visit LinkedIn to learn where Riley is now.
Eliza Chute JD/MBA ’19
After graduating from the University of Pennsylvania in 2010, Eliza moved to Prey Veng, Cambodia where she conducted a research project on rural women’s health and sanitation. She then moved to Thailand to work for the EarthRights School Myanmar. It was this experience that first sparked her interest in business as a tool for social change. She built upon that interest by training social entrepreneurs in Cambodia. She received her JD/MBA from NYU. During school she was involved in the Social Enterprise and Start-up Law Group, the Sustainability and Social Impact Association and wrote her substantial writing paper on economic incentives for impact as a form of mission lock in private equity deals. She spent her 1L summer at Comar law, creating model investment terms for impact investments. She spent both her 2L and 3L summers at Goodwin Procter in San Francisco. Eliza is now an associate at Goodwin.
Visit LinkedIn to learn where Eliza is now.