The Grunin Center for Law and Social Entrepreneurship selects up to five paid student Research Assistants (Tepper Fellows). Research Assistants are responsible for keeping the Social Enterprise Law Tracker up to date with respect to the laws and regulations that are shaping the types of legal forms available to social enterprises in the United States. This work involves performing legal research, as well as data collection, data analysis and data entry.
Research Assistants also develop an annual report on Mapping the State of Social Enterprise and the Law that is published over the summer.
Research Assistants have a unique opportunity to be mentored by Professor Deborah Burand (faculty advisor to the Tepper Fellows), Rob Esposito (co-founder of the Social Enterprise Law Tracker and advisor to the Tepper Fellows) and Hannah Yang (former Tepper Fellow and advisor to the Tepper Fellows).
Applications are now closed. Please check back in during the fall for the next application round.
Social Enterprise Law Tracker Co-Founder and Tepper Fellow Advisor
Rob Esposito
Mr. Esposito joined Apollo in 2020 in the Legal Department as the firm's first ESG Counsel. Prior to that, Mr. Esposito was an associate in the Private Funds Group at Paul, Weiss, Rifkind, Wharton & Garrison LLP from June 2017 to March 2020. Prior to that, Mr. Esposito was an M&A and private funds associate in the New York offices of two international law firms. Mr. Esposito previously served as a Jacobson Fellow in Law and Business at New York University Law School, and as a professional lecturer in law on the adjunct faculty at The George Washington University Law School.
Mr. Esposito received his B.A. from Dartmouth College, his JD from Wake Forest University School of Law, and his LLM, with highest honors, in International and Comparative Law from The George Washington University Law School.
“When we co-founded the Social Enterprise Law Tracker (SELT), we were driven by an academic interest in the intersection of emerging corporate law and cutting edge technology. The interactive SELT website was a product of that combined interest. I am honored and grateful to NYU Law for embracing its stewardship and maintenance of the SELT website since its founding, and am delighted to continue participating in its evolution as an advisor to the Tepper Fellows and the Grunin Center.” - Rob Esposito
Meet our 2024-2025 Tepper Fellows
Andy Guan JD '26
Andy was born and raised in Beijing, China, and attended the University of Washington where he majored in Finance and Philosophy. Andy is interested in social impact entrepreneurship and he co-founded a startup Incubator called ProSeed which aimed to provide underprivileged students with access to startup resources and mentorship. ProSeed held hackathons, incubation camps, and startup case competitions, and incubated two social-impact-driven startup projects. The best thing in operating a startup incubator, Andy said, was to experience growth together with the founders and learn from the brilliant people around him. In Andy's future law school studies, he will keep exploring the intersections between law and social entrepreneurship.
Josh Badzi JD ’26
Josh is interested in social enterprise, emerging companies, and technology law. He earned his undergraduate degree from The Ohio State University, studying Economics and Public Policy Analysis. Before attending law school, Josh worked in government and public services consulting at a large multinational firm. At NYU, Josh serves as a staff editor for the Journal of Law and Business and co-president of the Social Enterprise and Startup Law Group. Following his 1L summer fellowship with NYU Law’s Entrepreneurship and Venture Capital Program, he is now a student clinician in the International Transactions Clinic for the 2024-25 academic year.
Shelby Hobohm JD ’27
Shelby grew up in Dallas, Texas and earned her B.A. in Government, B.S. in Mechanical Engineering, and M.S.E. in Nuclear Engineering at The University of Texas at Austin. Prior to law school, she worked as an applied research engineer studying radiation effects on electronics while completing the coursework portion of her in-progress PhD in Nuclear Engineering. At NYU Law, Shelby is a first year representative of the Social Enterprise and Startup Law Society as well as the Environmental Law Society. She is interested in exploring the ways that the law can incentivize sustainable business practices as well as other connections between the law and social entrepreneurship.
Casey Martin JD ’27
Casey is originally from Connecticut and graduated from Cornell University in 2022 with a B.S. in Industrial and Labor Relations and minors in Business and Law and Society. As an undergraduate she researched emerging climate disclosure regulations as well as conservation and biodiversity finance. Prior to Law School she spent two years working in Washington D.C. as a business analyst for a financial services company. She is interested in the intersection of business and sustainability, in particular how regulation can improve both business performance and social outcomes.
Van Tran JD ’27
Van Tran holds a B.A. in International Studies from Rhodes College (’23). Prior to joining NYU Law, she worked in impact consulting, development, and research as a Business Development Fellow at a San Francisco-based social impact consultancy and as a Research Assistant at UC Berkeley, where she assisted in investigating corporate influence on food security. Other prior positions include working at data and development positions at NPOs and think tanks such as the ACLU, Results for America, East-West Center, C4ADS, and Transparency International.
Meet our Tepper Fellow alumni
2023-2024 Tepper Fellows
Matt Kuhlik JD '24
Matt is interested in social enterprises, emerging companies, and tech law. Matt attended Emory University, where he majored in business administration. Prior to law school, he worked in management consulting and as an analytics manager at a healthcare-focused tech startup. At NYU, Matt was a staff editor for the Annual Survey of American Law. In 2022, Matt interned at the SEC in its Division of Enforcement. In 2023, Matt was a Summer Associate at Debevoise & Plimpton. He spent three years as a Tepper Fellow.
Visit LinkedIn to learn where Matt is now.
Walla Elshekh JD '24
Walla is from New Jersey and graduated from Seton Hall University in 2018 with a B.A. in Political Science and a minor in Economics. Before law school, Walla worked at the Center for Court Innovation, supporting community courts’ training and technical assistance across the US and to justice practitioners globally. She also is a trustee of a local nonprofit that provides resources to unify and strengthen Muslim communities throughout the state, including connecting leaders to anti-racism and gender equity training. Walla is a 2021 Sponsors for Equal Opportunity (SEO) fellow who spent her pre-1L summer at Shearman & Sterling LLP and her 1L and 2L summers at Morrison Foerster LLP. In addition to being a Birnbaum Women’s Leadership Fellow at NYU Law, Walla participates in the Entrepreneurship Clinic, is a Lawyering Teaching Assistant, and is the Private Professional Development Co-Chair for the Black Allied Law Students Association. Walla has spent two years as a Tepper Fellow.
Visit LinkedIn to learn where Walla is now.
Christelle Mazloum JD '25
Christelle grew up in Qatar and earned her B.A. in Business Management and Accounting at the University of Edinburgh. Before law school, she contributed to research and advocacy on corruption in the Middle East at Transparency International. At the Qatar Financial Centre Authority's legislative arm, Christelle supported the development of regulatory initiatives aimed at advancing the nation’s financial ecosystem. At NYU Law, Christelle promotes access to legal services for entrepreneurs as Co-Chair of the Rising Tide Capital program. Christelle is interested in exploring how corporate law and securities regulations can accelerate sustainable and socially responsible development.
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Andy Guan [Bio Above]
Elise van den Hoek JD '25
Elise is interested in social enterprise, international law, and sustainability, with a particular focus on renewable energy. As a Robertson Scholar, she was jointly enrolled at Duke University and UNC Chapel Hill during her undergraduate career. Duke was her home campus, where she received a BA in Public Policy, and founded a zero-waste food pop-up business on campus called Scoop. As a Russian language speaker, she also has expertise and research experience in US-Russia relations and Transatlantic Security. She hopes to pursue a legal career that spans these interests, with a focus on international transactions and sustainable development. She studied abroad during the spring 2024 semester.
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2022-2023 Tepper Fellows
Elise van den Hoek [Bio Above]
Matt Kuhlik [Bio Above]
Walla Elshekh [Bio Above]
2021-2022 Fellows
Wolfgang Jorde JD '24
Wolfgang attended Wesleyan University as an undergraduate, where he was on a pre-med track and majored in psychology. Prior to law school, Wolfgang worked in and around the food world in New York, both through restaurants and the nonprofit sector, with his last position being at the James Beard Foundation as a finance associate. At NYU, Wolfgang was a member of the Black Allied Law Students Association and was the treasurer of the JD/MBA Association. In the summer after completing his 2L year, he served as a summer associate at both Davis Polk & Wardwell and Gunderson Dettmer in the New York City offices.
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Matt Kuhlik [Bio Above]
2020-2021 Fellows
Sydney Forrest JD '23
Sydney is from Tampa, Florida. Before law school, Sydney attended Wesleyan University for her undergraduate degree in mathematics and Olin Graduate School of Business at Babson College for her MS in finance. At NYU, besides being a Tepper Fellow for the Grunin Center for Law and Social Entrepreneurship, Sydney was a Jacobson Leadership Scholar for Law and Business and the Social Innovation Symposium chair for the Social Enterprise & Startup Law Club.
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Nadia Greggs JD '22
Nadia graduated with a BA in economics from Georgetown University and an MA from Hunter College in applied mathematics and statistics. Prior to law school, Nadia worked at the Board of Governors of the Federal Reserve System in Washington, DC where she assisted with research on competition and financial stability in the banking industry. She then moved on to develop student-growth metrics for New York State as a senior research analyst for an education research organization. In addition, she was an expert consultant for the Wisconsin Innocence Project. She was a member of the Black Allied Law Students Associate at NYU.
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Hannah Yang JD '21
Hannah was interested in tech law, sustainability, and social entrepreneurship. She served as a student editor at the Environmental Law Journal and was a co-president of the Supreme Court Forum. She was also on the boards of the Environmental Law Society and Rights over Tech. Prior to law school, she worked as a paralegal at Simpson Thacher. Yang graduated from Princeton University with a degree in chemistry.
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2019-2020 Fellows
Dan Brown JD '20
Dan was interested in social enterprises and alternative ownership structures, housing and welfare law, urban policy, and city government. Brown served as a student editor at the NYU Tax Law Review and as president of the NYU Law International Arbitration Association. He participated in a Housing Clinic with the Legal Aid Society, representing tenants threatened with eviction from their homes. Prior to law school, he was a member of the third-ever class of NYU Abu Dhabi, where he graduated cum laude with a degree in political science.
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Hanna Downing JD '20
Hanna had an interest in social entrepreneurship, international law, and education policy. In addition to her work at the Grunin Center, she was also involved with the Education Advocacy Clinic. She served as a judicial intern for United States District Court Judge Kiyo A. Matsumoto and United States District Court Chief Judge Lee H. Rosenthal. Prior to law school, she was selected as a Fulbright Scholar in Taiwan. Hannah graduated cum laude from Rice University with a degree in Asian studies and policy studies.
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Ahmed Yacout JD '21
Ahmed was interested in international law, social entrepreneurship, and Islamic jurisprudence. He served as a student editor at the Journal of International Law and Policy and on the board of NYU’s Immigrant Rights Project. Prior to law school, he conducted archival research on the history of slave abolition in Europe and the United States. He graduated cum laude from NYU Abu Dhabi with a degree in history and political science.
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Hannah Yang [Bio Above]
2018-2019 Fellows
Dan Brown [Bio Above]
Hanna Downing [Bio Above]
Ava Haghighi JD '19
Ava had an interest in the intersection of international business and human rights law. During her time at NYU, Haghighi was the International Law Society Public Practice chair, a student advocate for the International Refugee Assistance Project (IRAP), a Women of Color Collective high school mentor, and a law student advocate with the Global Justice Clinic. She spent her last semester at NYU Shanghai as part of NYU’s Law Abroad program. Prior to law school, Haghighi founded and ran an international social enterprise focused on empowering women artisans around the world. She graduated magna cum laude from USC Marshall School of Business with a degree in business administration.
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Carolina Henriquez-Schmitz
Carolina Henriquez-Schmitz was the founding executive director of the Grunin Center for Law and Social Entrepreneurship at New York University School of Law. She is an international attorney who has spent a significant part of her career working to educate and empower other lawyers to be proactive leaders in driving social change. Prior to joining the Grunin Center, she was regional lead and legal manager at the Thomson Reuters Foundation, where she oversaw an award-winning pro bono service that facilitates legal support for social enterprises in the Americas, and worked with social impact partners around the world to develop strategic resources and capacity-building opportunities for lawyers and entrepreneurs. Earlier in her career, Henriquez-Schmitz worked at two leading international law firms, the World Bank and the Zambia Law Development Commission, where she specialized in international finance, dispute resolution, and business and human rights. She is a dual-qualified lawyer and holds a JD from Universidad Católica Andrés Bello in Venezuela and an LLM from Harvard Law School.
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2017-2018 Fellows
Alice Thai JD '18
Alice was interested in the potential synergies between the private and public sector. She strongly believes that conscientious capitalism will be the future and that impact investment and social entrepreneurship will be two of its main tools. She wrote a paper about how municipalities can use social impact bonds to fund permanent supportive housing for the homeless.
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Margaret Suh JD '20
Margaret was seeking innovative ways to support social entrepreneurs. Prior to law school, Margaret managed customer experience at a tech start-up that sought to empower small business owners and served as interim director of a newly formed think-and-do tank, The Project for the Advancement of Our Common Humanity. Margaret graduated cum laude from Boston College in 2013 with a degree in Philosophy and International Studies.
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Riley Jones JD '20
Riley has a background in social entrepreneurship; in 2015 he co-founded an organization, Bloc, to increase education and career access for students of color across the United States. Riley was also a Mellon Mays Undergraduate Fellow who did research under tenured sociology and American Studies faculty. Riley graduated from Columbia University in 2017 with a degree in Political Science and American Studies.
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Flynn Coleman
Flynn Coleman was the founding Grunin Fellow at the Grunin Center. She is an international attorney, a social entrepreneur, an educator, an author, a public speaker, an ethical fashion designer, a former competitive athlete, and a founder and CEO. She holds a BSFS from Georgetown University, a JD from UC Berkeley School of Law, and an LLM from the London School of Economics and Political Science.
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