2025 Symposium on Legal Issues in Social Entrepreneurship, Impact Investing, and Sustainable Development
When: 10:00 AM – 5:00 PM, Tuesday, October 7, 2025
Where: NYU School of Law
The Grunin Center for Law and Social Entrepreneurship and the Journal of Law & Business at NYU School of Law invite submissions for a symposium on legal issues arising in social entrepreneurship, impact investing, and sustainable development to be held at NYU School of Law.
The objective of this symposium is to convene legal scholars in a collegial and supportive environment to share and comment on works in progress that advance the following fields:
- social entrepreneurship,
- impact investing, and
- sustainable development.
We invite proposals that focus on this year’s theme: Fostering Resilience in Times of Change.
This year's symposium asks: how can we foster resilience among those engaging in social entrepreneurship, impact investing and/or sustainable development in these times of change and great uncertainty?
We are looking for submissions that address this question from a legal or lawyering perspective. Paper proposals should begrounded in empirical research, theory, policy, or practice, or any combination of these approaches. They can be aimed at the enterprise/transactional level or at the field/sectoral level. They can focus on place-based, national, regional, or global concerns or responses.They can inform contracting practices, governance structures, compliance, operational tactics, policymaking, finance terms and related documentation, or legal or regulatory change.
We invite a diverse range of proposals. Paper proposals may range from early works in progress to quasi-completed articles (so long as changes can still be made to the article prior to publication).
While the focus of this symposium is on legal issues arising in the fields of social entrepreneurship, impact investing, and sustainable development, we encourage submissions from legal scholars who are bringing to their research an interdisciplinary approach (by co-authoring with scholars from other disciplines) or a practitioner orientation (by co-authoring with legal practitioners).
Where possible, we will match symposium presenters with commentators who will be invited to provide a different perspective on the research and scholarship being presented.
Following the symposium, presenting scholars will be invited to submit final drafts of their articles for possible publication in the Spring 2026 issue of NYU School of Law’s Journal on Law & Business.
Abstract Submission Details
To submit your work in progress for consideration, please send the title and an abstract of your work in progress (of 1000 – 1500 words), including author(s), along with your name, contact information, affiliated institution, and a recent CV to grunincenter@gmail.com with the subject header “Symposium Submission.” Abstracts will be accepted on a rolling basis, starting on July 7, 2025, and ending on August 8, 2025. Given this rolling submission process, we encourage early submissions.
By September 29, 2025, we ask that symposium participants submit a first draft of their article as well as any additional documents that they would like their fellow symposium presenters and commentators to see.
Please contact Zvia Schoenberg, Executive Director of the Grunin Center, at zvia.schoenberg@nyu.edu with any questions about the submission process and the symposium.
Travel Support
The Grunin Center will provide up to two nights of lodging for those presenting at this symposium. Guests will stay in a suite with two separate bedrooms and a shared kitchen, restroom, and living space. Guests may be sharing the suite with one other person.
Timeline
- Late August 2025: Invitations offered to symposium presenters
- September 29, 2025: First drafts of articles submitted to Grunin Center and shared with fellow symposium presenters and commentators
- October 7, 2025: Symposium
- November 24, 2025: Final drafts of articles submitted to Journal of Law & Business
- January 13, 2026: Notice of acceptance of articles for publication
- Expected July 2026: Publication of Spring 2026 issue