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Law, Innovation, and the Future of the Impact Economy with Deborah Burand
As the impact economy matures, the legal landscape surrounding it is both a catalyst and a constraint. From the pushback against ESG and DEI to the emergence of new financing strategies and legal structures for mission-driven enterprises, the role of law in shaping an equitable, sustainable economy is under intense scrutiny.
In this timely conversation, Impact Entrepreneur’s Laurie Lane-Zucker welcomes Deborah Burand, Professor of Clinical Law (emerita) at NYU School of Law and Faculty Director of the Grunin Center for Law and Social Entrepreneurship. Deb is widely recognized as one of the foremost legal minds in the field, bridging practice, policy, and pedagogy to advance the future of socially and environmentally conscious business and finance.
This Luminarias session will explore:
Join us for an illuminating conversation that situates law not as a technical afterthought, but as a cornerstone for building a more just and regenerative economy.
Deborah Burand is the faculty director of the Grunin Center for Law and Social Entrepreneurship at the NYU School of Law. She also teaches in NYU Law’s Paris program where she leads an experiential course that introduces law students to the legal and business issues that can arise in launching and managing impact investment funds.
During her nearly two decades of working in academia, she founded the first international transactions clinics established by law schools in the United States – at NYU Law (in 2015) and the University of Michigan Law School (in 2008). The Council on Foreign Relations named Prof. Burand a Higher Education Ambassador Fellow – 2024-2025. She also was awarded a Distinguished Teaching Award in 2024 by NYU School of Law. In 2021, she and former NYU Wagner colleague, ret. Professor Scott Taitel, were recognized by the Financial Times for “excellence in sustainable finance education for innovation and creativity in teaching materials.”
Earlier in her career, the Council on Foreign Relations awarded her an International Affairs Fellowship. During her fellowship, she worked in the legal departments of the International Monetary Fund (IMF) and the European Bank for Reconstruction and Development (EBRD). Deborah also has worked in the private sector (global law firm), public sector (as the general counsel of the US Government’s development finance institution, a senior attorney at the US Federal Reserve Board, and a senior attorney/adviser at the US Treasury Department), and nonprofit sector (senior management roles in conservation and microfinance organizations).
Laurie Lane-Zucker is Founder and CEO of Impact Entrepreneur, PBC, an impact economy business that hosts the Impact Entrepreneur Network — a large, global network of “systems-minded” entrepreneurs, investors, and scholars of social and environmental innovation — and editor and publisher of Impact Entrepreneur, a digital magazine covering the emerging Impact Economy. For over 30 years, Laurie has been a “pioneer” (Forbes) and recognized leader in sustainability, social enterprise, and impact investing. Laurie was the founding Executive Director of the international environmental organization, Orion Society, which publishes the celebrated Orion Magazine, as well as the founder of a global sustainability think-tank, the Triad Institute, and Hotfrog, a Founding B Corporation, GIIRS Pioneer Company, and the first company ever to complete an equity transaction on an impact investment exchange. Laurie is the bestselling and multiple award-winning publisher and editor of books and magazines on sustainability and social impact — having worked with such acclaimed authors as Wendell Berry, Barry Lopez, Terry Tempest Williams, and David James Duncan — and the author of numerous articles on entrepreneurship and impact investing. Laurie is contributing author to the academic textbook from World Scientific, Sustainability: Business and Investment Implications. His new book, The Impact Entrepreneur Breakthrough: A Field Manual for the Regenerative Economy, will be pubished by Berrett-Koehler in 2026, with global distribution by Penguin Random House.
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