lsea alternative.spring.break
TRANSCRIPT
LSEA’s Inaugural Spring BreakNairobi, Kenya. March 2012.
NYU’s Law & Social Entrepreneurship Association (LSEA) explores the role of the law and its practitioners in the emerging use of business principles to develop sustainable models for social change. Founded in 2009, LSEA was the first law student organization in the nation to formally explore the burgeoning social enterprise sector. The three-year-old organization cultivates student interest and engagement through speaker events, the NYU Social Innovation Symposium and unique student projects in partnership with prominent organizations like Ashoka and prestigious law firms like Paul Weiss.
In March, LSEA took to the international stage as ten members - 1Ls, LLMs, and everything in between - traveled to Nairobi on the organization’s inaugural Alternative Spring Break. Thanks to a generous grant from the Jacobson Leadership Program in Law & Business, these students explored a city rife with social challenges and buzzing with entrepreneurial solutions.
Under the leadership of Caroline Nguyen (JD/MBA ’12) and David Connelly (JD ’13, Reynolds Fellow), LSEA scheduled twelve meetings with entrepreneurs and organizations working in a variety of sectors, including education, corporate social responsibility, economic development, sanitation and impact investing.
The group met with David Auerbach, Co-Founder of Sanergy, who described the impact of property rights and energy regulation on his startup’s efforts to franchise energy-producing toilets to local entrepreneurs.
Minayo Sagala, impact investor Acumen Fund’s legal counsel, discussed the ways in which investing for both financial and social returns requires unique legal analysis and contract terms.
The students also visited Kituo Cha Sheria - a nonprofit organization founded by lawyers who recognized that severe poverty prevents access to justice systems and undermines fundamental human rights. The organization may serve as summer employer for LSEA 1L Cesar Francia, who took full advantage of the numerous networking opportunities provided by the trip.
Like Cesar, the rest of the LSEA team benefited greatly from their time in Nairobi. Descriptions like “life-changing” and “best spring break ever” abounded on our flights home. LSEA hopes to transform this amazing experience into an annual tradition and is already working towards this goal.