It’s #CollaborationWednesday and today, Jeremy talked with Dr. Patrick Leahy, President of Monmouth University.

Listen as Dr. Leahy explains how “unprecedented times call for unprecedented collaboration.” He discusses how faculty, leadership, administration and board members collaborated across all parts of the campus to find solutions to keep students safe, continue providing education and safely open in the future. As Dr. Leahy says (referring to collaboration), “this may be one of the legacies to come from the global pandemic and may possibly reset the way in which decisions are made.”

Thank you, Dr. Leahy for all you do today and always.

It’s #CollaborationWednesday and today, Jeremy talked with Dana Lancellotti, Director of Ocean County Tourism and Business Development. Listen as Dana talks about how OC Tourism is evolving as the health crisis evolves, how the tourism industry is balancing economic growth and keeping people safe and healthy, and how tourism industry parters are working together to make the summer at the Central Jersey Shore what we’ve all come to know and love.

Thank you Dana and everyone involved in Ocean County Tourism for working hard to keep us safe and healthy while giving us so many opportunities to enjoy the Central Jersey Shore!

It’s #CollaborationWednesday and today, Jeremy talked to Gwen Love, Executive Director of Lunch Break. Listen as Gwen discusses how Lunch Break is safely keeping volunteers engaged, how they are collaborating with nonprofits and businesses and how the spirit of coming together enabled them to move quickly to make things happen to serve those in need.

THANK YOU Gwen and Lunch Break for all you do for our community today and every day.

It’s #CollaborationWednesday and today, Jeremy talks to Kenneth Malagiere, Executive Director of the Ocean County College Foundation. Listen as Ken discusses how OCC is collaborating with other organizations to help students, what the future might look like for higher education and how the OCC Foundation will support students in a new learning reality. You may even hear a surprise guest barking in the background!

It’s #CollaborationWednesday and this week, Jeremy talked to Dr. Kenneth Sable, regional president of Hackensack Meridian Health‘s Southern Market. Listen as Dr. Sable talks about the COVID-19 crisis in our community, how Hackensack Meridian hospitals are being innovative to help COVID-19 patients and how they are collaborating with partners internally and externally to provide the best care possible.

THANK YOU, Dr. Sable and all of our healthcare heroes for keeping us safe and healthy. We appreciate everything you do, today and every day.

It’s #CollaborationWednesday and this week, Jeremy talked with Kim Guadagno, President & CEO of Fulfill. This is a very real and deep discussion of what it looks like to be on the frontlines of the health crisis. Fulfill has been working around the clock, with so many businesses and organizations at the Central Jersey Shore to make sure people stay food secure. Listen as Kim talks about collaboration and how the global pandemic brought Fulfill together, even stronger, with more partners in our community. THANK YOU Kim and EVERYONE at Fulfill for all you do today and always.

This is the first video in our #CollaborationWednesday series! Each week, we will talk to Central Jersey Shore nonprofits and learn how they are partnering to make a bigger impact in our community during COVID-19. This week, we talked to our partners and friends, Laurie Goganzer, President & CEO of the YMCA of Greater Monmouth County, and Peter T. Rosario, President & CEO of the Ocean County YMCA.

Jeremy, Laurie and Pete had a great discussion on collaborating, how to navigate partnerships for greater impact, and what our YMCAs are doing together (and with others in the community) to help those who need it most.

Times are difficult right now, but this video is uplifting and hopeful. THANK YOU, Pete and Laurie for being our first #CollaborationWednesday guests. We appreciate ALL you do for our community today and always.

This publication was written by the Grunin Center for Law and Social Entrepreneurship at NYU School of Law.

New York City, NY. (February 25, 2020) – The Grunin Center for Law and Social Entrepreneurship at NYU School of Law is delighted to announce the release of a first-of-its-kind impact investing case study: Launching the MicroBuild Fund. This case study, developed in partnership with the Social Innovation & Investment Initiative of the NYU Wagner Graduate School of Public Service, explores the legal, business and policy considerations that arose in the creation of the MicroBuild Fund ––a blended finance facility that was sponsored by Habitat for Humanity International to attract funding into housing microfinance on a global scale. 

The case study focuses on Habitat’s decision to sponsor the launch of its first impact investment fund, and the structuring and documentation issues Habitat confronted as it blended capital from a variety of actors. Secondary points of view include other significant, early investors in the MicroBuild Fund – including, in particular, Omidyar Network (equity from a private foundation) and the Overseas Private Investment Corporation (OPIC, now U.S. International Development Finance Corporation, DFC) (debt from the US Government’s development finance institution). The case study can be accessed on the Grunin Center’s learning platform here. 

“We launched the MicroBuild Fund in 2012 in response to the vast need for housing finance services to address the realities of the informal housing sector,” said Patrick Kelley, Vice President for the Terwilliger Center for Innovation in Shelter at Habitat for Humanity International. “After seven years, the MicroBuild Fund has enabled financial institutions across the globe to provide new housing financial products and services to low-income individuals and families, and is having a ripple effect on the market as others adopt the model. This MicroBuild Fund case study is an invaluable and novel tool for the field to learn more about this innovative financial product and how it is providing safe, decent and durable homes to millions.” 

The Grunin Center is also pleased to announce that Omidyar Network has expanded its grant to the Grunin Center to support the development of a second case study on the MicroBuild Fund, which will explore the unique challenges that arose in effectively securing legal services to support the structuring and launch of the MicroBuild Fund. Told from the point of view of deal counsel to the MicroBuild Fund, the case study will examine the nature, type, and fee arrangements of legal services used to structure and document an impact investment fund, as well as the legal, business and ethical considerations faced by deal counsel in determining how to structure, price and account for legal services. Through this effort, the Grunin Center aims to share critical learnings that may help incentivize the legal support and innovation needed to scale blended finance. 

“Too often when we think of the resources required to advance impact investing, we talk only of the financial capital necessary for these transactions,” said Deborah Burand, associate professor of clinical law and faculty co-director of the Grunin Center. “This case study examines another valuable, but 

sometimes overlooked, resource necessary for impact investing – intellectual capital. This case study looks at the intellectual capital contributed by the lawyers who helped to launch the MicroBuild Fund.” 

Once completed, the second case study will also become part of the learning platform being developed by the Grunin Center. This learning platform aims to help prepare a new generation of talented, committed, and globally oriented impact professionals by giving educators access to a range of teaching tools to support their efforts to embed themes of social entrepreneurship and impact investing into their course curricula. 

On February 26, 2020, the community came together to celebrate the grand opening of the Ocean County Vocational Technical Schools Performing Arts Academy at its new building on the Ocean County College campus. The PAA, previously located in Hanger One at Joint Base McGuire-Dix-Lakehurst, is now in a new 57,000 square-foot building that was officially opened in January of 2020. The new building houses everything from a black box theatre to dance and recording studios, and hosts classroom space and learning labs.  This new facility is shared by OCC and OCVTS, allowing expansion of college programs in the performing arts. High school students enrolled at the PAA will also be able to earn college credit while still in high school.  Students will also have the opportunity to graduate with both a high school diploma and an OCC associates degree. The OCVTS Performing Arts Academy is sure to create a spark in our community, in the arts, in education and in our economy. We are so excited for the future of the arts Ocean County!

“We are proud to support this innovative academy which provides first-class education and enhanced performing arts training to empower graduates with the practical skills for higher education or a professional career in the arts. This will surely create a booming future for the arts, the Ocean County community and the economy.” –Jay Grunin, Co-Founder and Chairman of the Grunin Foundation