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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 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 (faculty advisor to the Tepper Fellows), (co-founder of the Social Enterprise Law Tracker and advisor to the Tepper Fellows) and (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 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 BA 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 ������ 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 Badzik 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 ������, 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 ������ 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 ������ 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 ������ 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.