Jaffe's Oertel discusses impact investing, community foundation law trends

Dedicated to promoting investments aimed at socially beneficial goals, Jennifer Miller Oertel, partner at Jaffe Raitt Heuer & Weiss, P.C., is speaking at four industry events. Passionate about impact investing and philanthropy, Oertel serves as co-chair of the Nonprofit Corporations Committee (Business Law Section) of the State Bar of Michigan and was appointed by the Council on Foundations as a legal reviewer for National Standards for accreditation of community foundations.

From May 13 to 16, Oertel served as one of three lawyers chosen to answer attendees’ legal questions as part of the “Lawyer is in” program at the Mission Investors Exchange 2018 Annual Conference. Held in Chicago, MIE’s 2018 National Conference, “Mission Forward!”, is the pre-eminent impact investing conference for foundations and other stakeholders in impact investing.

On May 17, she discussed community foundation legal issues for a tri-state gathering of members of the Council of Michigan Foundations, Indiana Philanthropy and Philanthropy Ohio. Hosted in Fort Wayne, Oertel discussed legal issues relevant to community foundations, including traps for the unwary and updates on the effects of tax reform and other proposed legislation affecting community foundations.

On June 5, Oertel will present on incorporating social purpose in law firm practice at the Impact Investing Legal Working Group / Grunin Center for Law and Social Entrepreneurship’s 2018 Conference on “Legal Issues in Social Entrepreneurship and Impact Investing – in the U.S. and Beyond.” This year’s conference will take place at NYU School of Law in New York City.

Oertel has also been invited to participate in the U.S. Global Leadership Coalition State Leaders Summit from June 18 to 19 in Washington D.C., where she’ll join top leaders from business, government, the for-impact sector and the military to discuss expanding access to development finance and impact investing. She will also participate in a private reception with Ray Washburne, president and CEO of the Overseas Private Investment Corporation, and private meetings with members of Congress.

Oertel leads Jaffe’s Tax-exempt Organizations and Impact Investing Group, where she represents impact investors, impact funds, social enterprises, family and corporate foundations, community foundations, public charities, regional associations, trade associations and chambers of commerce in all aspects of their business. Notably, in 2015, the National Law Journal highlighted her impact investing practice in electing Jaffe as one of 20 firms across the country (the only one in Michigan) to its “Mid-Size Hotlist.”

Oertel, the founding Vice Chair of the Michigan chapter of Social Enterprise Alliance, has judged “Crain’s Best Managed Nonprofits” and regularly judges social enterprise business plan competitions. She has spoken and published both locally and nationally on impact investing and philanthropy, as well as served as a director and on the advisory boards of several for-impact organizations, winning several awards for her volunteerism.