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Profit with a Purpose

You don't have to choose between financial returns and social impact.

Ice Miller's Social Impact Team sits at the intersection of private equity, venture capital, individual investment and philanthropy and serves diverse clients who are changing the face of our communities.

We understand our clients do not want to choose between financial returns and social impact. They want to generate "profit with a purpose," and our cross-practice group team ensures they receive sophisticated legal support to bridge the gap between for-profit and tax-exempt markets.

FINANCIAL RETURNS + SOCIAL IMPACT

Click below to enlarge the infographics and learn more about corporate social responsibility and social impact investing.

  Corporate Social Responsibility Infographic Social Impact Investing Infographic  
 
Click below to learn more about some of our socially conscious clients.

Corporate Social Responsibility

Investors with Social Impact Focus

Social Enterprise Entities

Traditional Foundations and Charities

Corporate Social Responsibility

Corporate Social Responsibility

Corporate Social Responsibility

Socially conscious businesses embrace a philosophy that is reflected in the way they create and market their products, the way they interact with their consumers and the workplaces they create for their employees. They make conscious decisions every day that balance a desire for profits with a commitment to social purpose. These businesses recognize that the buying decisions of their consumers are increasingly driven by and aligned with their closely held beliefs and values.

Ice Miller's Social Impact Team assists our clients with implementation of the following strategies:
 
  • Employee volunteerism programs;
  • Employee fundraising drives;
  • Employee matching gift programs;
  • Charitable grant programs;
  • Employee scholarship programs;
  • Creation of corporate private foundations and donor-advised funds; and 
  • Commercial co-venturing programs (i.e., charity sales or service promotions). 
The Gene B. Glick Company
 
Gene B Glick Logo
The Gene B. Glick Company was born out of a young WWII veteran’s desire to help his fellow GIs build homes for their families. Eugene Glick founded the company in 1947 in Indianapolis, and by the early 1960s, it was the largest single-family homebuilder in Indiana.
 
The Gene B. Glick Company built its first apartment community in 1962, and by the mid-1970s, the business focused solely on multi-family housing development and management. The company’s reputation was built on its founder’s commitment to integrity, quality construction, excellent service and superbly maintained communities. Today, the Gene B. Glick Company is one of the largest privately held real estate management and development firms in the United States, with more than 20,000 units in 13 states.

Click here to watch the video "Profit With A Purpose: The Gene B. Glick Company."
 
However, purpose, not just profit, has been a part of the company since its early days. In 1982, Gene and Marilyn Glick established what is now known as Glick Philanthropies. With more than $600 million in charitable assets in the various initiatives, programs and organizations under its umbrella, Glick Philanthropies demonstrates the company’s focus on people—both inside and outside the organization.
 
  • The Glick Family Foundation has awarded over $150 million to charitable causes throughout the community. 
  • The Glick Family Housing Foundation owns 25 nonprofit affordable housing properties with nearly 5,000 units under management and has a commitment to meet the individual needs of its residents. Through funding from the Glick Family Foundation, all Glick Family Housing Foundation properties employ on-site service coordinators to help residents navigate community services and build bridges to self-sufficiency. 
  • Through Glick Gives, the Glick Family Foundation encourages Glick employees to support local charities by matching employee contributions dollar-for-dollar. 
  • Through Glick Cares, employees are invited to give their time, energy and talents to serving their communities through paid time off to devote to volunteering. 
Additionally, Glick Philanthropies, in conjunction with the Central Indiana Community Foundation, is leading a collective impact plan to address societal problems on the Far Eastside of Indianapolis, including housing, education and intergenerational poverty. Through its Far Eastside Success Initiative, Glick Philanthropies has invested more than $8 million in the Far Eastside and is coordinating multiple community partners, including the local United Way, the city’s largest school district, Goodwill Industries and other neighborhood-serving groups, as they work to implement the comprehensive redevelopment plan. 

Ice Miller's Social Impact Team is proud of our long-standing relationship with both the Gene B. Glick Company and Glick Philanthropies as we work together to identify and create new and innovative ways to use business to benefit the community. Our legal services include: 
 
  • Establishing legal entities within Glick Philanthropies, including TeenWorks and the Gene B. Glick Housing Foundation; creating governance and operational documents; obtaining tax exemptions and advising on ongoing compliance issues; 
  • Building the legal framework and implementing operational guardrails to ensure the relationships between the Gene B. Glick Company and Glick Philanthropies are compliant with the complex regulations that govern public charities, private foundations and for-profit companies;
  • Structuring, drafting and negotiating comprehensive grant agreements that support large-scale projects across all Glick Philanthropies platforms; and 
  • Providing advice regarding related-party issues that impact for-profit companies with related charitable organizations to ensure Glick family members and key corporate employees remain meaningfully engaged in the corporate and philanthropic work of both Gene B. Glick Company and Glick Philanthropies.
We also brought our experience in both the corporate and charitable sectors to bear when working with the Gene B. Glick Company to create corporate social responsibility programs, such as Glick Gives and Glick Cares, that not only encourage employee volunteerism and philanthropy but also increase the Gene B. Glick Company's ability to recruit and retain talent and increase its bottom line. 
 
The Gene B. Glick Company remains committed to giving back in the communities it calls home and is a national leader in corporate social responsibility. The Gene B. Glick Company “takes care” in business. 

Investors with Social Impact Focus

Private Equity Funds

Investors with Social Impact Focus

Social impact investing refers to investments made into companies, organizations and funds with the intention to generate a measurable, beneficial social impact alongside a financial return. It represents an opportunity to invest charitable assets in the growth of our economy while producing financial returns and addressing systemic, social issues. In sum, it aligns the goals and aspirations of our communities, our most dynamic businesses and employers and the philanthropic sector.

Ice Miller represents both the for-profit investment funds and their tax-exempt investors (private foundations, public charities and donor-advised funds) in the creation and structuring of:
 
  • Charitable investment funds;
  • University-related venture and technology transfer funds;
  • Program-related investments (PRIs) by private foundations;
  • Mission-related investments (MRIs) by traditional public charities; and
  • Social impact investments by traditional investors.
Indiana University Research & Technology Corp.
 
IU LogoIU Philanthropic Venture Fund
 
Indiana University Research & Technology Corp. (IURTC) catalyzes entrepreneurial activities at Indiana University and provides support for IU innovation-based startup companies. It advises and connects IU startups to capital and commercialization partners, industry mentors and leadership talent. It also develops appropriate programming and startup space to accelerate company growth.
 
Last summer, as part of its continuing efforts to contribute to the economic vitality of the state of Indiana by aiding the most promising ideas and startups, IURTC worked with Ice Miller’s Social Impact Team to launch the IU Philanthropic Venture Fund. The Fund provides capital to IU faculty, students and staff at all campuses to help them further develop their research and innovations into startup companies. Funding can be used for prototyping, proof-of-concept testing and equity investments, primarily at the initial stages of company development.  
 
Unlike traditional investment funds, the IU Philanthropic Venture Fund is funded entirely through philanthropic dollars and allows donors the opportunity to support Hoosier innovation by deploying critical seed and early-stage capital into the state’s entrepreneurial ecosystem. With initial funding of $15 million from the IURTC and the IU Foundation and a goal of growing to $50 million, the IU Philanthropic Venture Fund is the largest university-initiated fund in the state. 
 
As counsel to IURTC and the Fund, Ice Miller’s Social Impact Team created the Fund’s corporate and organizational documents, built its governance and operational infrastructure and worked closely with IURTC’s leadership to develop investment parameters and policies that carefully balanced market-based investment principals with the core philanthropic and educational motivations behind the Fund. By leveraging the Firm’s rich experience and deep bench in the venture capital and philanthropic spaces, Ice Miller helps forward-thinking innovators like IURTC and the IU Philanthropic Venture Fund generate positive financial and social returns in the community. 

Social Enterprise Entities

Social Enterprise Entities

Social Enterprise Entities

Social Enterprise Entities address a basic unmet need or solve a societal problem through a market-driven or commercial approach. A Social Enterprise Entity is a business with primarily social objectives. Any profits that are created are reinvested into the charitable or social mission of that entity (or into the community) rather than maximizing profits for shareholders. 

Ice Miller's Social Impact Team assists social enterprise entities by:
 
  • Structuring and creating the legal entity, including recognition of federal and state tax exemptions, if desired; 
  • Creating a legal infrastructure that operates in a commercial space while managing the compliance infrastructure of any charitable participants; 
  • Negotiating and documenting complex commercial contracts and all related legal issues, including intellectual property, labor and employee benefits, real estate and litigation; and
  • Providing advice in highly regulated industries by including cross-practice and market teams across Ice Miller's platform.
INvestEd (Indiana Secondary Market for Education Loans, Inc.)
 
InvestEd logoINvestEd was established pursuant to Public Law 154 of the 1980 Indiana General Assembly and is a public benefit corporation organized exclusively for educational purposes. It serves as the state of Indiana’s designated secondary market for education loans and provides student loans for the benefit of Indiana students and colleges (both traditional direct loans and refinancing products). As a governmental entity with a federal tax exemption pursuant to Code Section 501(c)(3), INvestEd occupies a very unique space in the marketplace as its student lending activities are conducted within its broader charitable mission of helping Hoosier students responsibly finance their college experience. During the last year, INvestEd provided critical financial aid literacy education and support to more than 30,000 students, providing 1:1 support to 6,000 Hoosiers and conducting over 400 financial aid literacy events statewide. Through the creation of its online portal, The INvestEd Student Loan Marketplace, it has provided a true comparison tool that allows families to learn about and compare private student loan products, side-by-side, to make responsible borrowing decisions.
 
Ice Miller is privileged to serve as general counsel to INvestEd, providing corporate, governance and tax counsel, including the following specific services:
 
  • Creation of the legal infrastructure for the student loan products, including contracts with outside vendors;
  • Periodic bond financing transactions to securitize the loan portfolio;
  • Statutory interpretation and guidance relating to INvestEd’s activities and operations; and
  • Intellectual property, labor and other regulatory support.

Traditional Foundations and Charities

Traditional Foundations and Charities

Traditional Foundations and Charities

Ice Miller assists private foundations, community foundations and other traditional grantmaking charities with structuring complex grants and investments that further and support the organizations' charitable missions and purposes. Grantmaking charities "invest" in the community through traditional grantmaking, investments in for-profits that further their charitable purposes (traditional program-related investments) and traditional investments. Ice Miller's work includes:
 
  • Corporate due diligence and tax analysis regarding investment structures;
  • Complex grant agreement drafting;
  • Program-related investment (PRI) compliance;
  • Expenditure responsibility compliance;
  • Unrelated business income tax analysis;
  • Avoidance of private foundation excise taxes, including analysis regarding self-dealing, excess business holdings, taxable expenditures and jeopardizing investments;
  • Creation of donor-advised funds and analysis regarding spending from such funds; and
  • Excess benefit transactions compliance.
Judd Leighton Foundation, Inc.

Judd Leighton Foundation LogoOur community impact can extend well beyond our lifetime. Dedicated to perpetuating the vision of its founder, the Judd Leighton Foundation, Inc. is an independent, private grantmaking foundation in St. Joseph County, Indiana, with a focus on three primary areas—health, education and economic development.
 
Created in 2000, the Judd Leighton Foundation grew substantially in size with the 2005 death of its founder, Judd Leighton. Ice Miller helped the Judd Leighton Foundation make the transition to a larger foundation and continues to advise it today with respect to corporate governance and tax issues. 
 
Over the last several years, the Judd Leighton Foundation began to look at how it could be more strategic with its grantmaking. Of particular interest to the Judd Leighton Foundation was funding startup ventures that would promote innovation in health and/or spur economic growth in St. Joseph County. Ice Miller analyzed the tax consequences associated with funding startup ventures and provided the Judd Leighton Foundation with a roadmap of the options to accomplish the Judd Leighton Foundation's goals but also be in compliance with the private foundation excise tax rules.
 
In 2017, the Judd Leighton Foundation moved forward with implementing its strategic plan and made a charitable grant to the Mayo Clinic to create the Judd Leighton Foundation Benefactor Innovation Fund within Mayo Clinic Ventures to advance cardiovascular medicine. The Judd Leighton Foundation also invested directly in three startup companies in St. Joseph County that were unable to obtain traditional financing. Ice Miller assisted the Judd Leighton Foundation with structuring the investments so they qualified as program-related investments in furtherance of the Judd Leighton Foundation's tax-exempt purposes.
 
By structuring complex grants and program-related investments to further and support the Judd Leighton Foundation's charitable mission, we ensure Judd Leighton’s legacy and community impact continue for many years to come. 

Simon Youth Foundation
 
Since 1998, Simon Youth Foundation (SYF) has taken aim at the national dropout crisis. Each year, more than 1 million students in America drop out of high school, and those students become 72% more likely to be unemployed. Yet thanks to generous supporters and an amazing network of educators, SYF has helped turn lives around. Ice Miller is proud to provide legal services to SYF as it executes its important mission to transform the lives of at-risk youth.
 
Simon employees founded SYF as a way to give back to the community. SYF started a nationwide community scholarship program to help graduating seniors pursue post-secondary education and partnered with local public school districts to meet students at risk of dropping out where they were – in the mall instead of in school – by creating dropout recovery academies inside Simon malls.
 
With annual scholarships totaling nearly $1.5 million, SYF has awarded nearly $17 million to date. Simultaneously, SYF has helped more than 16,000 students earn their high school diplomas – 35 percent of whom are the first in their families to graduate high school. In the coming years, SYF is growing its network of diploma-granting Simon Youth Academies, with a goal of launching and supporting 100 Simon Youth Academies across the country.
 
Students come to Simon Youth Academies for different reasons that prevent them from succeeding in a traditional high school. At 16 years old, many are the economic engine for their entire families, others suffer from trauma and mental health issues, some face chronic illness. Yet, these students still want a second chance to earn their diplomas.
 
SYF believes all youth, regardless of their personal circumstances, should have the opportunity to pursue their dreams through education. Ice Miller is proud to assist SYF in providing these opportunities by advising it on a wide variety of corporate, governance, tax and real estate issues. Utilizing both our nonprofit, contract and real estate expertise, Ice Miller’s legal services include:
 
  • Executing on its strategic charitable initiatives and goals;
  • Creating governance and operational documents and policies;
  • Structuring and drafting complex contracts and agreements; and
  • Structuring, drafting and negotiating comprehensive memorandums of understanding that allow SYF to partner with public schools and malls to open and operate the Simon Youth Academies in furtherance of its charitable mission.
Learn more about SYF at syf.org.

 
 

Representative Clients

 
 

Deals Done. Financial Impact Achieved.

Ice Miller has been active in the private equity industry for over 35 years, representing both management teams building great companies and the private equity firms and individuals who invest in them.

We assist our clients in setting goals that align the operational, economic, accounting, tax, regulatory and social impact needs of a particular investment strategy. We have extensive experience in all aspects of an acquisition/investment transaction, including tax structuring, financing and complex acquisition/investment negotiations. Ice Miller also has vast experience in the area of fund formation, having assisted the general partner or foundational partner in the formation of more than 35 funds or fund of funds in the past five years. The specific services we provide in each fund formation are tailored to the needs of each client depending on various factors, such as the investment strategy and size of the fund, special tax, securities, ERISA or other regulatory or investor considerations, the complexity of the fund formation and the formation of the general partner and management company and most importantly, our client objectives - including social impact. 

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Charities Served. Social Impact Achieved.

Ice Miller's attorneys actively advise a number of nonprofits, large and small, with regard to their corporate and governance issues. As a fundamental component of our service to nonprofit organizations, Ice Miller's tax-exempt practice assists its clients in navigating the federal and state tax rules that govern their operations. Our tax-exempt attorneys provide sophisticated, client-centered advice relating to the full spectrum of federal and state tax issues.

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Ice Miller's Social Impact

At Ice Miller, social impact investing is embedded in our culture and our identity. 

Ice Miller has a culture of corporate philanthropy that spans our 100-year history. In 2016, the Firm built on this commitment by engaging in our first annual Day of Service, which allows attorneys and professional staff in all our markets to volunteer with charities in the communities where we live, work and serve. In 2016, the Firm formalized the commitment to our communities by creating the Ice Miller Foundation, which makes grants to charities in connection with the Day of Service and provides another opportunity for our attorneys and professional staff to work together to coordinate grantmaking in our communities.

We serve our communities through our:
 
Time Icon
Ice Miller attorneys and professionals are passionate about a breadth of causes close to our hearts and give of our time individually and through Firm initiatives, such as the Day of Service.
  
Treasure Icon
Ice Miller makes contributions to organizations in which our attorneys and professional staff are involved. The Ice Miller Foundation makes grants in connection with the Day of Service.
  
Talent Icon
Ice Miller’s attorneys and professionals share their knowledge and talent by serving on more than 200 nonprofit boards within their communities.

MEET OUR CROSS-PRACTICE GROUP TEAM

 

John Thornburgh

John Thornburgh

317.236.2405

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Gina Giacone

Gina Giacone

317.236.5829

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Michael Jordan

Michael Jordan

614.462.2283

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Matt Ehinger

Matt Ehinger

317.236.2183

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Tim Capen

Tim Capen

317.236.2425

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Ryan Waggoner

Ryan Waggoner

317.236.2167

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Sterling Shown

Sterling Shown

317.236.2440

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Sam Beavers

Sam Beavers

614.462.1134

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Evan Sarosi

Evan Sarosi

614.462.2223

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ICE MILLER STRATEGIES LLC | UPSTREAM PRINCIPLES LLC | STRATEGUS LLC | PRIVACY POLICY | TERMS OF USE | WEB ACCESSIBILITY STATEMENT | DISCLAIMER | ATTORNEY ADVERTISING MATERIAL | SITE MAP

© 2022 Ice Miller LLP
The Ice Miller logo is a registered trademark of Ice Miller LLP

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