MISSION-driven. experienced. cost-effective. dependable. trustworthy

Services

Commercial Contracts

Well-drafted, enforceable contracts are critical to creating value while protecting your business from undue risk. We bring decades of top-level experience in drafting, negotiating and enforcing commercial agreements across virtually every sector of the economy. Our expert attorneys will bring our experience and creativity to bear to craft agreements that safeguard your business interests and align with your mission and strategic objectives.

Corporate Governance

Effective and creative governance structures provide the essential foundation for sustainable growth, protecting your business and empowering and engaging employees and other stakeholders. Our team provides expert counsel to establish governance frameworks that support your mission while fostering compliance, accountability, and ethical practices to reinforce stakeholder trust and enhance operational resilience.

Risk Management

Mitigating legal and operational risks is vital for long-term success. We deliver targeted risk management strategies designed to identify, assess, and manage potential exposures, protecting your business while supporting stability and growth.

Strategic Transactions / M&A

Strategic transactions, including mergers and acquisitions, joint ventures, and strategic partnerships, can take your business to the next level, but they also entail risk and cost. We have significant experience advising on corporate transactions of all types and sizes and bring a high level of expertise to guide you through transformational transactions. We demystify the process, help you identify and reduce risk and work extremely efficiently to limit cost. We support you through the entire process: negotiating a letter of intent, due diligence, structuring, drafting and negotiating definitive agreements, managing the closing, and coordinating tax, antitrust, regulatory, and other specialized input.

Corporate Structuring / Strategic Growth

Thoughtfully crafted corporate structures and growth strategies are central to scalability and impact. We advise on structuring options and capital strategies that prepare your business for expansion, investment-readiness, and sustained success. We regularly assist clients in conversions from one corporate form to another, redomiciling from one state to another, formation of subsidiaries and other group structures and intercompany agreements to regulate relationships among related entities.

DEI/CSR Policies

DEI and CSR policies are integral to your social footprint, impact and mission. We help you develop and implement policies that reflect your commitment to diversity, equity, inclusion, and corporate responsibility—strengthening workplace culture and public reputation.

Regulatory Compliance

Compliance is a cornerstone of operational security and risk management. At the same time, the types and scope of laws and regulations affecting businesses is constantly evolving, driven in part by technological changes such as the emergence of AI as a powerful business tool. We help you understand the laws and regulations that impact your business and guide you through the steps to ensure compliance, minimizing risk and maintaining compliance in an ever-changing regulatory landscape.

Board / Shareholder Meeting Prep

Preparation is key to effective board and shareholder engagement and to protecting your business from claims of inadequate observance of corporate formalities. We provide tailored support, including agenda setting, documentation, and strategic advice to enhance governance and support informed decision-making and establishment of robust corporate minute books to ensure corporate law compliance.

Intellectual Property

You worked hard to establish a meaningful and valuable brand, and protecting your intellectual property is crucial to maintaining a competitive edge. We work on a broad range of intellectual property and technology transactions, including licensing, SaaS agreements, software development, and assignment IP. We also work with specialized trademark and copyright counsel on trademark and copyright registration and infringement issues.

Employment Matters

Effective employment policies that embrace the diverse talents and identities of your team members are essential to a productive, engaged workforce. We offer guidance on a wide range of employment matters, including drafting and reviewing employee handbooks and other policies to ensure employee engagement and empowerment, drafting and negotiating employment agreements, advising on regulatory compliance, and ensuring your workforce strategy aligns with your business values, mission and legal obligations.

Litigation Strategy

While our advice is always geared toward avoiding and resolving business disagreements before they result in litigation, some legal disputes may be unavoidable. Properly preparing for litigation and arbitration, and crafting a sensible approach to any pending or threatened disputes, is critical to protecting your business while limiting cost. As seasoned general counsels with extensive litigation management experience, our team will help you devise measures to mitigate risk and resolve disputes in the spirit of comity and respect, while zealously protecting your interests.

B Impact Assessment Support

Demonstrating and measuring impact is a critical aspect for B Corps and other impactdriven businesses. As a Pending B Corp that uses the B Impact Assessment (BIA) as an essential tool for constantly improving our impact in pursuit of our mission, ImpactGC can assist you in crafting, reviewing and revising policies and other documentation to support your successful navigation of the BIA and ensure that your commitments to social and environmental objectives are well documented and verified.

Public Benefit Corporation Conversions

Aligning your corporate structure with your impact mission can elevate both your business and your brand. We guide our clients through the process of forming or converting to public benefit corporations (or other forms of benefit entities, such as benefit limited liability companies, where available). We help you draft and file your formation or conversion documents, including your statement of the public benefits that you seek to create, to formalize your commitment to social and environmental goals and to fulfill the B Lab Legal Requirement for B Corp certification.

Corporate Finance / Securities Law

We have substantial experience advising on corporate finance and securities law matters of all types, from early-stage SAFE issuances, seed rounds, convertible note offerings and other funding rounds to later-stage financing transactions. We can help you devise a fundraising and capital strategy to set your business up for success and power your growth. Our advice always maintains a core focus on aligning with your financial objectives and ethical standards.

Impact Investing

Impact investing is a critical element of growing the mission-driven business ecosystem and has a unique ability to generate both financial and social returns. Our firm advises fund sponsors, managers, portfolio companies, and investors on due diligence, structuring, compliance, and transaction strategies, ensuring alignment with purposedriven financial goals. We are active in industry thought-leadership on evolving topics such as impact-linked carried interest, impact-first funds, blended finance, impact reporting, and anti-ESG-boycott laws.

Specialist Counsel Management

Effective legal representation often requires multidisciplinary expertise. After decades of high-level legal practice, both at leading law firms and in senior in-house positions, our team has an extensive network of highly qualified, values-aligned specialist advisors in areas such as tax, ERISA, IP and litigation, who can provide expert support in specific areas to supplement our advice. We work seamlessly with these specialist counsels to provide highly efficient, fully integrated legal support and reduce cost.

Employee Ownership Transitions

Mission-driven founders and business owners are constantly seeking new ways to empower, engage and support their teams. When it comes time for a founder or owner to exit, selling the business to a financial investor or a competitor may not be an acceptable option, as the new owner may end up undermining (or ending entirely) the company’s social or environmental mission. In this environment, selling to the company’s employees is an increasingly attractive option. Whether you opt for an Employee Ownership Trust, an Employee Stock Ownership Plan, a Worker Co-op or some other form of employee ownership, our expert advisors stand ready to guide you through all stages of this transition. We partner with leading consultants who can assist with business valuations, feasibility studies, worker outreach and education and other critical non-legal matters.
Linkedin Envelope

© 2024 ImpactGC, PLLC. All rights reserves. Website designed by THE HIGHBOARD CREATIVE.

Meagan Olsen

PARTNER

CONTACT

EDUCATION

J.D., Fordham University School of Law

B.S. Business Administration (Accounting and Finance), Georgetown University

PRACTICE AREAS

TBC

BAR ADMISSION

New York, California

Meagan is an accomplished lawyer with twenty years of experience, including as a partner at a top-tier global law firm, in house counsel at a Fortune 500 company and general counsel to multiple growth companies.

Leveraging her deep experience as a corporate and securities lawyer and broad experience as a general counsel, Meagan works with companies across industries and at all stages of their lifecycle, making her a versatile legal partner. She works with clients to understand their strategic goals and KPIs, identify risks and opportunities, and collaborates with them to implement legal solutions that support the business’s objectives. 

Meagan has significant experience working with boards of directors and executives on corporate governance and investor relations, and guiding companies through complex domestic and international M&A transactions, debt and equity financings (public and private), SEC reporting obligations, stock exchange compliance and commercial contracts. She also has experience advising companies on a wide array of strategic and operational matters, including international market and product expansion, marketing, sustainability programs, equity plan management, executive compensation, employment/HR matters, intellectual property matters, litigation management and compliance.   

Meagan is passionate about supporting purpose-driven organizations, a commitment that is evident in her personal consumer choices and volunteer efforts, as well as her professional pursuits. She enjoys working with organizations on implementing people- and planet-focused initiatives. She also has a demonstrated commitment to non-profit organizations, including assisting multiple non-profits with formation and tax-exempt qualification and advising AIDS Project Los Angeles and I am a voter (an organization focused on voter registration and civic engagement) on transformative corporate transactions, all on a pro bono basis. 

Meagan is based in Los Angeles. In her free time, she enjoys spending time outdoors and volunteering with her family, playing pickleball, and exploring the city’s vibrant food scene.

Key Experience: 

  • General Counsel and Corporate Secretary, Parachute Home, a premium home essentials company with a commitment to responsible materials, circularity and emissions reduction 
  • General Counsel and Chief of Staff, Byte (subsidiary of Nasdaq-listed Dentsply Sirona Inc.), a mission-driven teledentistry platform and clear aligner brand dedicated to improving access to oral health and straight smiles  
  • Partner, Paul Hastings LLP 
  • Senior Counsel, Corporate & Securities, Mattel 

Memberships/Activities:

  • Guest lecturer at UCLA School of Law and USC School of Law 
  • Member of TechGC and Women’s General Counsel Network 

Jim Black

MANAGING PARTNER

CONTACT

EDUCATION

J.D., University of Virginia School of Law

PRACTICE AREAS

TBC

BAR ADMISSION

New York, District of Columbia

Jim is a highly experienced corporate lawyer with more than two decades of legal experience, including as a partner in a leading global law firm and most recently as Chief Legal and Compliance Officer and Member of the Executive Leadership Team of a publicly traded international company.   

 

Jim’s career has shown him the importance of working with a clear focus on ethical and sustainable business practices, which led him to co-found ImpactGC to further his personal mission of helping make business a force for good.  Jim is fully committed to operating with a triple-bottom-line approach (People, Planet, Profit) and to helping mission-driven clients of all types pursue their important social, environmental and governance aims. 

Jim has extensive experience counseling founders and executive teams on corporate strategy, major transactions and other important matters, including litigation management, corporate governance and compliance. He has advised on numerous complex commercial contracts across a range of industries, as well as mergers and acquisitions and corporate finance deals. His commitment to social justice and human rights is reflected in a long track record of pro bono and other volunteer work, including advising a prominent LGBTQ civil rights organization, the Innocence Project and the American Academy in Berlin, among others.   

Jim spent well over a decade working and studying overseas, including in Germany and the Czech Republic, and he speaks fluent German.  He is a frequent author and speaker on a wide range of business law topics, including those of particular relevance to mission-driven companies. He is based in the Washington D.C. area, where he loves to spend time hiking, biking and running the trails and communing with nature in the woods of Northern Virginia.  In his personal time, he is a devoted father of two, partner and dog dad of a highly opinionated Shiba Inu.  

Key Experience: 

  • Chief Legal and Compliance Officer and Member of the Executive Leadership Team, Northern Data Group 
  • Partner, White & Case, LLP 
  • Partner, Acceleron Law Group, LLP 
  • Counsel, Morrison & Foerster LLP 
  • Counsel, Linklaters LLP 

Select Speaking Engagements and Publications: 

  • “The Benefit Corporation Movement”, presentation at ABA Business Law Section Meeting, Orlando, FL April 2024 
  • “Leading Evolving Organizations”, panel discussion on employee ownership at BLD Southeast, September 2024 
  • Various contributions to ABA M&A Committee Deal Points studies and the Annual Survey of Judicial Developments Pertaining to M&A 
  • Numerous other articles in ABA publications and the legal and financial press on various aspects of business law 

Memberships/Activities:

  • Member of Steering Committee of B Local Mid-Atlantic
  • B Academics  
  • National Center for Employee Ownership 
  • American Bar Association Business Law Section, Middle Market & Small Business Committee (MMSB) and M&A Committee 
  • Former Co-Chair of International Business Transactions Subcommittee of the ABA MMSB Committee 
  • Real Leaders  
  • Global Alliance of Impact Lawyers 
  • American Council on Germany 

Julie Ryan

MANAGING PARTNER

CONTACT

EDUCATION

J.D., cum laude, Georgetown Law

PRACTICE AREAS

Complex commercial contracts | Cross-border M&A | Venture capital | Private equity | Corporate governance | Impact investing | Employment matters | Technology start-ups | Regulatory compliance | Partnerships | Secured transactions | Data privacy | Entity formation and structuring | E-commerce | Intellectual property licensing

BAR ADMISSION

New York, District of Columbia, California

Julie is an accomplished global corporate and securities lawyer with over 25 years’ legal and entrepreneurial experience. She is recognized for her unique problem-solving, collaborative approach, and enjoys working with clients to understand their specific business concerns and creating tailored, practical legal solutions. 

Starting her career at the law firms of Clifford Chance LLP and Akin Gump LLP, Julie developed broad expertise representing major clients in a range of complex cross-border transactions.  She also has significant experience working with entrepreneurs and small- to mid-cap companies. She is the co-founder of AltaClaro, an innovative experiential online learning platform, and has represented numerous successful tech start-ups in all stages of growth.  

Most recently, Julie served in an in-house counsel role as Chief Regulatory Officer and Deputy General Counsel at Northern Data, a German public company, where she spearheaded the company’s U.S. restructuring and successfully negotiated several high-stakes commercial transactions. 

Julie is passionate about supporting women and minority-owned businesses and working with purpose-driven clients, believing that every business, large or small, deserves high quality, practical legal support from a lawyer who understands their business goals and concerns. She also enjoys being involved with the community. She currently is an adjunct professor at Georgetown Law, volunteers with several non-profit organizations and accelerators, has published a textbook as well as numerous articles, blogs, and presentations, and served on the corporations committee for the State Bar of   California for over 8 years. 

Julie spent several years working overseas, including Bogotá, Colombia, and Montreux, Switzerland, and speaks fluent French and Spanish. She is based in the Washington D.C. area where she loves to spend time with her family on the Potomac River paddling and sailing.

Key Experience: 

  • Chief Regulatory Officer and Deputy General Counsel, Northern Data AG 
  • Partner, Acceleron Law Group, LLP 
  • Partner, Russ, August & Kabat 
  • Senior Attorney, Akin Gump LLP 
  • Co-Founder and Chief Learning Officer, AltaClaro, Inc. 

Select Speaking Engagements and Publications: 

  • Collaboration with Halcyon House, an accelerator for impact-driven businesses and ChIPs, an organization that advances and connects women in technology, law, on a series of presentations on starting a business. 
  • Startup Law 101: Negotiating to “Yes,” Virtual Event hosted by ChIPs Advancing Women and sponsored by Halcyon House (panelist). 
  • “Silicon Beach Jeopardy: 6 Essential Areas for In-House Counsel to Consider When Managing Venture Capital or M&A Transactions,” CLE Presentation, Namwolf Annual Meeting, Los Angeles, CA. 
  • Transaction Lawyering: An Experiential Approach to Communication & Problem-Solving (Carolina Academic Press). 
  • “Advising the Pre-public Company,” CLE Presentation, Annual Meeting of the State Bar of California, Monterrey, CA. 

Memberships/Activities: 

  • Adjunct professor of law at Georgetown Law  
  • Real Leaders  
  • Global Alliance of Impact Lawyers 
  • Association of Corporate Counsel 
  • Women’s Bar Association of DC 
  • Women Owned Law 
  • WeTheChange 
  • Business for America 
  • Conscious Capitalism 
  • B Local Mid-Atlantic