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

Switchboard Presents: From Intention To Action

Moving from mission to measurable impact requires more from leaders than vision.  It means using every tool available to shift systems, reduce risk, and accelerate resilience.  Finance, insurance and law are essential elements of achieving systemic change and offer unique opportunities for purpose-driven companies to increase their positive impact by choosing to partner with values-aligned providers in these areas.        

Please join our Managing Partner, Jim Black, along with Brad Stevenson, Founder of Premiums for the Planet, Michael Whelchel, Founder of Big Path Capital, and moderator Patrick Flynn, Founder of Switchboard, for a discussion on how you can leverage climate finance tools, especially insurance, to drive change.  

Please register here.

Author

  • Jim Black

    Jim is a purpose-driven corporate lawyer and founder with over 25 years of top-level legal experience, including as a law firm partner and general counsel. He provides excellent, actionable legal counsel to mission-driven clients regardless of industry and is dedicated to supporting companies with ethical and sustainable business practices to further his personal mission of helping make business a force for good.
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Jim Black

Meet the Author

Jim is a purpose-driven corporate lawyer and founder with over 25 years of top-level legal experience, including as a law firm partner and general counsel. He provides excellent, actionable legal counsel to mission-driven clients regardless of industry and is dedicated to supporting companies with ethical and sustainable business practices to further his personal mission of helping make business a force for good.

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Heather Pruger

Partner

CONTACT

EDUCATION

J.D., magna cum laude, University of Maryland Francis King Carey School of Law

PRACTICE AREAS

Fractional / interim general counsel / chief legal officer | Complex commercial contracts | Compliance Oversight| Corporate formation and governance | Cross-border M&A | Data privacy | Employment Matters | E-commerce | Executive Compensation & Transitions | Intellectual property licensing | Legal Department Buildout & Optimization | Private equity | Regulatory compliance | Technology start-ups | Venture capital

BAR ADMISSION

Maryland

Heather Pruger is an experienced corporate and transactional attorney with extensive experience helping high-growth, technology-driven businesses navigate growth, complexity, and change. She works closely with founders, executives, boards, and in-house teams through acquisitions, investments, legal function buildout, and leadership transitions.

Heather is particularly energized by working with mission-driven and women-led companies and leadership teams that care deeply about building durable, values-aligned businesses. She brings a calm, collaborative style and practical, business-oriented approach – drawing on both major law firm training and hands-on in-house leadership experience – to bring clarity to complex issues, create scalable legal and operational solutions, and help businesses move forward with confidence. Her early experience as a litigator continues to inform her corporate work today, particularly in assessing risk, navigating conflict, and helping clients make sound decisions under pressure.

Before joining ImpactGC, Heather served as General Counsel of a multinational operating group of a major publicly traded software company, where she built and scaled legal and privacy functions to support a global portfolio of software businesses during an extended period of acquisitive and organic growth. Her experience also includes founding her own legal and advisory practice providing fractional general counsel services and leading M&A transactions, and practicing at major U.S. law firms advising emerging, middle-market, and public companies. Her practice has long had a multinational dimension spanning cross-border M&A, strategic transactions, governance, commercial contracting, privacy, compliance, employment matters, enterprise risk, and dispute management.

When she is not advising clients, Heather can often be found on the trails — running, hiking, or simply being in the woods — or competing in triathlons; she is a two-time Ironman finisher. She is based in Ellicott City, Maryland, where she enjoys gardening, yoga, and exploring nature with her dog, Maggie.

Key Experience: 

  • Founder, Pronoia Legal LLC
  • General Counsel, Perseus Operating Group, Constellation Software Inc. (TSX: CSU)
  • Senior Associate, Womble Bond Dickinson, LLP
  • Associate, Saul Ewing LLP
  • Judicial Clerk to Magistrate Judge Susan K. Gauvey, U.S. District Court for the District of Maryland

 

Memberships/Activities:

  • Maryland Bar Association
  • ProVisors
  • Riveters Law Club

Cortney Mukushi

Partner

CONTACT

EDUCATION

Duke University School of Law

PRACTICE AREAS

Impact investment funds | Portfolio debt financing | Project finance | Corporate finance | Mission-driven SMEs | Outsourced general counsel | Corporate governance | Commercial contracts | Debt restructuring | B Corporations and benefit corporations | Clean energy and infrastructure financing

BAR ADMISSION

New York, District of Columbia

Cortney brings extensive experience in impact-oriented debt financing to ImpactGC, having spent over a decade structuring complex transactions that deploy capital to create both financial returns and measurable social and environmental impact.

Most recently, Cortney served as Associate General Counsel at Calvert Impact’s Climate United Fund, where she was lead legal counsel on debt financings for clean energy projects. She also handled general corporate matters, including corporate governance, board liaison work, and compliance issues.

Before that, Cortney spent over seven years at federal agencies—including the U.S. International Development Finance Corporation, the Environmental Protection Agency WIFIA Program, and the Department of Transportation Build America Bureau—structuring and negotiating billions of dollars in financing transactions for international development (in sectors ranging from agriculture to microfinance), water infrastructure, and transportation infrastructure.

At ImpactGC, Cortney advises impact investment funds on portfolio debt investment transactions, governance, and general corporate matters; she also serves as transaction counsel for companies seeking financing from impact-oriented investors and federal agencies. Cortney also represents mission-driven small and medium-sized enterprises. This practice draws directly on her prior experience as the General Counsel of a behavioral health startup. In that role, Cortney handled all of the legal needs for a growing mission-driven company, including drafting and negotiating joint venture agreements, investor documentation, commercial leases, vendor agreements, and employment agreements; advising senior management on personnel matters, corporate governance, and day-to-day operational issues; and collaborating across departments to solve business problems that happened to have legal dimensions.

Cortney is passionate about working with organizations that view business as a force for good. Having spent her career helping deploy capital to support clean energy, water infrastructure, international development, and other mission-critical sectors, she understands that companies and investors committed to creating positive social and environmental outcomes deserve legal counsel who truly understands their mission—not just their business model.

Cortney is based in the Washington D.C. area where she enjoys traveling, playing tennis, and spending time with her family.

Key Experience: 

  • Associate General Counsel, Climate United Fund, Calvert Impact, Inc.

  • Assistant General Counsel, U.S. International Development Finance Corporation

  • Senior Attorney Advisor, WIFIA Management Division, U.S. Environmental Protection Agency

  • Attorney Advisor, Build America Bureau, Federal Highway Administration

  • General Counsel, Cornerstone Project

  • Associate, Clifford Chance US LLP

Awards & Recognition: 

  • 2023 Innovation Award, U.S. International Development Finance Corporation

  • 2020 Office of Water Bronze Medal Award (co-recipient), U.S. Environmental Protection Agency

Jamie Principe

Of Counsel

CONTACT

EDUCATION

J.D., New York Law School

B.A., Women’s Studies, University of Connecticut

PRACTICE AREAS

Outsourced General Counsel | NDA Negotiation | Vendor & Consulting Agreements | Employment Contracts | Separation Agreements | Dispute Resolution | Contract Drafting & Negotiation | Compliance Oversight | Access, Reliance & Engagement Letters

BAR ADMISSION

New York, New Jersey, Florida, California

Jamie brings over 19 years of legal experience to her role as Of Counsel at ImpactGC. As the founder of JL Principe Legal PLLC, she utilizes her diverse experience to provide outsourced general counsel services to entrepreneurs and businesses, with a particular focus on supporting women and women-owned businesses.

 Throughout her distinguished career as an in-house attorney across various industries, Jamie has consistently demonstrated her commitment to making a meaningful difference in people’s lives through her legal and business acumen. She is known for her collaborative approach, working closely with clients to educate and empower them to navigate complex legal challenges with confidence and clarity.

 What sets Jamie apart is her ability to diffuse tension in challenging legal situations through her refined sense of humor, fostering camaraderie and productive relationships with clients and colleagues alike. She firmly believes that effective legal counsel goes beyond technical expertise to include genuine human connection.

 When not advocating for her clients, Jamie can be found singing karaoke, taking dance lessons, or enjoying the company of her dog Joey.

 Jamie’s addition to the ImpactGC team reinforces our commitment to providing exceptional legal guidance through professionals who combine deep knowledge with a genuine passion for client advocacy and empowerment.

Key Experience: 

  • Founder, JL Principe Legal PLLC

  • Deputy Chief Compliance Officer & CISO, Levine Leichtman Capital Partners, LLC

  • Regulation Compliance Manager, Rogerson Kratos

  • Of Counsel, NuEra Law Group, Inc.

  • General Counsel, Spiritus Life, Inc.

  • Compliance Manager, Peachtree Financial Solutions

 

Memberships/Activities: 

  • New York City Bar Association
  • Women Owned Law
  • ProVisors

Maura Molloy Grant

PARTNER

CONTACT

EDUCATION

J.D., The Catholic University of America, Columbus School of Law

PRACTICE AREAS

Outsourced General Counsel

Complex commercial contracts

Corporate formation and governance

Commercial and Captive Insurance

Employment matters

Separation and Consulting agreements

BAR ADMISSION

New York, District of Columbia

Maura brings over twenty years of experience in corporate law to Impact GC, including a thriving practice acting as outside general counsel to commercial and non-profit clients across industries. Navigating multiple client legal issues simultaneously, Maura provides reliable, responsive, and reasonable support.  Maura is recognized for her ability to dissect complex legal and factual issues and collaborate with clients to develop effective solutions, particularly in the areas of employment, insurance, contract negotiation, and corporate formation and governance.

Maura has significant experience working with boards of directors and executives on corporate governance, operations, and strategic planning, and guiding companies through complex M&A transactions, liquidation and dissolution procedures, and C-suite succession planning.

Maura’s work with non-profit organizations, from formation to tax-exempt qualification and helping them meet their operational goals and compliance requirements, has proven particularly rewarding. She looks forward to deeper involvement representing non-profit purpose-driven organizations at Impact GC.

Maura sits on the Board of Directors of a Bermuda-based commercial and captive insurance services group. She is also a director and secretary of a nonprofit charitable youth sporting organization, and a long-time volunteer in her children’s school and parish community, where she was a member of the Strategic Planning Committee of the School Advisory Board for five years.

Maura is based in the Washington, D.C. area, where she enjoys cooking, reading, attending her children’s many sporting events, and spending time hiking with her family and yellow Lab, Archie.

Key Experience: 

  • Principal, Hanson & Molloy PLLC
  • U.S. General Counsel, Mizzen Holdings Ltd.
  • U.S. General Counsel, United Insurance Company
  • General Counsel, The National Fencing Foundation of Washington, D.C., Inc.
  • General Counsel, U.S. Capitol Historical Society

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 | Sustainability | Renewable energy/climate tech | Regulatory compliance |Employment matters | Technology start-ups |  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: 

  • “From Backlash to Breakthrough: The Lawyer’s Role in Sustainable and Just Transitions,” Panel Discussion, 2025 Global Alliance of Impact Lawyers Annual Meeting, Mexico City, D.F.
  • “Walking the Line: Safeguarding DEI & ESG Commitments in a Shifting Legal Landscape,” 2025 Annual Conference on Legal Issues in Social Entrepreneurship and Impact Investing, Grunin Center, NYU Law School.
  • Charting a Path in Impact Law: Insights & Opportunities for the Next Generation, panel discussion, Global Alliance of Impact Lawyers
  • Startup Law 101: Negotiating to “Yes,” Virtual Event hosted by ChIPs Advancing Women and sponsored by Halcyon House (panelist).
  • 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, Regional Board Member
  • Women’s Bar Association of DC 
  • Women Owned Law, Member, DEI Committee 
  • WeTheChange 
  • Business for America 
  • Conscious Capitalism 
  • B Local Mid-Atlantic, Steering Committee Member