Social Impact Fund: Spotlight On Lerners
Social Impact Fund: Spotlight On Lerners
So much of the social finance work London Community Foundation does relies on work done in the background by law firm Lerners LLP who, amongst many other things, sort out all the paperwork for our loans, do due dilligence on projects we’re looking to loan to, and ensure the Foundation is protected should something go wrong. Mark Evans, a partner at Lerners, tells us a bit more about the work he does for the Foundation.
Mark Evans, Partner at Lerners LLP
Q. Can you tell us a little bit about yourself and your role with Lerners?
A. My role for my clients is to help them solve problems and reduce risk. I am lucky to practice at Lerners, a full-service law firm that gives me a deep bench of talented colleagues across many specialties that can support my clients and me in almost any legal issue. My area of practice is in corporate and commercial law, with an industry-specific focus on technology and intellectual property-focused enterprises. I do a lot of work with corporate law, contract law, transactions and intellectual property, like trademarks and copyrights. In the legal jargon, I’m what’s called a “solicitor”, which means that I’m a lawyer that works primarily in my office on structuring and carrying out transactions.
Q. Can you give us a brief overview of the work Lerners does for/with London Community Foundation
A. Lerners helps the London Community Foundation navigate various legal issues, such as helping with governance and regulatory matters and reviewing documents and contracts. Lately, I have been helping the London Community Foundation navigate its work financing affordable housing projects in our community. This work is particularly rewarding because it lets me use my skills in structuring transactions on projects I see helping people in my community daily.
Q. Our partnership with Lerners really smooths out our process for getting a social finance loan out of the door and into the community. What do you enjoy most about the partnership with the Foundation?
A. As a transactional lawyer, my practice works best when I work collaboratively rather than adversarially. London Community Foundation is staffed with passionate folks working to improve the community by working with other community-focused organizations, including not-for-profit and charitable organizations, municipalities and governmental organizations, and cooperative housing corporations. This means the projects I work on for the London Community Foundation are highly collaborative. On every transaction, I work co-operatively across the table with talented, community-minded lawyers to solve problems for our clients innovatively, whether these lawyers represent the City, CMHC (Canada Mortgage and Housing Corporation) or a project developer. Of course, as lawyers, we’re always working to protect our client’s interests, but we look for solutions that benefit everyone rather than create winners and losers. Working with great people on great projects that make a real difference is very rewarding.
Q. Your work with us means you find out about all the great social enterprises and affordable and supportive housing developments that our Social Impact Fund supports. What projects supported by the Social Impact Fund have stood out for you as being particularly exciting or innovative?
A. Lately, I have been working closely on the Social Impact Fund’s contribution to the Vision SOHO SoHo Alliance. This is an exciting project in which the Foundation has taken a collaborative and innovative approach to help a number of incredible organizations reinvigorate the old Victoria Hospital grounds. This project has given me an opportunity to work with dedicated and talented folks at London Community Foundation, the Vision SOHO SoHo Alliance, the City of London and CMHC.
Q. The nature of the loans means that for the Foundation, the social return on these loans is just as, if not more important than the financial return. Is that a mindset that’s different from some of your other clients? If so, how do you balance the two when assessing proposals that come through?
A. As a lawyer, my role in any transaction is to help my clients navigate risks and make educated decisions about those risks. All organizations have an important mission that they are trying to carry out. While most of my clients are for-profit enterprises, all of my clients’ missions go beyond a financial return. The financial return is what they get for providing valuable products and services that benefit the community. I try to understand my clients’ missions so that I can help them navigate the risks and continue to do what they do best, no matter what their missions may be.
Q. When you read about a supportive, affordable, or mixed-income housing development opening to tenants like the recent Pond Mills development, how do you feel, personally, about the part you have played in helping the city and its people tackle this problem?
A. I am a relative newcomer to London, but one of the things that I love about living here is the sense of community and the way that neighbours look out for one another. We all know folks who are struggling with the housing affordability crisis and sometimes it can feel like the problem is overwhelming. The fact that this problem is affecting people in my community, my neighbours, gives the problem a human scale and a sense of personal immediacy. It is particularly rewarding to work on projects like Pond Mills and Vision SoHo, projects that are in my backyard. I know that in a small way I have contributed to something that is of direct benefit to my community and my neighbours.
Q. The idea of getting a loan or another form of financing could be quite intimidating for people. What advice or words of encouragement do you have for people or organizations thinking about applying for a social impact loan from London Community Foundation?
A. Since I usually don’t see an application until it’s already been approved, it’s difficult to say what separates a successful application from an unsuccessful application. However, I can say what some of the common features are of the applications that do cross my desk. In addition to having a solid case for the benefit of the loan to the community, it’s clear that successful applications have considered the financial aspects of the transaction, such as how the loan will be secured, and have set out a clear business case describing how the loan will be repaid. Thinking through these aspects before applying will no doubt strengthen an applicant’s case.