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HOW DO WE PROACT, TRANSACT, AND ENACT? For our 2024 Spring/Summer Investor Update, we interview our legal partners at Morgan Lewis and Lawyers for Civil Rights.
In light of 2023’s record disbursement of loans and investment capital from the Ujima Fund ($1.6 million out of the door and invested in our local businesses, by community demand), we want to pull the curtain back on how these investment transactions happen. Key to Ujima’s processes are our technical assistance partners. ‘Technical assistance,’ a wonky and sterile phrase, refers to support to help nonprofits acquire any specialized service or skill that is not currently resident within the organization. In this update, we highlight our legal technical assistance partners at Morgan Lewis.
Ashley P. Keenan, an associate with Morgan Lewis, represents developers, lenders, equity investors, sponsors, and utilities in connection with project development, project finance, and general corporate transactions related to electrical generation and infrastructure projects. Ashley also represents companies in corporate and finance matters, including mergers and acquisitions, joint ventures, and debt and equity financings.
UJIMA: Let’s start off with an introduction of yourself and what you do at Morgan Lewis.
ASHLEY KEENAN: My name is Ashley Keenan, and I am an associate in our Boston office. My practice is Energy and Project Development, so I represent lenders, developers and sponsors in connection with acquisitions, financing, and development of renewable and conventional energy projects in the United States.
What drew you to working with Ujima?
Our pro bono work is an integral aspect of our culture as lawyers at Morgan Lewis. As a lawyer who has the capacity to give back and provide services to organizations that could benefit, I think it’s really important. When I saw the opportunity to do some work that would be meaningful for a great organization like Ujima, while also being able to use skills that I have from my general practice in finance, corporate, and mergers/acquisitions law, I thought it would be a good fit. I got the opportunity to work on my first transaction with Ujima pretty quickly when I started Morgan Lewis. I've only been at Morgan Lewis for a little over two years now, and I've actually been working with Ujima for almost the entire time. I've had the chance to meet many folks on staff and to work on a few different transactions; it's been really great developing a working relationship with you all.
Can you think of any specific examples where your skills and experience in finance law have translated to projects you've worked on with us?
I work on finance projects with Ujima for the most part. My first financing project that I worked on with you all was for Dorchester Food Coop. We were working on a loan for them, and I’ve worked closely with Nia on that transaction. We also recently closed a financing deal for the Pearl, which was a wonderful experience; we got to meet members of the team at the Pearl and work closely with them, learning about their business and the expansion that they are planning so we could determine how funds from Ujima would help them. Since I live in Boston, I've actually been to their restaurant. It's pretty cool to work with Ujima to help these local businesses and then also be able to experience them in-person as well.
I enjoy that the work that I do with the Ujima Fund has a real and local benefit to people in my community. A lot of the projects that I'm working on elsewhere, on a larger scale, I know that somehow they're making a difference. But here, [...] you can talk to the owners of businesses that are benefiting from the investments that Ujima is making. The way that Ujima is structured, with community engagement as a core facet, is wonderful.
Taking a step back, especially for some of our readers who might not be super familiar with technical assistance, what is Morgan Lewis's relationship with Ujima? And why is the technical assistance that it provides important to help keep Ujima’s fund and investment operations running?
We meet with the Uima team on a monthly basis and talk about upcoming initiatives and the pipeline of projects that you guys are working on. Ujima as a fund takes on various equity and debt issuances to provide capital to businesses, so we work to provide staffing from Morgan Lewis to assist the Ujima team on each of the individual transactions that will be moving forward. Our technical assistance can entail preparing the documentation and assisting Ujima with negotiating equity or loan documents for proposed investments or loans, and we also work with Ujima when more specific legal questions come up.
For example, there was an investment in a cannabis adjacent business [Kush Groove] where we were able to tap on specialists at Morgan Lewis. Because we are a global law firm with broad experience, we were able to pull in lawyers with expertise to determine if an investment in a cannabis business might impact the status Ujima has as a not-for-profit. Things like that will always come up–each business and each investment has different challenges. Working through each of those with the Ujima team as they come up, providing guidance, and supporting Ujima’s strategic decisions as an organization are how we provide technical assistance.
How does your work with Ujima and your pro bono work at Morgan Lewis in general align with your values and goals?
It's important for me as a lawyer to be able to give back and provide legal services to organizations and individuals that are in need of legal assistance. So being able to provide that is really important and it's something that I have done throughout my entire career. That was something that really drew me to Morgan Lewis: a lot of firms say that pro bono is important, but they don't really put their money where their mouth is. I really like that Morgan Lewis makes it a strong priority–the firm has a minimum number of hours that lawyers should be donating to pro bono work. And we have been hitting a hundred percent participation of all of our lawyers year over year for quite some time, so it's really ingrained in our culture. It definitely resonates in how we approach our work with Ujima; the lawyers we ask to help with Ujima’s projects are always very excited and eager to help out, and we really enjoy working with the team at Ujima.
Have there been any standout moments to you in your time working with Ujima?
What stands out to me is: I really like how the team manages our monthly calls. We always start calls in a casual and personal tone, with a check-in question; it's really fun! I always enjoy those questions too because you never know what to expect. I think on our last call it was, “when did you get your first cell phone and what was it?” [laughs]. It's not all business right off the bat, and it's a more friendly atmosphere, like you're just hopping on the phone with your friends. The Ujima team is a really special group of people.
How does the legal support offered by Morgan Lewis help Boston communities steer their economies?
That's a good question. I think it’s really great that we're able to help organizations with their investments and funding for projects. In our work with Ujima, everything that we do with you all is local. Every acquisition, equity investment, or loan that we're working on with you all, there's a tangible benefit to Boston’s communities when those investees use the funds that they get from Ujima to further their organizations. The Pearl is a great example–they're opening their second location in the Boston area, and they're able to do that with the help of funding from Ujima.
What excites you about this work?
I really enjoy that the work that I do with the Ujima Fund has a real and local benefit to people in my community. A lot of the projects that I'm working on elsewhere, on a larger scale, I know that somehow they're making a difference and hopefully, for example, getting more renewable energy into the world and reducing greenhouse gasses. But here, you really can see these businesses expanding and opening new locations. You can talk to the owners of businesses that are benefiting from the investments that Ujima is making. The way that Ujima is structured, with community engagement as a core facet, is wonderful. I look forward to working on more transactions with you guys because it's been such a pleasure to work with you all and it's a truly rewarding experience. ✦
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