HEATHER EISENLORD

Finance (focus on domestic and cross-border debt financing, venture capital, private equity funds, impact investment, and development finance)

Corporate law (focus on startup and growth-stage social enterprises)

Business and human rights; Environmental, Social, and Governance (ESG)

Wilson Williams LLC, New York, NY, partner, October 2021–present

RPCK Rastegar Panchal, New York, NY, partner; of counsel, 2017–September 2021

International Senior Lawyers Project, New York, NY, director, 2011–2017

Skadden, Arps, Slate, Meagher & Flom LLP, New York, NY, associate, 2003–2005; 2007–2011

Arent Fox LLP, New York, NY, associate, 2005–2007

The George Washington University Law School, Washington, D.C., J.D., 2003

Graduated with highest honors

Member, The George Washington Law Review

Order of the Coif

Dean's Fellow, Legal Research and Writing Department

Summer program in post-Soviet legal transition at Moscow State University, Moscow, Russia, 2001

Michigan State University, East Lansing, MI, B.A., 1996

Summer program in political theory and race relations at Cambridge University, Cambridge, England, 1996

Finalist, 2021 Grunin Center Prize for Law and Social Entrepreneurship: Dual Guarantee Facility to Finance Healthcare Needs at the Frontlines of COVID-19 in Sub-Saharan Africa

Finalist, 2019 Grunin Center Prize for Law and Social Entrepreneurship: Blended Finance Structure for a Multi-Strategy Investment Fund

English (native), Spanish (fair), Russian (beginner), and French (beginner)

Advised the U.S. International Development Finance Corporation (DFC) on multiple first-loss capital loans to the IIX Women’s Catalyst Fund to catalyze bond issuances financing gender-lens investing.

Advised DFC on multiple debt investments into microfinance and other nonbanking financial institutions in India to enable investment in women-led micro- and small- to medium-sized enterprises (MSMEs) and MSMEs focused on climate adaptation and mitigation.

Advised DFC on its equity investment in a Mauritius fund that further invests in control positions in developmentally significant African companies.

Advised DFC on its direct loan to a Kenyan agricultural lender on-lending to companies in Kenya, Malawi, Rwanda, Uganda, Nigeria, Zambia, Ivory Coast, and Tanzania.

Advised DFC on its investment in a private equity fund investing in sustainable agriculture and climate resilience projects in India and Southeast Asia.

Advised DFC on its investment in a private equity fund investing in healthcare solutions in South and Southeast Asia.

Advised DFC on its interests involving its ownership of senior, unsecured notes issued by a Luxembourg SICAV on-lending to MSMEs affected by COVID-19.

Advised a nonprofit organization on its master and subcontract agreements establishing and governing a loan program to high-impact MSMEs in Kenya.

Advised an agribusiness-focused social enterprise in Bhutan on a workout with its debt and equity investors.

Advised a leading global environmental organization on easements and site agreements to facilitate tax credit-financed infrastructure solutions to improve water quality and climate resilience at stormwater retention ponds across the United States.

Represented Malaria No More on an emergency dual-guaranty facility, which paired recoverable grants from philanthropic foundations with USDFC capital to backstop up to $30 million in loans made by the Medical Credit Fund to private healthcare providers in sub-Saharan Africa that were at risk of closure due to COVID-19.

Advised a leading impact investor on multiple limited partnership investments into private equity funds financing clean energy initiatives in the United States.

Advised a leading impact investor on various debt and equity investments in sub-Saharan Africa across sectors including affordable housing, fintech, and public education.

Advised the Open Road Alliance on multiple loans to bridge financing gaps for social enterprises operating in sub-Saharan Africa.

Advised a leading impact debt provider on multiple loans to bridge financing gaps for social enterprises operating in sub-Saharan Africa.

Advised an impact lender in connection with its flexible senior/subordinated co-financed revolving credit facility in favor of a social enterprise that hosts a digital platform that allows small- to medium-sized businesses in sub-Saharan Africa to gain safe, efficient, and transparent access to global supply chains.

Served as senior legal advisor to the Global Innovation Fund, a U.K.-based impact investor investing in debt and equity in Latin America and sub-Saharan Africa; advised on multiple investments made to promote gender equality and equity and climate resilience and adaptation.

Designed and drafted template debt agreements, including a loan agreement and a debt term sheet, for impact investor clients, which included detailed annotations and multiple annexes with additional provisions that could be utilized depending on the nature of the transaction (e.g., secured debt transactions). Provided trainings to clients regarding the substance and functionality of such templates.

Advised an impact investor on its creation of a program to deploy direct and indirect solar tax equity investments to finance solar projects with municipal and nonprofit partners across New England.

Advised the Zoma Foundation on its debt facility to finance a social enterprise’s down payment assistance program to help Denver public educators purchase homes in the Denver metropolitan area.

Advised a major U.S. energy company in connection with the leveraged financing of a spinoff of its nuclear division.

Panelist, Practicing and Shaping the Law in the Era of Impact, Legal Issues in Social Entrepreneurship and Impact Investing—in the U.S. and Beyond, New York, NY (2021)

Panel Leader, Innovative Blended Finance for Climate Solutions, SOCAP19, San Francisco, CA (2019)

Panelist, Democratization of Impact Investing, Sustainatopia 2019, Miami, FL (2019)

Panelist, Regenerative Agriculture, High Water Women’s Sixth Annual Investing for Impact 2018 Symposium, New York, NY (October 2018)

Panel Leader, Inclusive Development: How Human Rights Frameworks Can Help Impact Investors Maximize Impact and Avoid Unintended Consequences, GIIN/ISLP Legal Practitioners Track Third Annual Convening, New York, NY (November 2017)

Discussion Leader, Outside the Law Firm: What Impact-Seeking Professionals Want and Need from Their Lawyers, IILWG Conference on Legal Issues in Social Entrepreneurship and Impact Investing, New York, NY (May 2017)

Workshop Leader, International Senior Lawyers Project's Training Program on Representing Development-Impacted Communities, New York, NY (May 2017)

Co-Presenter, Bringing Sustainable Principles to a Transactional Lawyering Practice, Columbia Society of International Law Speaker Series, New York, NY (March 2016)

Session Leader, Enhancing Companies' Respect for the Human Rights of Affected Communities, Columbia Center on Sustainable Investment's Executive Training on Sustainable Investments in Agriculture, New York, NY (March 2015)

Co-Presenter, Land Grabbing, Human Rights, and the Law, Columbia Law School, New York, NY (April 2014)

Co-Presenter, Professional Excellence: How to Manage Working Partnerships, Bridges Across Borders Southeast Asia's Second SE Asia/Asia Pro Bono Conference & Workshop, Ho Chi Minh City, Vietnam (October 2013)

Presenter, Human Rights and the Cambodian Land-Grabbing Epidemic, Khmer People Network for Cambodia's Cambodian National Conference, Arlington, VA (October 2012)