Welcome to the Social Enterprise Law Tracker. Beginning in 2008, state legislatures started authorizing a new class of entities collectively known as social enterprises. These corporate and company forms are designed for businesses that seek to create positive social and environmental impacts in addition to financial returns.  These forms include the benefit corporation (Benefit Corps), the social purpose corporation (SPC), the low-profit limited liability company (L3C), the benefit limited liability company (BLLC), and the statutory public benefit limited partnership (SPBLP).

The Status Tool on this page visualizes how social enterprise law has spread across the United States. Select any state or jurisdiction for information about the social enterprise forms that are available, or are currently under consideration by the state legislature. All data collected and used on this site adheres to Sunlight Foundation’s Open Data Policy Guidelines, and can be downloaded for corresponding categories by clicking the link below the Status Tool map.

The Social Enterprise Law Tracker was developed by Rob Esposito and Shawn Pelsinger, with support from the NYU Jacobson Leadership Program in Law & Business, the NYU Stern Business & Society Program, and the NYU Law and Social Entrepreneurship Association. The Social Enterprise Law Tracker is now hosted and maintained by the Grunin Center for Law and Social Entrepreneurship at NYU School of Law.

Launched in 2017, the Grunin Center for Law and Social Entrepreneurship is a global leader in the field of law and social entrepreneurship, dedicated to advancing a global movement that creates new ways for law and lawyers to drive positive change in the world. The mission of the Grunin Center is to enhance the community of lawyers and legal institutions purposefully engaged in social entrepreneurship, impact investing, and sustainable development, and to accelerate their effective participation in these fields. To fulfill this mission, the Grunin Center is bridging the gaps between legal practitioners, scholars, educators, and law students, as the Center: educates students and lawyers about legal issues arising in these fields; leads path-breaking conversations about legal innovations and new legal approaches that advance these fields; invests in the success of students who are interested in applying their legal skills to these fields; and celebrates the contributions of legal practitioners, scholars, and students to these fields and shares learnings drawn from their contributions.