Reflecting business leader and philanthropist Joe Plumeri’s vision for Achieving the American Dream Through Entrepreneurship, his transformative gift will expand legal services for entrepreneurs and innovators, experiential opportunities for students, and economic development initiatives in Tribeca and across New York City.
New York Law School (NYLS) today announced a $10 million gift from business leader and philanthropist and NYLS Board Trustee Joe Plumeri H ’15 to advance the work of The Plumeri Center for Small Business Empowerment. With the mission of Achieving the American Dream Through Entrepreneurship, this commitment will build upon the Center’s growing impact as a national model for combining legal education, direct services for entrepreneurs, and community-based economic development. With his latest gift, Joe Plumeri is among the largest donors in New York Law School’s 135-year history, bringing his total giving to over $15.5 million since 2015.
“Entrepreneurs embody the drive, resilience, and optimism that power the American Dream,” said Joe Plumeri H ’15 and NYLS Board Trustee. “I have been so impressed by the work of The Plumeri Center already in giving small business owners access to the knowledge, counsel, business advice, and relationships that can help them turn hard work into lasting opportunity. I am inspired to ensure this work continues to sustain and grow. I am excited to see The Plumeri Center reach new heights in empowering entrepreneurs and innovators, strengthening neighborhoods, and inspiring the next generation of lawyers and business leaders.”
The commitment builds on Joe Plumeri’s longstanding partnership and investment with NYLS. His original gift of $5 million in 2015 – the largest of its kind to any law school at the time — supported the development of programs that allowed NYLS to scale exceptional experiential learning opportunities for students across the curriculum. With those now mature programs in place, Mr. Plumeri provided additional support in 2024 to create The Plumeri Center for Small Business Empowerment, focused on integrating the resources of various clinics and experiential learning programs centering its focus on small business empowerment. In the first 18 months following this updated focus, the Center’s affiliated clinics, including the Nonprofit and Small Business Clinic, the PTO Patent Law Clinic, the PTO Trademark Clinic, and the Veterans Justice Clinic, managed 80 legal matters and provided more than 10,000 hours of supervised legal assistance through the work of more than 30 law students. The Center also established a first-of-its-kind Gig Economy Project, focused on New York’s rapidly expanding gig workforce and the small businesses that rely on it. The Project is creating legal research resources, experiential learning opportunities, and public programming that bring together policymakers, business leaders, regulators, and advocates to shape a fair and innovation-friendly regulatory ecosystem.
“Joe Plumeri’s inspiring life and career embody the American Dream, coming from a working-class immigrant family in Trenton, reaching extraordinary heights in business, and dedicating himself to philanthropy that makes sure others are able to achieve their dreams as well,” said Anthony W. Crowell, Dean and President of New York Law School. “This transformative commitment to the Center’s work will increase the high-quality legal assistance our students and faculty provide to early-stage entrepreneurs, small business owners and workers, community-based merchant associations, veterans, and student athletes. It will deepen and extend our role as an anchor institution for our Tribeca and Lower Manhattan community, and establish a best-in-class model for how law schools can support their local communities and help small businesses thrive. Joe Plumeri has demonstrated how philanthropy can make a meaningful impact and support the foundational ideals our nation is built upon.”
Mr. Plumeri’s new $10 million gift will empower the Center to serve more small businesses and entrepreneurs through the existing programs described above, as well as innovative new programs and initiatives. Specifically:
- Supporting the development of the Tribeca Community and Economic Development Plan by growing the partnership with the Tribeca Alliance and advancing One Tribeca, the New York Law School led community-initiative to consider and develop a Business Improvement District.
- Launching a new Name, Image, and Likeness (NIL) Clinic for student athletes, collectives, and emerging ventures navigating endorsement agreements, branding strategy, compliance, intellectual property, and tax considerations.
- Creating an Entrepreneur-in-Residence program, recruiting a seasoned entrepreneur to be embedded within the Center to work with students, offer advisory sessions, mentor clients and students, assist in strategic programming, and activate networks of investors and business leaders.
- Expanding clinical capacity to meet client needs by providing even more students each year the opportunity to join the Center’s transactional law clinics and increasing the volume and sophistication of legal assistance available to small businesses.
- Building new partnerships to expand the Center’s reach, collaborating with nonprofit organizations, government agencies, academic institutions, and private-sector partners to bring legal and business support to new entrepreneurs and small business clients while creating opportunities for NYLS students to work alongside professionals providing business counseling, planning, capital access, and other entrepreneurial support.
- Elevating thought leadership, supporting community advocacy, and delivering public programming that focus on the ideas, policies, people, and organizations that support entrepreneurship and opportunities to access the American Dream. This includes establishing annual symposium on leading issues in Small Business Empowerment.
“Joe Plumeri’s life, from his humble beginnings to his extraordinary business legacy and extensive philanthropic commitments, are inspiring to everyone,” said John Estes ’95, Chair of New York Law School’s Board of Trustees. “His desire to ensure his generosity impacts not only law students, but supports the American Dream by making a lasting and meaningful difference for New York’s communities, is a model for philanthropy and engagement for us all. I am grateful to Joe for his commitment to New York Law School, our students, and home neighborhood and look forward to his contributions on our Board for years to come.”
“Since Joe Plumeri’s transformative gift in 2015, it is fair to say that his generosity has impacted the lives of a generation of law students and the clients they have served. Now with this new gift, Joe has positioned New York Law School as a leader in the field of entrepreneurship and community development. We are so grateful for his continued and expanded support,” said Kim Hawkins, Dean for Clinical and Experiential Learning.
NYLS also established a unique position for an institution of higher education, hiring Christopher Bruno ’12 as its inaugural Chief of Economic Development Programs and Strategies to direct the Center’s small business and community development work in Tribeca and across New York City. This has established a new model for law school engagement in local communities and already has yielded dividends, helping revitalize the Tribeca Alliance Merchants Association as a neighborhood-wide organization and securing a $100,000 merchant-organizing grant from the New York City Department of Small Business Services. This work also deepens the Law School’s role as an anchor institution in the Tribeca community and, together with Mr. Plumeri’s foundational commitment, will empower the Center to support One Tribeca, strengthen the voice of local small businesses, establish governance infrastructure, develop coordinated marketing and branding activities, and begin early feasibility work toward a possible Business Improvement District. In August, the Department of Small Business Services awarded an additional $100,000 to support the exploration of a Tribeca BID.
“Joe’s extraordinary commitment gives us an opportunity to think differently about the role a law school can play in supporting entrepreneurs, small businesses, and the communities around them,” said Christopher Bruno ’12, NYLS Chief of Economic Development Programs and Strategies. “This investment has given NYLS the tools to put new ideas into practice, working directly with businesses and community partners to build stronger local economic infrastructure. The success of that work is already attracting additional investment from the City and meaningful support from the business community. This gift will allow NYLS to deepen that work, build new partnerships across the city, and create meaningful opportunities for NYLS to help businesses and communities grow.”
“The Plumeri Center has been an incredible partner to the Tribeca community, bringing the energy, expertise, and sustained commitment we needed to help organize our small businesses and build real momentum around a shared vision for the neighborhood,” said Victoria Weil, President of Friends of Bogardus Plaza and Co-Chair of One Tribeca. “What has been especially meaningful is that NYLS didn’t simply help launch this effort and walk away. They have stayed at the table, helping us strengthen the Tribeca Alliance and now continuing that work through One Tribeca. For the first time in our neighborhood’s history, we have the sustained institutional support and capacity to bring businesses, residents, property owners, and community partners together around Tribeca’s economic future.”
The work of The Plumeri Center is also anchored by an Advisory Board whose members include:
- Susan Plumeri, Co-Founder, The Plumeri Center; Small Business Entrepreneur
- Anthony Crowell, Dean and President of New York Law School
- Lisa Bova-Hiatt, CEO of the New York City Housing Authority
- Leslie Abbey, CEO, Hot Bread Kitchen
- Joam Alisme ’14, Founder and Managing Attorney, Alisme Law LLC
- Fred Cerullo, President & CEO, Grand Central Partnership BID
- Wellington Chen, Executive Director, Chinatown Business Improvement District
- Paul Kelly, General Counsel, Brooklyn Navy Yard Development Corporation
- Andrew Rigie, Executive Director, NY Hospitality Alliance
- Jessica Walker, President & CEO, Manhattan Chamber of Commerce
- Kim Hawkins, NYLS Dean for Clinical and Experiential Learning
- Seve Falati, NYLS Professor and Director of the Patent Clinic
About Joe Plumeri
Joe Plumeri is currently Chairman of Insurance Advisory Partners (IAP). A native of Trenton, New Jersey, he has enjoyed a career in global businesses, community leadership and service on behalf of civic, philanthropic and charitable causes spanning six decades.
Prior to joining IAP, Mr. Plumeri served as a Senior Advisor to Kohlberg, Kravis Roberts & Co. L.P. (KKR), where he was appointed Executive Chairman of Selecta Group in May 2020, having joined the Group’s Board in March 2020.
Previously, Mr. Plumeri served as Vice Chairman of the Board of Directors of First Data Corporation, the world’s largest payments and business solutions company. He joined the company in 2013 after serving for 13 years as Chairman & CEO of Willis Group Holdings, the global insurance brokerage, and during his tenure he oversaw significant growth and delivered strong returns for shareholders. Prior to joining Willis, he served as CEO of Citibank North America, where he was credited with boosting earnings by nearly 400% over two years. He also served as Chairman as well as President and Managing Partner of Shearson Lehman Brothers and held senior leadership roles at Primerica, Travelers, and Smith Barney.
A renowned public speaker and authority on leadership, Mr. Plumeri is the author of the national bestselling book “The Power of Being Yourself: A Game Plan for Success–by Putting Passion into Your Life and Work.” He is a graduate of the College of William & Mary. He attended New York Law School before joining investment banking. In 2015, he received an honorary degree from the Law School and served as the keynote speaker at Commencement.