April 2016 Alumni Highlight

Ally LaTourelle (’07) received her degree from Pace Law School in May 2007. While at Pace, Ally was an involved student, to say the least. She participated and placed in the ABA National Negotiation Competition, the ABA Regional Negotiation Competition, was on Dean’s List, chaired the Moot Court Board, and participated in the Willem C. Vis International Commercial Arbitration Moot Team.

Despite how well Ally excelled at Pace, law school wasn’t an immediate decision for her after graduating from undergraduate school. Ally notes that “after graduating from Cornish College, I took time to develop a company and a product that I was passionate about.” Following her entrepreneurial spirit and environmental activism, Ally started “Violet Shade, Inc.” – a company that developed a UV Ray Protective Parasol.

Slowly, but surely, Ally revisited the idea of attending law school. Then, in 2005, while she was a law student, Ally landed a summer internship with then Senator Hillary Rodham Clinton. She worked in the U.S. Senate Office on speech writing, legal research in economic and environmental development issues, within the Deputy State Director’s office in New York City. The following summer, Ally was a legal extern with Curtis, Mallet-Prevost, Colt and Mosle in Paris, France. Then to round out her legal experiences as a law student, Ally obtained a judicial externship with the Honorable Paul A. Victor of the Bronx County Supreme Court. "Each experience in law school brought me one step closer to realizing what my personal and professional strengths were in each. The variances in each opportunity were critical in allowing me to ultimately work in a field that I am passionate about. My experiences at Pace gave me a solid base of credibility, knowledge and confidence."

After graduating from Pace and passing the NY Bar, Ally trained for and took the Series 7 licensing exam to begin working as a financial advisor at UBS Financial Services, Inc. She left that position to become a principal consultant at Earthventure Capital, LLC. Primarily responsible for investment analysis and due diligence for private equity investments, and creating access to increased capital for cleantech start-ups – Ally remained there for two years. While working with Earthventure Capital, Ally landed a position as V.P. of Government Affairs at BioAmber, Inc. BioAmber is a VC funded sustainable chemicals company that has been recognized for its green technology. This new position allowed Ally to be strategically involved in multiples areas of the business and to be an integral part of its growth. In May of 2013, she solely represented the Company on opening day of the IPO at the New York Stock Exchange (BIOA).

Then, in June of 2013, Ally started her own consulting firm – BioEconomy Partners. She is the managing partner at the firm. “Essentially, BioEconomy Partners is focused on development of cleantech manufacturing, government funding, project finance, government incentive analysis, and site selection. "I use all of my experience as a cleantech investment consultant, a former financial advisor, and my legal training from Pace to create consulting teams that achieve the most environmentally and economically smart results for companies."

Not one to stop learning and experiencing, Ally is a regular speaker at numerous cleantech conferences, has testified before Congress in the House Committee on Science, Space and Technology, and is quoted in national publications and reports. After obtaining her Juris Doctor with a concentration in International Law at Pace, she went on to receive certificate training from the U.N. Environment Program Finance Initiative. "I am a firm believer in continuous learning. In order to evolve with the ever changing world that we live in, and especially in my field, where the challenge is to bring totally new, environmentally cleaner technologies to commercial scale, you need to ensure that you are reading, writing, lecturing, attending conferences, and learning. That was something that was instilled in me during my time at Pace and it has stuck with me."

Ally is currently based at 8,000 feet, in the San Bernardino Mountains of Southern California. When not traveling to see clients, she spends her free time skiing, meditating, hiking and playing music.