PBN 2023 Business Women Awards
LEGAL SERVICES INDUSTRY LEADER: Karen Grande | Locke Lorde LLP partner
MANY NOTABLE LANDMARKS, including Roger Williams Park Zoo and the Newport Pell Bridge, help shape Rhode Island’s landscape, and Karen Grande has her fingerprints on them.
Grande, a public finance lawyer who is a partner at Locke Lord LLP’s Providence office, helps make the financing happen for public projects such as schools, sewers, recreation centers, sidewalks and beach pavilions. She has even a few times financed the iconic bridge that connects Jamestown to Newport over Narragansett Bay.
“I’m sure not a lot of people in the general public know who I am or what I do, but almost everyone has been to one of [those public projects] or benefited from services provided by [the firm],” Grande said. “We’ve done a lot of work for public and private schools. I really like school projects. I also like health care projects very much.”
At first, Grande did not pursue a law career. She was active in her high school music program, singing in choirs. Grande initially wanted to do something with music to make a living, she said, and originally studied music therapy.
At Florida State University, Grande decided music therapy was not for her and opted to pursue music education. Grande graduated from Syracuse University, where she studied English and music, but had not chosen a career path. It was her future father-in-law who told her to consider law school.
After completing her degree at Suffolk University Law School, Grande was recruited by a firm and given a chance to work on a project involving bonds for open space. Thirty-six years later, including 16 years at Locke Lord, Grande’s contributions to public finance law have shaped the landscape of Rhode Island.
Grande regularly acts as bond counsel to the state of Rhode Island, the quasi-public R.I. Health and Building Corp., as well as cities, towns, water districts and sewer districts across the state.
“Everyone, whether an individual or a company, everyone has financing needs and that includes the government,” Grande said. “The goal is to help with finance structures that achieve the goals of putting together a good project for a good purpose at the lowest cost to taxpayers.”
Grande also led a team that represented the state in the first utilization of a statute establishing a disaster emergency funding board. That establishment allowed the state to obtain $300 million in credit from Bank of America Corp. and Santander Bank N.A. to respond to the COVID-19 pandemic.
The state never needed to draw on the board, Grande said. But she said the state was prepared in an environment where no one knew at the time what was going to happen with the economy or how the health crisis would impact both state and federal government.
Mentoring men, as well as women, is important to Grande, she said, helping them better understand financing. There is a larger number of women in public finance law, as well, she said.
“Public finance is a form of public interest law and because they finance schools and streets and sewers and recreational facilities, there’s something about that which attracts women,” Grande said.
Grande said Locke Lord has always had a strong focus on supporting women and other diverse communities. The firm, Grande said, has had a lot of accomplishments in terms of equity, and she describes the firm as “just a really supportive environment.”
Grande said Locke Lord encourages its staff to be involved in the community. She serves on Grow Smart Rhode Island’s board of directors and is vice chair of Greenwood Credit Union’s board. Grande is also on the Rhode Island Philharmonic Orchestra & Music School’s board resources committee.
Grande sees exciting changes ahead in her field with energy efficiency and savings becoming more a part of public projects.
“The whole world is heading that way,” she said. “There’s a real demand out there for new [technology] and we see that a lot in public finance.”
