John Bennett is Senior Counsel in the Firm’s Exempt Organizations Practice. John is Co-Head of, and manages the day-to-day oversight of, the Group’s Endowment Advisory Practice. John advises endowed universities, foundations, hospitals, cultural institutions and other institutional investors, including family offices, in connection with investment activities, including in the review and negotiation of documentation relating to investments in private equity funds, venture capital funds, real estate funds, energy and other natural resources funds, hedge funds, managed accounts, funds-of-one and similar investment vehicles, as well as in secondary market transactions involving the purchase and sale of interests in such investment vehicles. In addition, he represents public charities and private foundations in connection with impact investments and mission- and program-related investments. John also advises public charities and private foundations on structural and operating issues, including formation, governance, mergers, reorganizations, domestic and international grantmaking and taxation. John works regularly with sponsoring organizations of donor-advised funds, grantmaking private foundations and “American Friends of…” organizations regarding governance, compliance with tax law and grant structuring. John also has significant experience in the area of lobbying and advocacy by nonprofit organizations.
John is a regular speaker on topics of interest to tax-exempt organizations and institutional investors. John has spoken on various topics at the American Bar Association Business Law Section’s Institutional Investors Committee, the International Grantmaking Symposium and the annual Georgetown conference on Representing & Managing Tax Exempt Organizations, and has presented at various events hosted by the Practising Law Institute, the New York State Society of Certified Public Accountants, Nonprofit New York and New York Lawyers for the Public Interest, among others. John is the co-author, with David A. Shevlin, of chapters entitled “Tools for Direct International Grantmaking: Expenditure Responsibility,” and “Tools for Direct International Grantmaking: Equivalency Determination,” in “Cross-Border Giving: A Legal and Practical Guide,” published in 2018 by Charity Channel Press. The Legal 500 reports high praise for John from clients, with one source noting: “his industry knowledge is incredible, and his work ethic is second to none.”
John plays an integral role in several of the Firm’s pro bono initiatives. Recently, John was featured in a number of publications, including ABC News and Law360, highlighting the Firm’s pro bono work with Election Protection, the nation's largest non-partisan voter protection coalition. John also frequently represents small non-profit organizations in incorporating and obtaining tax-exempt status.
John is a member of the Exempt Organizations Committee of the American Bar Association’s Tax Section and a former member of the New York City Bar Association’s Committee on Non-Profit Organizations and the Global Impact Investing Network/ISLP Legal Practitioner Group. John also was a long-time board member of the Public Interest Law Foundation at Columbia Law School.
Prior to his legal career, he worked in grantmaking and in compliance at the Fidelity Investments Charitable Gift Fund. John received his J.D. from Columbia Law School in 2008, where he was a James Kent Scholar and a Harlan Fiske Stone Scholar. He received his B.A. from Tufts University in 2001.