MENLO PARK, Calif. – Lawrence Mendenhall, who helped direct legal affairs at The Pew Charitable Trusts in Philadelphia, will join The William and Flora Hewlett Foundation as its first in-house general counsel.
Mendenhall, the deputy director of legal affairs at The Pew Charitable Trusts, has worked there since 1999, when he joined as a legal affairs officer and associate general counsel. He became a senior legal affairs officer in 2006, and was named to his current position in 2007.
“Lawrence is an ideal match for the needs of the Hewlett Foundation,” said Foundation President Paul Brest. “While his extensive foundation experience certainly is a plus, what matters the most are his good judgment, keen analytic skills, and problem-solving attitude.”
Among Mendenhall’s responsibilities at Pew were counseling the president, board, and managing directors; assuring compliance with lobbying laws; monitoring legislation relevant to the non-profit world; negotiating and drafting a broad range of legal documents; and helping to manage a ten-person legal department.
“I couldn’t be more pleased about joining the staff of the Hewlett Foundation,” said Mendenhall. “I look forward to embracing all facets of the Foundation’s varied and important work.”
Before joining The Pew Charitable Trusts, he practiced law for three years with the New York City law firm Cleary, Gottlieb, Steen & Hamilton, where he set up and advised family foundations and trusts; counseled the Roy Lichtenstein Foundation, the Joffrey Ballet and the Rainforest Foundation; and provided tax and investment advice to high net worth individuals and privately held businesses.
A native of Colorado, he earned his bachelor’s degree summa cum laude in political science from the University of Colorado at Boulder, and graduated cum laude from New York University School of Law, where he also served as executive editor of the New York University Law Review.
After law school, he served as a law clerk to Judge Michael R. Murphy in the Tenth Circuit U.S. Court Of Appeals in Salt Lake City, Utah.
About the William and Flora Hewlett Foundation
The William and Flora Hewlett Foundation has been making grants since 1967 to help solve social and environmental problems at home and around the world. The Foundation concentrates its resources on activities in education, environment, global development, performing arts, philanthropy, and population, and makes grants to support disadvantaged communities in the San Francisco Bay Area. A full list of all the Hewlett Foundation’s grants can be found here.