Lisa Johnsen is the foundation’s senior tax counsel and leads the foundation’s grants and contracts services team.

Prior to joining the foundation in 2007, Lisa was a partner at K&L Gates, where she advised the foundation and other nonprofit organizations on federal and state exempt organization tax and governance matters. Lisa is the 2017-2019 Chair of the American Bar Association Tax Section Committee on Exempt Organizations and a member of the American Law Institute (ALI), where she is currently serves as an Adviser on the ALI’s Restatement of the Law of Charitable Nonprofit Organizations project. Lisa also taught Tax Exempt Organizations at the University of Washington Law School Graduate Tax Program for several years.

Lisa received her B.A., with distinction, Whitman College; J.D., magna cum laude, Seattle University; and LL.M (taxation), New York University.