Nationality American Spouse(s) Jean Yih (1991-) | Political party Independent Organization founded Better for America | |
Born October 23, 1965 (age 51) ( 1965-10-23 ) Norwich, Connecticut Alma mater Wharton School of the University of Pennsylvania, B.A., B.S.
Harvard Law School, J.D. Occupation Attorney, Investor, Philanthropist, and Activist Notable work Mitt (Executive Producer) | ||
John Kingston III is an American attorney, investor, philanthropist, and activist based in Boston. He is the founder and president of the non-profit organization Better for America. He also co-founded the non-profit organizations SixSeeds, Sword & Spoon Foundation, and Sword & Spoon Workshop. He is also an Executive Producer for the 2014 documentary, Mitt, which premiered at the Sundance Film Festival in January, 2014.
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Early life
In 1965, John Kingston was born in Norwich, CT to John (“Jack”) Kingston, Jr., a teacher and Jayne (née Christian) Kingston. He then attended the University of Pennsylvania where he received a B.S. in organizational behavior from the Wharton School, and a B.A. in sociology. At the University of Pennsylvania, he was a member of Alpha Phi Alpha fraternity, the gospel choir, and the cross-country and track teams. Following his graduation from Penn, Kingston entered Harvard Law School in 1991, where he was a teaching fellow for Dr. Robert Coles. While at Harvard, Kingston founded The Society for Law, Life and Religion, an organization dedicated to defending religious values and the sanctity of human life in the public square. He also helped found The Veritas Forum, which gathers students at colleges around the world with leading thinkers to discuss life’s hardest questions, as well as the role of faith in their lives and on campus.
Legal career
After graduation from law school in 1994, Kingston began his legal work at Ropes & Gray, LLP and focused on corporate and securities laws issues, specializing in the investment management industry. Subsequently, he was Senior Counsel at Miller Anderson & Sherrard, LLP, a division of Morgan Stanley Investment Management. In 1999, he joined AMG, a global asset management company with more than $700 billion in assets under management. In 2002 he became General Counsel, responsible for legal, regulatory, compliance, and corporate governance functions, as well as oversight of risk management and controls. Kingston became secretary and Senior Vice President at AMG in 2002, Executive Vice President in 2006, and and Vice Chairman in 2011, before retiring from the company in 2015.
Public service and philanthropy
Along with working on a range of public policy matters and launching a variety of social initiatives, Kingston serves on the boards of the Pioneer Institute, The Veritas Forum, Foundation for Excellence in Higher Education, and Beliefnet, and is a founder and Chairman of the Board of the Sword & Spoon Foundation, Sword & Spoon Workshop, SixSeeds and Better For America. He is a member of the Campaign to Fix the Debt, the American Enterprise Institute National Council, and was formerly Vice Chairman of the National Faith and Values Steering Committee for Mitt Romney's 2008 presidential campaign, as well as a member of the National Republican Senatorial Committee Majority Makers, and the Republican Governors Association Executive Roundtable.
SixSeeds
In 2005, John and Jean Kingston founded SixSeeds, a non-profit national partnership of families who share a vision for family-based service and giving. Today, the mission of SixSeeds is twofold - to support and encourage virtue in families through the sharing of stories from current culture, and to connect families to service and giving opportunities. The SixSeeds Faith and Family Channel - part of Patheos/Beliefnet, one of the top content websites in the world - brings together a wide range of writers who explore how to navigate and juggle the complicated issues of building families and raising children in the modern world.
Sword & Spoon Foundation
Founded in 2007, the non-profit Sword & Spoon Foundation's mission is to cultivate friendship and partnership, and within these partnerships, envision and encourage ideas and action in advance of the common good. The foundation focuses on collaborative projects in three areas of focus: cultural renewal, faith and the arts and academy, and service of the "least of these" (i.e. those needy throughout the world).
Sword & Spoon Workshop
Founded in 2015, Sword & Spoon Workshop is a non-profit organization encompassing the Sword & Spoon Productions and OQ Farm divisions. Sword & Spoon Productions develops and produces narrative and documentary films, and is developing a faith-prismed film institute. The 2014 film “Mitt”, which debuted at the Sundance Film Festival and was purchased by Netflix, was funded by Sword & Spoon, and Mr. Kingston served as Executive Producer. OQ Farm is a 500-acre property in Bridgewater, Vermont, which has served as a spiritual retreat center for college students for decades, and is under development to be a spiritually-based creative center for arts and innovation.
Better For America
In 2016, Mr. Kingston launched the non-partisan initiative Better For America, a presidential ballot access program to ensure a pathway for an independent candidate to run for President of the United States in 2016.
Personal life
Mr. Kingston and Jean Yih met while both were undergraduate students at the University of Pennsylvania, married in 1991, and have four children.