donor profile

John McNeece’s passion for the U.S.-México border region began at an early age. As an Imperial Valley native, his family would take frequent trips across the border, opening his eyes to the multi-dimensional issues affecting the binational area. John's current professional and personal interests reflect those early memories – now directed toward sustainable economic development in this dynamic region.

John began his professional work in México in the 1980s, when he started to work on cross-border mergers & acquisitions and lending transactions. In 1991, John took a sabbatical to study Mexican law and the Spanish language. While pursuing his studies, he taught a course at Stanford Law School on "Doing Business with México" and served as an advisor to the U.S. Trade Representative’s office during the NAFTA negotiations.

As a partner at Luce Forward since 1986, John has built a dynamic practice around cross-border mergers & acquisitions, U.S.-México joint ventures, cross-border financing, and international venture capital. Today, he is the co-chair of Luce Forward’s Interna-tional Practice Group and head of the firm’s Latin America Practice Group. Recently, in response to the "Partnership for Prosperity" initiative established by Presidents George W. Bush and Vicente Fox, John has advised Nacional Financiera, México’s national development bank, on venture capital development, as well as draft legislation, which will help build a prosperous venture capital industry in México. He has also begun to advise clients on low-income housing projects in Baja California.

“Tijuana needs a
state-of-the-art public
library, and I wanted to
support this effort.”

As a volunteer, Mr. McNeece is very involved in San Diego Dialogue and the San Diego Regional Chamber of Commerce’s International Committee. In his new role as Chairman of that committee, John will promote international trade and commerce with México and other global markets. He is succeeding ICF’s Board Chair, Leon Reinhart, in this position.

John has been an active supporter and donor to ICF since 2002. He was an instrumental force behind ICF’s Friends of the Tijuana Library Fund, a donor-advised fund for the first major public library in Tijuana. In fact, John’s initial contribution triggered additional funding from other ICF donors, totaling $87,000. John noted that “Fr. David Ungerleider, the driving force behind the library project, has done a great service to this community. Tijuana needs a state-of-the-art public library and I wanted to support this effort.”