Jocelyn A. Bishop

Managing Partner

Jocelyn A. Bishop is a Co-Founder and Managing Partner of Jova Law, where she provides comprehensive legal counsel to charitable and other tax-exempt organizations and philanthropists across the country and around the world. Jocelyn prides herself on translating complex tax law into easily understood concepts and being a calm presence whenever tumultuous situations arise. 

Before co-founding Jova Law, Jocelyn took a unique path to specialize in nonprofit tax law.  She began her career at two of the largest accounting firms including PwC, where she became a Director in the Exempt Organization Tax Services practice.  Following PwC, Jocelyn was Vice President of Tax at Harvard Management Company (Harvard University’s endowment), started her own nonprofit and philanthropic consulting firm, and represented nonprofits, foundations, and other tax-exempt organizations at a law firm. Regardless of where she’s worked, Jocelyn has devoted her almost three-decade career exclusively to charities, other tax-exempt organizations, and individuals dedicated to improving the world through charitable initiatives.

Jocelyn takes a multi-focused approach with clients that includes not only legal but also operational, financial, governance, fundraising, and investment considerations. She works with organizations throughout their lifecycle, from formation to dissolution, and provides on-going counsel for clients including the roles and responsibilities of board members, executive compensation, endowments, unrelated business income, reinstatement of tax-exempt status, mergers, and restructuring. Jocelyn also works frequently with clients and their accountants on tax compliance, including Forms 990, 990-EZ, and 990-PF.

Throughout her career, Jocelyn has consulted with a diverse range of tax-exempt clients, from start-up to multibillion-dollar organizations, including social service organizations, religious institutions, museums, foundations, colleges, universities, secondary schools, endowments, hospitals and insurers, trade associations, donor advised funds, and retirement trusts. She enjoys working with charitably minded individuals, guiding their concepts into the reality of tax-exempt organizations with the appropriate governance and compliance foundations. She also is particularly skilled in resolving clients’ complex tax issues, including those dealing with multi-organization structures and nonprofits with foreign activities.

Jocelyn has published several articles on tax-exempt and philanthropic topics and is a frequent public speaker for organizations including the Boston Bar Association and MCLE. She has been a long-time Steering Committee member in various roles, including co-Chair, of the Boston Bar Association Tax Exempt Organizations Section and is also an active Board Member of multiple nonprofits.

Jocelyn is admitted to practice law in Massachusetts and earned her J.D. from Vermont Law School. She is a graduate of Vanderbilt University, B.A., cum laude, and earned a Certificate in Social Sector Leadership from Philanthropy University/Haas School of Business, U.C. Berkeley.  

Outside of her practice, Jocelyn loves to read, hike with her husband, and cheer her kids on from the sidelines.

Valerie R. Sussman

Managing Partner

Valerie R. Sussman is a Co-Founder and Managing Partner of Jova Law, where she is dedicated to helping nonprofits, foundations, and philanthropists achieve their missions with confidence. Drawing on over a decade of specialized legal experience serving philanthropists, nonprofit organizations, foundations, and business entities, Valerie provides practical, strategic counsel on complex tax, governance, and compliance matters. Whether she is helping launch a new organization, advising an established charity through regulatory challenges, or assisting donors in maximizing their charitable impact, Valerie enjoys partnering with clients every step of the way.

Before co-founding Jova Law, Valerie spent more than five years representing nonprofits, foundations, and other tax-exempt organizations in a practice devoted exclusively to nonprofit law. Earlier in her career, she practiced trusts, estates, and tax-exempt organizations law at Goodwin Procter and estate planning at Lourie & Cutler, a Boston tax and estate planning boutique. Her estate planning background continues to inform her work with donors, charitable organizations, and foundations.

Valerie counsels 501(c)(3) public charities and private foundations, along with other tax-exempt organizations, including 501(c)(6) trade associations and professional societies. Her clients span the educational, human services, arts, environmental, and religious sectors, and she advises them on everything from tax exemption and corporate governance to ongoing compliance, fundraising, and operational matters.

She has extensive experience guiding organizations through every stage of the nonprofit lifecycle, from choosing the right organizational structure and obtaining tax-exempt status to Attorney General compliance, governance, strategic growth, fiscal sponsorship, and, when needed, dissolution. The organizations she has helped establish range from “Friends” support organizations to religious orders. Valerie is particularly experienced in fiscal sponsorship arrangements, regularly drafting and negotiating sponsorship agreements on behalf of both sponsors and sponsored projects.

Valerie also advises private foundations on governance and grantmaking, preparing bylaws, policies, and other governing documents, as well as grant agreements, equivalency determinations, and expenditure responsibility agreements for grants to foreign recipients.

As a Chartered Advisor in Philanthropy (CAP®), Valerie helps individuals, families, and professional advisors develop thoughtful, tax-efficient charitable giving strategies that align with their values and maximize their philanthropic impact. Her background in estate planning and trust administration enables her to interpret and revise charitable gift instruments and collaborate seamlessly with clients’ estate planning and tax advisors.

Valerie is an active leader in the legal and philanthropic communities. Through the Boston Bar Association, she has presented seminars on tax developments and trusts and estates practice. She serves on the Board of Directors of the Boston Estate Planning Council for the 2025–2028 term and has contributed to several of its committees, including the Women’s Initiative, Education, and Member Involvement Committees. She has also been a member of The Boston Foundation’s Professional Advisor Network and serves as Co-Chair of the 26th Annual MCLE Nonprofit Law Conference.

Valerie is admitted to practice in Massachusetts and earned her J.D. from Boston College Law School. She also holds an M.Mus. in Musicology from Northwestern University and a B.A., summa cum laude, from Tufts University, where she was elected to Phi Beta Kappa.

Outside of her practice, Valerie remains an avid musician and enjoys spending time with her husband and their two very musical children.