Board of Directors

J. Kent Friedman

Chairman of the Board
Friedman Kenny

City and County Position

00

Originally selected

8/31/2003

Term expires

8/31/2025

J. Kent Friedman is a veteran lawyer and Houston civic leader. He grew up in Biloxi, Mississippi, where, among other honors, he was President of the Mississippi Association of Student Councils.  He attended Tulane University on a baseball scholarship, receiving both a B.B.A. degree and an LL.B. degree.  In addition, he received an LL.M. degree in Taxation from Boston University.  He is married to Dr. Ann Friedman and has five children and eight grandchildren.

 Kenny’s practice has been primarily in the corporate and public law areas, and he has represented a number of highly successful entrepreneurs.  In addition, he has been the Managing Partner of two law firms and served as the General Counsel of several prominent businesses.   He has also served on the Board of Directors of two publicly-traded companies, and over 50 non-publicly traded companies.

 He is Chairman of the Board of the Harris County – Houston Sports Authority, which built, financed and is the landlord for the city’s state-of-the art sports venues  He is also currently the Chairman of the Board of Directors of both the Mickey Leland Kibbutzim Internship Foundation, and the Harris County Precinct One Street Olympics.  He also currently serves on the Board of Directors of the TaxAct Texas Bowl, and the Leo Baeck Educational Center Foundation.  Kenny is a member of the American, Texas and Houston Bar Associations, and a Fellow of both the Houston Bar Foundation and the Texas Bar Foundation.

 He has previously served as a member of the Board of Regents of Texas Southern University and as a member of the Executive Committee of the Board of Directors of the Houston Symphony.  In addition, he has served as Chairman of the Board of Hermann Park Conservancy, Co-Chairman of the Greater Houston Inner City Games, President of the Foundation for Jones Hall, President of the Southwest Region of the American Jewish Committee, and Chairman of the Community Relations Council of the Jewish Federation of Greater Houston.  He has also previously served on the Boards of the Houston Area Women’s Center, Houston Interfaith Ministries, Anti-Defamation League and Houston Proud, as well as on the Tulane President’s Council.

 The Houston Bar Association Auxiliary presented Kenny with the Leon Jaworski Award, given annually to that member of the Houston Bar Association who is deemed to have made the most significant contributions to the civic and cultural life of Houston.  The American Jewish Committee awarded him the Max Nathan Award, given to a member of the Jewish community who has succeeded in both strengthening the Jewish community as well as building bridges to the larger Houston community.  Kenny has also been the recipient of the Man of the Year Award from the Cystic Fibrosis Foundation, and the Spirit of Life Award from the Seven Acres Jewish Senior Care Center.