RPS Presentation, January 11, 2023– John C. Ninfo- The Native American Government That Inspired the US Constitution.
John C. Ninfo, II received his B.S. in Psychology Degree from Georgetown University in 1968 and
J.D. Degree from Boston University Law School in 1973. He served as a United States Bankruptcy
Judge for the Western District of New York for 20 years, from 1992 through 2011. For 18 years
prior to taking the bench, John was with the law firm of Underberg & Kessler in Rochester, New
York where his concentration was in the areas of bankruptcy, banking and commercial law.
John served in the United States Marine Corps from 1968-1970 and was Chief Legal Clerk to the Judge
Advocate General of the 4 th Marine Air Wing.
In the Fall of 2002, Judge Ninfo, who had been speaking in high schools and colleges about personal finances
since 1997, founded the Credit Abuse Resistance Education (CARE) Program, a personal financial literacy
education outreach program that provides interested Bankruptcy Community Professionals to high schools,
middle schools, colleges and other organizations to share with them their unique knowledge, experiences,
and stories, and to provide them with personal finance lessons, tactics and techniques that will help them
lead a financially responsible, consumer debt-free life. As of February 2008, the CARE Program had a
presence in all fifty states and in the District of Columbia.
John has been honored for his work in financial literacy with, among other awards, a 2007, first
ever, Be More Informed Award, by WXXI, the Rochester, New York Public Radio and Television
Station, a 2014 Excellence In Financial Literacy Education Legacy Award by the Institute for
Financial Literacy, a 2018 Lifetime Achievement Award by the National Conference of Bankruptcy
Judges, and the 2020 William E. Odom Visionary Leadership Award by the JumpStart Coalition.
John, a 2014 Jefferson Award winner, which honors community volunteers, continues to serve the public in
his retirement, including, from advancing financial literacy as a weekly personal finance columnist in the
Daily Messenger Newspaper and CARE Program presenter, doing over 200 presentations a year, to acting as
a Trial Guide and Docent at Ganondagan, a New York State and National Native American Historic site, and
to serving as the House Manager for the Rochester Lyric Theatre, the Rochester Oratorio Society, OFC
Creations, The Century Club Productions, The New York State Ballet, and other performing arts
organizations. John, who also serves as an outreach educator for Wild Wings, a Birds of Prey Sanctuary,
began an Initiative, which he underwrites, to bring the Birds of Prey into the Rochester City Elementary
Schools. During the 2015-2016 School Year all 36 elementary schools participated in the Program.