Mackenzie Drutowski

Partner Sustainability

Washington, D.C. +1 202 389-3284

Mackenzie Drutowski

Overview

Mackenzie’s work is of the highest quality and she has an amazing ability to meet client deadlines, while focusing on key issues and proposing sophisticated solutions.” - Chambers USA Impact Investing

Mackenzie Drutowski is a sustainability partner in Kirkland’s Washington, D.C., office where she provides sophisticated counsel to private equity firms and public and private companies on the dynamic and rapidly evolving legal landscape of sustainability and impact investing. With a deep understanding of emerging regulations, investor priorities and voluntary frameworks, she helps clients navigate complex compliance challenges while identifying strategic opportunities to drive long-term value.

Mackenzie’s practice spans a broad range of sustainability-related matters, including fund formation — particularly energy transition and emerging manager-focused funds — and M&A transactions, where she advises on due diligence and contract negotiations. She also advises on corporate sustainability strategies, guiding clients in the development and enhancement of policies, disclosures and initiatives.

Mackenzie also advises on social enterprise matters, including public benefit business certifications and related governance and transaction considerations.

Beyond her client work, Mackenzie is recognized as a thought leader in sustainability law. She is a frequent speaker at industry and legal conferences, including events hosted by the American Bar Association, Women in Climate Investing and Finance, KAYO and New Private Markets, where she shares insights on regulatory developments, investor trends and best practices for responsible investment integration.

Mackenzie’s practice is grounded in her extensive corporate experience, having spent five years advising on complex domestic and cross-border M&A transactions as part of Kirkland’s Corporate Practice Group. Her multidisciplinary experience allows her to provide clients with comprehensive, forward-thinking guidance in an increasingly complex regulatory and business environment.

Representative Clients

Berkshire Partners, The Carlyle Group, EIG Partners, GTCR, Oaktree Capital Management, Ohmium, Patient Square Capital, Starwood Capital Partners, TA Associates, TPG, Waud Capital and 26North.

Sustainability

  • Strategic counsel on compliance with sustainability disclosure regulations, encompassing climate, human rights and complex cross-jurisdictional considerations.
  • Experience in voluntary reporting and disclosure, including alignment with industry-leading frameworks such as PRI, EDCI, GRESB, TCFD, SASB and SBTi.
  • Development and enhancement of sustainability-focused policies and procedures, with a particular emphasis on responsible investing, human rights and supply chain governance, climate resilience and corporate governance.

Fund Formation

  • Advisory on structuring and launching funds across diverse industries—including real estate, infrastructure, energy transition, healthcare, technology and industrials—tailored to varying stages of sustainability integration, from first-time funds to sophisticated impact-driven strategies.
  • Navigating the evolving landscape of investor expectations regarding sustainability integration and reporting across global markets.

M&A

  • Sustainability diligence, delivering tailored insights aligned with firm- and fund-specific commitments and priorities.
  • Negotiating sustainability-focused representations and warranties, covenants and information rights.
  • Strategic exit planning for social enterprises, addressing deal documentation, transaction approvals and key buyer considerations.

Social Enterprise and Diverse Business Certifications

  • Diligence, structuring and transactional advisory for partnerships and acquisitions involving businesses with diverse and social enterprise certifications.
  • Governance advisory for mission-driven alternative corporate structures, including public benefit corporations and public benefit limited liability companies.
  • Guidance on certification and recertification processes for diverse-owned business certifications, such as NMSDC-certified minority business enterprises (MBEs) and minority-controlled companies (MCCs), as well as Women’s Business Enterprise National Council (WBENC) certified businesses.
  • Legal and governance counsel for B Lab-certified B Corps, including compliance with the B Lab “legal requirement” and associated governance frameworks.

Environmental Law and Policy InternUnited States Department of Justice2007

Senior Director, Ankura Consulting Group, LLC, 2021

Corporate Associate, Kirkland & Ellis LLP, 2016–2021

PILI Fellow, Center for Conflict Resolution, 2016

Peace Corps Volunteer, Niger and Rwanda, 2010–2012

More

Thought Leadership

Publications

Author, “ESG in the U.S.: demonstrating value is key in an increasingly complex regulatory landscape,” Prequin, January 29, 2024

Author, “SEC Adopts Amendments to Expand the Scope of the Names Rule,” Kirkland Alert, October 3, 2023

Author, “SEC Proposes Enhanced Disclosure by Certain Advisers on ESG Investment Practices,” Kirkland Alert, June 3, 2023

Author, “Misalignment Management in Joint Ventures: Drafting JV Agreements to Prevent, De-escalate, and Resolve Disputes,” Harvard Negotiation Journal, 2022

Seminars

Speaker, “Why and how sustainability drives value in private markets,” PEI Responsible Investment Forum: New York, March 4, 2025

Moderator, “Sustainability Drivers in Fundraising,” KAYO 2024 Women’s Private Funds Summit, October 9, 2024

Moderator, “Navigating the ESG Maze,” KAYO 2024 Women’s Infrastructure Summit, April 9–10, 2024

Moderator, “Global Perspectives on Sustainability in U.S. Private Equity,” PEI Responsible Investment Forum, February 20, 2024

Speaker, “Is ESG still a Four-Letter Word – Advising for Change,” Builders’ Vision, October 23–24, 2023

Speaker, “Everything Everywhere All At Once: Updating Your Transactional Toolkit for Managing Expanding Environmental Risks,” BA SEER Fall Conference, October 12–13, 2023

Speaker, “Private Capital Transaction Diligence and Engagement,” Women in Climate Investing and Finance, September 28, 2023

Speaker, “Trends in Supplier Diversity and Sustainability,” IAOP Outsourcing World Summit, May 16–17, 2023

Recognition

Ranked in Chambers USA for Impact Investing, 2025

Kirkland & Ellis Scholar, Mergers & Acquisitions, 2015

Memberships & Affiliations

National Champion, American Bar Association Negotiation Competition, 2016

Credentials

Admissions & Qualifications

  • 2022District of Columbia
  • 2016Illinois

Education

  • Northwestern Pritzker School of LawJ.D.2016

    Senior Editor, Northwestern Journal of International Law and Business

  • The George Washington UniversityB.A., International Affairs2010

    Elliott School Undergraduate Research Scholar 

    International and Domestic Politics Women’s Leadership Program