BRIAN K. JOHNSON, Ed.D.

Dr. Brian K. Johnson is a seasoned educational administrator and entrepreneur with more than 30 years of experience as a leader in higher education, college president, professor, consultant, and business owner.  He has successfully launched initiatives to strengthen academic institutions and workforce training totaling hundreds of millions of dollars.  Dr. Johnson is passionate about providing educational access to hard-to-reach populations and individuals interested in career pathways.

Chief Workforce Officer for AspireAbility, a data-driven talent management firm, Johnson is a Senior Fellow in the Education Policy Center at the University of Alabama; board member, Congressional Award Foundation, Home Builders Institute, and The Phoenix Theatre Company. In 2021, Johnson co-founded the Institute of Fashion and serves as board secretary.

Dr. Brian K. Johnson was the first African American president of Montgomery College in Maryland.  Prior to Montgomery College, he was president of the Allegheny Campus of the Community College of Allegheny County in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania.  This followed 15 years of executive leadership at Maricopa Community Colleges in Phoenix, Arizona.

Johnson has completed numerous executive leadership programs including Harvard University’s New President’s Academy, Harvard’s Institute for the Management of Lifelong Learning, the League for Innovation’s Executive Leadership Institute, the Pennsylvania Educational Policy Fellowship Program, Leadership Pittsburgh, and Leadership Montgomery.

Johnson earned his Ed.D. in educational leadership from Northern Arizona University (NAU), an M.A. Ed in counseling/human relations from NAU, and a BA in psychology  from Ottawa University.  He is a Lifetime Member of the NAACP, a member of Iota Phi Theta Fraternity, Inc., 100 Black Men of Phoenix, and Sigma Pi Phi Fraternity (“the Boule”).

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