Alex M. Johnson is the chief strategy officer at The California Wellness Foundation, a role he assumed in November 2025 after serving as interim vice president of Programs and Public Affairs since June 2025. As chief strategy officer, Johnson is responsible for leading Programs and Public Affairs, aligning grantmaking, communications, government relations, and community engagement, and building our strategy practice across teams. He rejoined Cal Wellness in January 2024 as vice president of public affairs after serving as vice president at Bryson Gillette, a strategic communications and public affairs firm. There, he led efforts to support clients driving change across education, government, philanthropy, and the nonprofit sector. During his time at Cal Wellness, he has served in multiple leadership roles, including Program Director, Interim Vice President of Programs, Chief of Staff of Programs, and Vice President of Public Affairs.
Before joining Cal Wellness in June 2018, Johnson was managing director for Californians for Safety and Justice in Los Angeles. While at CSJ, he led efforts calling for an end to over-incarceration and a renewed focus on safety priorities rooted in prevention and health. Prior to his role at CSJ, he was executive director of Children’s Defense Fund-California, where he led statewide advocacy, policy, program and organizing efforts to ensure access to quality affordable health coverage and care for children and low-income families, reform the juvenile justice system, promote educational equity, end child poverty, and improve outcomes for children of color. He previously led education, youth development, and public safety efforts for former Los Angeles County Supervisor Mark Ridley-Thomas. Johnson began his career in New York City advocating for domestic violence victims as an assistant district attorney in Bronx County and previously clerked at the Public Defender Service for the District of Columbia.
Johnson currently serves on the boards of Trust for Public Land, Borealis Philanthropy, Urban Peace Institute, and the UCLA Luskin School Board of Advisors. He previously served as President of the Los Angeles County Board of Education and as a member of the Los Angeles City Ethics Commission, and was appointed by Governor Jerry Brown to the California Racial and Identity Profiling Advisory Board and the California Complete Count Committee. A graduate of Morehouse College and American University, Washington College of Law, his writings have appeared in Huffington Post, The Guardian, Los Angeles Daily News, San Jose Mercury News, Juvenile Justice Information Exchange, California Health Report, and Sacramento Bee.
ajohnson(at)calwellness.org