Katelyn Johnson

Katelyn has over a decade of valuable outreach experience includes leadership development, civic engagement, and community organizing. She is a graduate of North Park University and participated in community organizing initiatives on and off-campus, focusing on racial reconciliation and student leadership development. Over the past 15 years, she has overseen a range of social justice initiatives in and around Chicago, including six years as the executive director of a community-based organization focused on engaging low-income communities of color in campaigns related to affordable housing, public education reform, public safety, criminal justice reform, drug policy reform, and diversity, equity and inclusion. She was a leading advocate for the campaign to raise Illinois’ minimum wage to $15 and was instrumental in the success of the “Grow Your Own Teachers” program intended to diversify the teaching profession in Illinois. Katelyn has completed academic studies in Diversity and Inclusion at Cornell University and has spent more than a decade working with community organizations to expand the reach of their missions into communities of color through specialized inclusion and outreach programming. When she isn’t out fighting for justice, she is an avid video gamer and sci-fi fanatic.