Julie Johnson

Julie I. Johnson, Ph.D. is co-principal of J2R2 Leadership and Change Associates whose work focuses on supporting museums and museum professionals gain capacity to solve their own problems and create stronger futures. In addition to her consulting work, Johnson is also a program director in the Division on Research and Learning at the National Science Foundation. Prior to this she held the position of John Roe Distinguished Chair of Museum Leadership at the Science Museum of Minnesota. There she provided support and leadership in the areas of planning, programming, personnel development and collaboration. Before that Johnson served as chief operating officer for the New Jersey State Aquarium where she oversaw both mission and operations areas and spearheaded education programs for students, teachers, families, and local youth. Johnson is experienced in performance assessment, creating organizational systems, program development, evaluation, group facilitation, and effective communication with diverse external stakeholders.

Dr. Johnson is a member of the City of St. Paul’s Sprockets Leadership Group, an intermediary focused on out-of-school resources for youth in St. Paul, MN; she is a faculty/advisor for the Leadership in Museum Education program at Bank Street College. She also serves on several boards and national professional committees. Previous professional activities of note include: senior advisor for the Center for the Advancement of Informal Science Education (CAISE), faculty for the Getty Leadership Institute’s Museum Leaders: the Next Generation and advisor to a number of NSF grant-funded projects.

Johnson holds B.S., M.S., and M.A. degrees in biology, instructional technology, and deaf education; she received her Ph.D. in Leadership and Change from Antioch University. Her current research interests include: leader/leadership development, the intersections of relational practice and leadership, the intersections of organizational learning and leader development in place, and leadership in complex systems. She is very interested in understanding the ways in which organizations, specifically museums, nurture and support leadership emergence.