Lionel C. Johnson is the Chair of the Foreign Policy for America Board. For more than thirty years, Mr. Johnson has held leadership positions in economic development, international business, and public policy. After graduating from Rutgers University, Mr. Johnson was a member of the U.S. Foreign Service until 1990, serving as a political officer in Kenya, executive secretariat staff officer, assistant to the U.S. Ambassador to the Philippines, vice consul in Haiti, and special assistant to Secretary of State George Shultz and Secretary of State James Baker III. Mr. Johnson was also previously a senior program officer at the National Democratic Institute for International Affairs, vice president and director of International Government Affairs at Citigroup, and Deputy Assistant Secretary of the Treasury for International Development, Debt and Environment Policy in the Clinton administration. In 2011, after time as senior vice president of Public Affairs at Fleishman Hillard, Mr. Johnson became Vice President for Turkey, Middle East and North African Affairs at the U.S. Chamber of Commerce. He is now president of the Pacific Pension & Investment Institute, a position he has held since July 2014. Mr. Johnson is chairman of Sudoc and a member of the board of trustees of the RAND Corporation. He also serves on the boards of the American Institute for Contemporary German Studies (AICGS), International Research & Exchanges (IREX), the National Democratic Institute for International Affairs (NDI), Oxfam America, and the Center for U.S. Global Leadership Coalition (USGLC). He has two children, Alicia and Christopher.
Explore some of Mr. Johnson’s recent commentary:
Reasserting U.S. Commercial Service Strength — The Hill, 3/29/21