Our Leadership

Barbara George Johnson is Vice President of External Affairs and Urban Policy and Research at Kean University. The Institute focuses on urban environmental policy, public health policy, early childhood policy, and instruction in leadership development and civic engagement. At the John S. Watson Institute for Public Policy, Barbara oversees the work and mission of the New Jersey Urban Mayors Association, a one-of-a-kind organization of 32 urban mayors engaged in collective policymaking. 

VP Johnson has more than 30 years of experience as a public policy professional in New Jersey with an extensive background in health care, public health and public policy. Early in her career, she spearheaded the development of the Newark Kids Initiative for the Newark Health Department, which focused on healthcare and social services for children impacted by domestic violence. She also served on the CDC-funded Newark Prevention Marketing Initiative and other task forces on HIV/AIDS. Her healthcare experience includes having served as a public health advisor for the Maternal Child Health Division of the New York City Department of Health and later as the director for the Family Life Institute of Planned Parenthood of Metropolitan New Jersey. She was also legislative director for the American Civil Liberties Union of New Jersey and Senior Lobbyist on healthcare issues for the firm MBI-GluckShaw.

Johnson earned a Bachelor of Arts in biology and technology from Cornell University, a Master of Public Health from Columbia University, and a law degree from Rutgers-Newark Law School.