*This date in 1972 is celebrated as the birth date of Alexis McGill Johnson. She is a Black academic, Women's Rights Activist, and social justice advocate.
McGill Johnson was born in New York City. Raised by both parents, her mother worked her way up from a secretary to an executive-level position at AT&T. McGill Johnson's childhood was strongly influenced by her parents' pride in black history, culture, and heritage. In 1993, she graduated from Princeton University with a bachelor's degree in political science, focusing on Latin-American social movements. She received a Master of Arts from Yale University in 1995 and a degree in political science.
At Yale and Wesleyan University, McGill Johnson taught political science and African American studies. She was the political director for Russell Simmons' "Hip-Hop Summit Action Network." She was the executive director of Citizen Change during the 2004 election season, launching their "Vote or Die!" campaign. In 2009, she co-founded and was the executive director of the Perception Institute (formerly the American Values Institute), a research group studying bias reduction and discrimination.
In May 2018, she co-created the curriculum for Starbucks' racial bias training. McGill Johnson was Planned Parenthood's board chair from 2013 to 2015. On June 26, 2020, she became president and CEO of Planned Parenthood. She has also served on the New York Civil Liberties Union boards, the Center for Social Inclusion, and the Citizen Engagement Lab. She lives in New York City. She is married to Robert Johnson, who is the president of the Institute for New Economic Thinking. They have two daughters.
