Education

Dr. Johnson is a life-long learner and values the importance of education as a tool to move beyond the borders of poverty and as a means to adapt one’s ability to remain relevant in an ever changing global economy.

Dr. Johnson spent his early educational years attending school throughout the New Orleans Public School System and graduated from Walter L. Cohen Sr. High School. He received his Bachelor’s Degree in Political Science and a minor in Criminal Justice from Washburn University and a Master’s Degree in Public Administration from Minnesota State University Mankato. Eric was the first student in the history of Minnesota State University-Mankato to be selected to serve as a Presidential Management Fellow. With an interest in understanding urban development within the African American community combined with the importance of the African American Church in the Black Community, his Master’s Thesis examined the Black Church as an economic institution.

While working in Washington, D.C., and leveraging his support from HUD, Eric received his Ph.D. in Urban Affairs and Public Policy at the University of Delaware where he accepted a University Presidential Fellowship and community development research assistantship to further his educational goals. As a research assistant, Eric worked on evaluating the effectiveness of the Delaware Strong Communities Initiative.

With his interest and experience in public policy, Eric turned his attention to understanding urban community development policy impact in cities with majority African Americans populations. Given the historical quest for both social and economic equality and the expectation of electing Black Mayor’s, Dr. Johnson’s dissertation examined urban policy preferences in community economic development expenditures of Black Mayor Administrations in the cities of New Orleans, Louisiana, Washington, D.C., Atlanta, Georgia and Detroit Michigan to gauge the extent to which the policy distribution addressed the desires of the predominate African American populations,

Dr. Johnson is an Alumnus of the Harvard University Graduate School of Design Advanced Management Development Program in Real Estate; Harvard Business School Real Estate Management, Design & Finance Program; and Harvard JFK School of Government Public Trust Executive Leadership Training. He holds a Certification as a Certified Economic Development Finance Professional from the National Development Council, received a Certificate in Community Based Economic Development from the University of Delaware and is certified as a Business, Retention and Expansion Consultant and Senior Grant Writer and Reviewer from the National Grants Writer’s Association.

Of further interest, Dr. Johnson is a graduate of the Brooking Institute Emerging Leaders Program, is a Fellow, Institute of Politics, Loyola University of New Orleans, Fellow, Government Leadership Institute, University of New Orleans, and a Fellow, Metropolitan Area Leadership Forum New Orleans.

Dr. Johnson is an active contributor to several professional affiliations. He is a member of Urban Land Institute; CEO’s for Cities; NAIOP (Commercial Real Estate Development Association); and Congress for New Urbanism, Alpha Phi Alpha Fraternity, Phi Sigma Alpha Leadership Society and hold memberships in numerous civic and community organizations. Of further interest, Mr. Johnson has also been the author of several Editorial Op-ed pieces for local newspapers; served as Lecturer at various universities and colleges; and as Panel Member, Moderator, and Presenter for a multitude of industry forums, meetings, and conferences.