Rising ICON #62: Heidi Johnson
What name do you prefer to be called?
Heidi Johnson
What are your pronouns?
She/Her
Where did you grow up?
I have lived in several places. My parents both worked for the Department of Defense so I was born in Germany, lived on the east coast and in the Midwest, and went to college in St. Louis. This background gave me an appreciation for different cultures and perspectives across our country
What city are you currently based in?
Minneapolis
How do you typically introduce yourself to new people?
My life is incredibly busy, and I love it! I am the Chief of Staff for ECMC Group, a non-profit that has spent 30 years helping underserved learners find the post-secondary education path that will enable them to reach their education and career goals. I am very active in my community. I serve on several boards and also volunteer my time to support underserved individuals. My husband and I are also small business owners who just purchased a gas station/car wash. Most importantly, I am proudly watching my early 20-year-old kids turn into amazing, productive humans.
What’s one thing you wish more people knew about you?
What an amazing, impactful organization I have had the honor to work for over the last 30 years! Everything we do is focused on helping students – particularly those from underserved populations – succeed. Each and every day we help students and families realize their education and career goals, and I spend much of my time working to expand awareness of our work as well as our impact in the Twin Cities and beyond.
Who do you help?
I have the opportunity to positively help a wide range of people. Professionally, I am currently working with black youth age 16-24 years old that live in MPLS and St. Paul on a project that puts them at the center of developing solutions that could decrease education and employment gaps. Personally, I volunteer at organizations that serve local residents that range from youth to the elderly. No matter the age, underserved individuals have one thing in common, they have barriers that they need help to overcome because in the end they want to succeed, be productive and have meaningful human connections.
What are you building now?
Our vision at ECMC Group was to engage the full education and workforce ecosystem to close the racial equity gaps that continue to persist in the Minneapolis-Saint Paul metro area with a particular focus on employment disparities for young adults of color. We hope to co-create an ecosystem experience and identify opportunities to build better pathways to connect young adults with educators, government agencies, funders, CBOs, and employers for more equitable participation in the economy. We hired almost 40 youth and paid them to help design youth-centric solutions, which we are hoping to pilot this year:
A fully integrated, standardized career exploration program that is required for all Minnesota high school students (and their guardians) to connect their strengths and interests to a potential career path. Employers actively engaged throughout this process with mentorship, internships, job shadowing and classroom discussions.
A centrally-located resource and guidance hub that houses dozens of ecosystem organizations for young adults to access the resources they need to holistically support their mental health, financial needs, educational and career growth.
A multi-week hiring program for young adults to find, prep, and interview for sustainable careers at Minnesota-based companies. Each young adult is paired with a navigator to help them through this process and employers are committed to providing meaningful feedback to every candidate.
What were you building ten years ago today?
Professionally, ECMC Group was expanding into education delivery by operating nonprofit career and technical education schools around the country. Personally, I was raising two teens and traveling across the nation watching them thrive in team sports and grow into productive, kind people.
What do you predict of yourself 10 years from now?
Still waking up every day to use my God-given talents to support people who need my help and traveling, lots of traveling!
What’s a fact or statistic you wish everyone knew about your industry?
ECMC Group has distributed more than $350M in grants to serve underserved students.
Why do you believe the work you do matters?
The youth, particularly underserved youth, are the future of our society and the fuel that will grow our economy. If we don’t find ways to engage them in meaningful and sustainable careers, our future economy will suffer.
Who is your mentor and what is the best advice they’ve given you?
My parents were my biggest mentors. They taught me to look outside of myself, appreciate the gifts I have and to share those gifts with others. Anyone can write a check; it takes someone special to give their time and talents to others.
What piece of content about you or your company are you most proud of?
Recently we were able to bring members of our youth and professional advisory boards focused on decreasing equity gaps to national stages at the 2024 SXSW EDU and JFF Pathways for Prosperity conferences. The panels I facilitated were very informative and most importantly got the audience thinking about how to use youth-centered design to create solutions for the youth of today. Our motto for the work is “Building equitable solutions should be done with people not to them”. By featuring young people on these national stages, we raised their voices as they shared their stories, and brought tangible meaning to what we are trying to build, and the impact on the attendees was incredibly profound.
What publication do you hope to appear in next?
I am hopeful that our work will be recognized and highlighted by local and national media outlets.
Who would you love to be interviewed by?
I would love to see our youth advisors interviewed – their stories and their insights are incredibly inspiring! Its not about me, its about the work we are trying to raise up
If you had to give a TEDTalk tomorrow, what would the title be?
How to build equitable solutions that actually bring equity
What award would mean the most to win?
It would be amazing if our work was recognized and received a donation from MacKenzie Scott, who has distributed millions to help a variety of efforts that are making positive change throughout the U.S. so that we could move from the pilot phase to a more permanent solution.
What makes zero sense to you?
People in power that design solutions for underserved individuals without asking recipients of the solution what they think would work
What’s a word in your industry you hope gets re-evaluated?
Underserved. This is a word that many use often, but there is no common definition and thus no clear data around impacts to this population.
What game are you changing?
I am working alongside many great organizations and individuals who are laser-focused on supporting the youth of the Twin Cities. In particular, I am cautiously optimistic that we can drive systematic change as opposed to siloed programmatic solutions so we can finally start to address the racial disparity that has long plagued our community.
What’s the next thing you’re a part of that you want to invite more people to participate in?
I invite employers who want to tap into the young, diverse talent that exist across the Twin Cities to join us in this important work and play a role in the solutions we are building.
Where can we follow you online?
https://www.linkedin.com/in/heidi-johnson-7b66535/
A detailed overview of our work can be found: 011723vF_ECMC_TalentPipeline_PhaseII_FinalReport2.0 (002) (ecmcgroup.org)
What’s one thing that makes every leader better?
Empathy
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We’re grateful to each Rising ICON for their transformative work. Thank you, Heidi, for sharing your story!
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“The youth, particularly underserved youth, are the future of our society and the fuel that will grow our economy. If we don’t find ways to engage them in meaningful and sustainable careers, our future economy will suffer. ”
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