Mr. Johnson is a career member of the Senior Foreign Service, rank of Counselor. He entered the Foreign Service in 1998 after spending the preceding five years with USAID Washington as a civil servant.  Over the last 18 years he has been posted to key positions on four different continents, including Moscow, Russia; Almaty, Kazakhstan; Bamako, Mali; New Delhi, India; Nairobi, Kenya; Washington, DC; Kabul, Afghanistan; and Tirana, Albania.  

Following completion of a master’s of science degree the National War College in June 2014 Mr. Johnson immediately assumed leadership of USAID/Albania, a position he held until he joined the U.S. Global Development Lab in August 2016.

Prior to his return to Washington DC in July 2013 he served as the Director for the Office of Acquisition and Assistance of the USAID Afghanistan Mission in Kabul (2012-2013).  USAID Afghanistan is the single largest Agency mission with an active portfolio worth more than $4 billion.  

Mr. Johnson holds a BFA in Communication Arts & Design from Virginia Commonwealth University in Richmond, Virginia with additional study in Information Design at the Ulster University in Belfast, Northern Ireland, and a MPA in International Management from George Mason University in Fairfax, Virginia.  He is lifelong Virginia resident originally from Norfolk in the Hampton Roads area.