Christine Johnson

Vice President of Innovation, Economic Development, Miami Dade Beacon Council

Miami

Christine Johnson began at the Miami Dade Beacon Council in 2016 as the Director of Innovation and Technology. She was promoted in 2019 as Vice President of Innovation, Economic Development - one of a few industry professionals in this senior role nationally.

Her career began in the Washington DC metro area 15+years ago as a successful entrepreneur and working for one of Maryland’s leading investors in seed and early-stage startups. Since the inception of her career, she has been committed to brokering high value relationships to foster the growth of talent development pipelines and innovation ecosystems.

Ms. Johnson’s efforts have resulted in access to capital & resources for hundreds of domestic and international businesses. She was selected to participate in President Obama’s White House STEM Initiative; South by Southwest (TX); Google’s Community Broadband and Tech Inclusion Summits (DC); and eMerge Americas (FL) to name a few. She has been highlighted in various publications, including Miami Today; Washington Business Journal; and Black Enterprise.

Christine stands as a leading access point to Miami’s innovation ecosystem, having served as a critical team member for the region’s "Amazon HQ 2" proposal, which landed Miami as Top 20 Finalist nationally. She has also led technology economic development projects representing over $200M in capital investment and 200+ business support efforts for industry titans like Spotify, FaceBook, Google, Microsoft, WeWork, Kaseya and more.

Ms. Johnson was selected by the Knight Foundation to participate in the 2018 Cohort to Israel with the American Jewish Council’s Project Interchange Initiative. Most recently she was accepted as a 2020 Eisenhower Fellow and recognized by Legacy magazine as one of "Miami’s Most Influential and Powerful Black Professionals 2020".