Damon Johnson

Director of Programming, Oakstop

San Francisco

Damon Johnson is a proven marketing executive with a 20-year history of driving strategy and producing premium culture and sports marketing events for some of the biggest household brands in the world (including MTV, Red Bull, and Verizon.) A New York native/San Francisco Bay Area transplant, Damon has channeled his success in Corporate America to launch his social enterprise, Born and Raised Marketing. Via Born and Raised he consults cultural institutions on how to increase the community impact of their live events by partnering with non-profit organizations.

After consulting for a myriad of non-profit cultural organizations in the Bay (including the deYoung Museum, youth organization Today’s Future Sound, and music collective Hieroglyphics Foundation) Damon accepted a full-time role with art/co-working/event space, Oakstop as the Director of Programming in January 2020. Oakstop’s social impact mission is grounded in its ability to secure expensive commercial real estate and make it accessible and affordable for historically marginalized communities, who need space for cultural programming, local art galleries, social justice meetings, and economic empowerment initiatives.

His first task was to found Oakstop’s space-based non-profit, Oakstop Alliance, furthering the Oakstop mission by partnering with local organizations to produce free events, classes, and workshops for low-moderate income communities. Oakstop Alliance strategically focuses on the areas of economic empowerment, culture and creativity, community wellness, and youth development as key components in the personal and professional development of their participants.