Derrick Johnson
President and CEO, NAACP

Derrick Johnson serves as president and CEO of the NAACP, a title he has held since October of 2017. President Johnson formerly served as vice chairman of the NAACP National Board of Directors, as well as state president for the Mississippi State Conference NAACP. A longstanding member and leader of the NAACP, Mr. Johnson has helped guide the association through a period of reenvisioning and reinvigoration.

Under President Johnson’s leadership, the NAACP has undertaken such efforts as the 2018 “Log Out” Facebook campaign, the Jamestown to Jamestown Partnership, marking the 400th year after enslaved Africans first touched the shores of America, the 2020 We Are Done Dying campaign, exposing the inequities embedded in the American healthcare system and the country at large, and most recently the victorious 2020 Supreme Court lawsuit NAACP v. Trump, which prevented the Trump administration from rescinding the Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals program for millions of young immigrants.

Born in Detroit, Mr. Johnson attended Tougaloo College in Jackson, Mississippi. He then received his JD from the South Texas College of Law in Houston. Mr. Johnson has also furthered his training through fellowships with the Congressional Black Caucus Foundation, the George Washington University School of Political Management, and the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT). He has served as an annual guest lecturer at Harvard Law School and as an adjunct professor at Tougaloo College.

President Johnson is frequently featured on CNN, MSNBC, CBS, ABC, and many others, advocating on behalf of the Black community and all those who are affected by systemic oppression and prejudice.