Marisa earned her B.A. in Social Work with a minor in fine arts. She also earned a Master’s in Social Work and MS in Disaster Resiliency Leadership.
Marisa Johnson
she/her
Director of Policy Impact
Marisa was born and raised in Hollister, California, a farming town in Central California. From a young age, the importance of higher education was made clear to Marisa. Her mother was a first-generation student and the only one out of her siblings to graduate from college. Not only did her mother explain the transformative power higher education can have, but Marisa experienced this firsthand by seeing the economic disparities among her own family. Witnessing these financial differences in her family Marisa went to college searching for answers as to why such disparities happen.
Marisa attended the University of Portland to pursue her undergraduate degree. As a student, Marisa interned with Unite Oregon, a non-profit intercultural movement for justice across Oregon. She also worked at her school in the Diversity and Inclusion Programs, helping to create a campus that furthers the success of all students. After graduating Marisa moved to Sacramento and came to the Campaign as a Policy Fellow.
After two years of services to the Campaign and influenced by the COVID-19 pandemic, Marisa decided to expand her knowledge in emergency preparedness and grow her skills in community work. She went to Tulane University School of Social Work in the dual degree program, earning her MSW and MS in Disaster Resiliency Leadership. While at Tulane University, she answered the call from the Campaign to come back and work on policy implementation. Marisa has been back at the Campaign for the last two years focusing on policy implementation related to transfer, equitable placement and completion, and the Cradle-to-Career data system.
Outside of her work at the Campaign Marisa serves on the Board of Directors for Advancing Latinas into Leadership Mentorship Program (ALLMP), spends time with friends and family, and dotes on the family pets.
Alma mater(s): University of Portland and Tulane University.
Your role in one sentence: My role is to ensure policy initiatives are implemented successfully to help set students and the state up for success.
When I am not at work helping students get to and succeed in college I am…spending time with family, traveling, or crafting something.
If not higher education, then what cause? Something related to emergency preparedness and environmental justice or migrant rights and migrant justice.