About Kevin Johnson
Kevin Johnson is co-founder and executive director of Election Reformers Network (ERN). Kevin directs ERN’s research and advocacy programs focused on impartial election administration, independent redistricting, and electoral college reform. Kevin has more than 20 years’ experience in election reform, including seven years overseas with the National Democratic Institute and ten years on the Board of Common Cause Massachusetts.
Kevin is also a member of the Election Expert Study Team of The Carter Center, assisting the Center’s U.S. Elections Program. Kevin serves on advisory bodies of American Promise, and Rank The Vote.
Kevin co-authored the first comprehensive study of secretary of state conflict of interest and pioneered the top-two proportional approach to electoral college reform and the nominating commission approach to secretary of state selection. He has published more than two dozen opeds on a wide range of reform topics in media outlets including The Washington Post, The Hill, Governing, Commonwealth Magazine, and The Daily Beast.
At the National Democratic Institute, Mr. Johnson directed election observations in the West Bank and Gaza, Indonesia, and several countries in Africa, and organized advisory consultations for constitution drafters in new democracies, among other programs. With Common Cause, Kevin led a successful anti – Citizens United ballot question campaign in the city of Newton, Massachusetts and helped organize citizen participation in the highly regarded 2011 Massachusetts redistricting process, among other efforts.
In 2002 Mr. Johnson co-founded Liberty Global Partners, an investment advisory firm focused on venture capital and private equity in emerging markets. At Liberty Global, he has led capital marketing initiatives that raised more than $6bn for investment funds targeting China, India, Brazil, Africa, Central and Eastern Europe, and Southeast Asia. Mr. Johnson has an MBA from Wharton and a BA in English Literature from Yale University.
