eric anthony johnson
ADMP ‘11
Dr. Eric Anthony Johnson is an accomplished urban redevelopment leader leveraging over 20 years of experience in business, government, strategy, real estate, economic development, housing, planning, community engagement and public policy to drive organizational success.
As Assistant City Manager with the City of Austin, Dr. Johnson has leadership oversight for the departments of Economic Development, Planning, Housing, Development Services and the Austin Convention Center.
In his previous role, Dr. Johnson served as the President/CEO of Aeon in Minneapolis. Aeon is a non-profit affordable housing real estate development company which owns and manages close to 6,000 affordable housing units. Dr. Johnson led Aeon through a period of post pandemic challenges toward a path of sustainability. In 2023 Dr. Johnson was named a Pinnacle Award winner by the Chief Executives Council in the non-profit category.
With ties to Texas, Dr. Johnson served as Chief, Economic Development, Housing and Neighborhood Services for the City of Dallas, Texas. Dr. Johnson had leadership oversight of housing, urban planning, and design, permitting, historic preservation, and economic development. Dr. Johnson and his team prepared the city’s new economic development policy, created a $100 million dollar fund to support affordable housing, launched the work toward the creation of the city’s comprehensive plan, established the groundwork for the creation of the city’s economic development corporation, and worked diligently to retool the city’s permitting process.
In 2019-2020, Dr. Johnson was chosen to serve as a Michael Rubiner Community Fellow through the Local Initiative Support Corporation (LISC) for his innovative work in affordable housing strategy.
Throughout his career Dr. Johnson has worked on transformative projects and issues in the Northeast, Midwest, South and Southeastern regions of the United States. Moreover, he has managed program budgets in the millions, secured resources for key initiatives, emphasized community based economic development to mirror business retention and attraction strategies, acquired land for key development projects, and built confidence of staff and community organizations to thrive during time of disruption and change to achieve success.
Dr. Johnson holds a PhD in Urban Affairs and Public Policy from the University of Delaware. He is an alum of the Harvard University Graduate School of Design Advanced Management Development Program in Real Estate. He also holds an MBA from the University of Tennessee with an emphasis on strategic leadership. Of further interest, Dr Johnson is an alum of the Senior Executive Institute at the University of Virginia Weldon School for Public Service and Stanford University’s Graduate School of Business Black Leaders Program and is a Certified Economic Development Finance Professional.
Dr. Johnson is an international speaker, author and frequently writes for publication in various media outlets and is often called upon to testify before legislative committees, respond to media request and participate in panels across the country and internationally discussing issues related to economic development, urban development, transformational leadership, change and disruption and affordable housing. Dr. Johnson launched his career as a Presidential Management Fellow with the United States Department of Housing and Urban Development in Washington, D.C
