Geneva Johnson only applied for one job in her life. Fresh out of college, Johnson applied for and got a position as program director of youth activities at the YWCA in Houston. While at that job, she took the advice of her father, who told her to do her best at the present task, and recognition would follow.
The man was on to something. Johnson eventually was recruited for a position as the first female senior vice president of United Way America and later became president and chief executive officer of Family Service America. Today she heads Mount Mary College’s new Women’s Leadership Institute, which she hopes will help women realize the glass ceiling can be broken with the right attitude and approach.
"There is a need for women to come together to look at how to transform themselves to be more effective and learn how to be a voice," Johnson said. "Finding our own voice is a critical issue. Women need to be comfortable enough in a man’s world to be able to transform that world. I have faith women can do this."
Transforming the world is the key phrase applied to the Women’s Leadership Institute, which held its inaugural event on Dec. 11. The theme of the event was "Women of Peace," and it featured a panel discussion with Rabbi Dena Feingold of the Beth Hillel Temple in Kenosha; the Rev. Patrick Clay-Joyner of St. Mark African Methodist Episcopal Church in Milwaukee; Besimah Abdullah, principal of Milwaukee’s Clara Muhammad School; and Sister Marilyn Kesler, provincial leader of the School Sisters of Notre Dame in Milwaukee.
The idea is that women must advance themselves and take on leadership roles in order to improve the world. Social justice is a major focus of the institute, said Patricia O’Donoghue, president of Mount Mary, which is on Milwaukee’s west side.
When O’Donoghue became president of the college in 1997, part of her agenda was to establish at the college a center focused on helping women of the greater Milwaukee community develop leadership skills. Johnson had been chair of the college’s board of trustees when O’Donoghue came on board, and the new president quickly recognized the ideal person to head the Women’s Leadership Institute.
"Geneva is a real role model to women both in the college and the community," O’Donoghue said. "She is confident and caring, and wants to make a difference."
Johnson was born and raised in Redding, Pa., a community about 50 miles west of Philadelphia. With a bachelor’s degree in sociology and psychology from Albright College in Redding, a master’s degree in applied social administration from Case Western Reserve University in Cleveland, and an executive certificate in management from the Harvard University School of Business, Johnson worked her way through the United Way organization to become its senior vice president for strategic planning and public policy in 1978. She was the organization’s first female senior vice president.
In 1983 she became president and CEO of Family Service America, which at the time was based in New York City and had about 300 local affiliates offering professional counseling and mental health services to families. Local affiliates include Jewish Family Services, Family Service Milwaukee, Family Service Racine and Family Service Waukesha.
Having difficulty recruiting employees to New York City where, among other things, the cost of living deterred potential workers, Johnson moved Family Service America to Milwaukee and built her workforce to about 100 employees.
"Milwaukee people often don’t recognize it, but Milwaukee has a reputation as a wonderful place to raise a family," Johnson said. "It also is known as a very multi-ethnic community. I had no problem recruiting people to come here."
In 1994, Johnson retired from Family Service America. At that time, she swore she never would work again for a salary. So when O’Donoghue asked Johnson to head the Women’s Leadership Insititute, Johnson followed the lead of one of her role models, Frances Hesselbein. Hesselbein is a former head of Girl Scouts USA and now is chair of the Peter Drucker Foundation. When Hesselbein, a recipient of the Presidential Medal of Freedom, served as president of the foundation, she did so as a volunteer.
"I decided I would head up the Women’s Leadership Institute without a salary until the job became such that we needed to hire a salaried person," Johnson said. "Save the money you’d pay me and use it for services."
Johnson is driven by business savvy and a passion for helping women transform themselves into leaders, but she knows work must be balanced with play. She has found that balance here in her adopted home of Milwaukee.
"I love it here. I retired to Milwaukee," Johnson said. "There is a friendliness and warmth in the people here that you don’t find anywhere else."
She belongs to two social groups, The Links, which also does some charity work, and The Girlfriends, which is "just for fun," Johnson said.
"There is a male version of the Girlfriends called the Boyfriends, so I like to say I have 13 boyfriends," Johnson laughed.
And she’s such a fan of The Young and the Restless that when she can’t watch it during its scheduled time, she tapes it.
Johnson’s vision for the Women’s Leadership Institute is that in the future women from all over the country will come for in-residence programs over the summer or for several weeks. The point not only is to help women develop leadership skills, but also to bring women together to celebrate achievements female leaders already have made, Johnson said.
"Women already are advancing in Milwaukee and across the country," Johnson said. "We need to celebrate women who have achieved. We don’t do enough of that. The glass ceiling still is there, but women have achieved. The goal of the institute is to open up a dialogue about how women can learn what to do to continue breaking the glass ceiling."
April 12, 2002 Small Business Times, Milwaukee
