Erica Johnson

Experience

1. Chief Impact Officer

   Woodland Park Zoo

   Jan 2025 — Present · Seattle, WA, US

   Senior executive responsible for advancing the zoo’s mission to save wildlife and inspire everyone to make conservation a priority in their lives by setting strategy, aligning organizational structure, and ensuring accountability for mission impact across the institution.• Oversee a $10.2M mission portfolio, including $5M in grants and philanthropic support and $1.3M+ in earned revenue, stewarded to advance measurable conservation and learning outcomes.• Restructured the organization’s mission functions in 2025, integrating learning, conservation, empathy initiatives, and impact evaluation to clarify ownership and strengthen accountability for results.• Led the development of the zoo’s Conservation Strategy (2025–2030), focused on partnering with communities and organizations locally and globally to protect forest species and landscapes.• Partnered with the Board’s Mission Evaluation Task Force to establish institution-level outcome measures and oversight, strengthening how the organization defines success, uses evidence to guide decisions, and holds itself accountable for impact.

Education

• Rutgers University

  Bachelor of Arts (B.A.), Psychology

  2000

• University of Wisconsin-Madison

  Doctor of Philosophy (Ph.D.), Curriculum and Instruction

  2013

• Rutgers University

  Masters of Education (M.Ed.), Early Childhood and Elementary Education

  2001