Awards

IU Indianapolis Spirit of Philanthropy Award - 2003

About Dorothy Johnson

As CEO of the Council of Michigan Foundations for 25 years, Dorothy Ahlburg Johnson created a national model for regional grant-making. The Council, an association of 467 Michigan foundations and corporations offering grants for charitable causes, is the largest regional association of grantmakers in the nation. Her work helped generate millions in charitable assets for Michigan communities. Having attended the last class of the Harvard-Radcliffe Program in Business Administration, she served on two Fortune 500 company boards. Johnson was the first woman board chair of the W.K. Kellogg Foundation, one of the largest private international foundations in the world, and served for 32 years as a trustee. She was also a trustee of the Grand Valley State University Board. Additionally, Johnson has used her considerable knowledge and talents to benefit IU by serving as chair of the Lilly School of Philanthropy's Board of Governors and as a member of its executive committee.

At the invitation of Presidents Clinton and Bush, Johnson has also advised the White House on volunteering and giving. She was appointed a director of the Corporation for National Service in Washington, D. C. by President Clinton in 1998. Privately, she coaches the Lakeshore Ethnic Diversity Alliance working to break down racial barriers.

Johnson holds a lifetime achievement award from the Grand Rapids Economic Club and in 2000 received the highest award of her profession, Grantmaker of the Year, from the Council on Foundations. In 1994 she received the Founders Award from the Michigan AIDS Fund for initiating the Fund when funding for AIDS services was considered "risky" by many philanthropic organizations. Her efforts led the Michigan Fund to become a national model. An elder in her church, currently she co-chairs a national initiative to teach children about giving and service, and serves on the boards of the Grand Rapids Symphony and Princeton Theological Seminary. Grand Valley State University, where she served on the board for 16 years, honored her achievements by creating the Dorothy A. Johnson Center for Philanthropy. The Johnson Center is one of the three largest academic philanthropy centers in the United States.

Johnson received her BA from the University of California at Berkeley and earned a Certificate of Business Administration from the Harvard-Radcliffe Program in Business Administration.