Our Leadership – Jill J. Johnson, MBA

Jill Johnson is an award-winning management consultant who has personally impacted more than $4 billion worth of business decisions. Jill Johnson is in the board rooms, the back rooms, and the executive suites where complex decisions are being made impacting the future of clients located throughout the United States, as well as in Europe and Asia. She knows what it takes to develop and implement strategies for turnarounds or growth that get results.

Jill is a widely-respected business executive and leader who has been a member of the boards of directors and executive committees of various business, professional, and governmental boards. Jill has served on two federal boards under three different United States presidents representing both political parties.

Jill is a two-time business hall of fame inductee and has received numerous honors for her business acumen, her leadership savvy, mentoring impact, and her entrepreneurial success. She has been quoted on a range of management issues in national media including The Wall Street Journal, The New York Times, Money Magazine, Inc., Success, Forbes, and Entrepreneur. Jill has appeared as a thought leader on a variety of radio and television programs for business. Her articles on business topics have been published in more than 60 publications and trade journals. She is a Professional Member of the National Speakers Association. She is also a 4th generation entrepreneur who grew up in a family-owned business. 

Jill earned her B.S. degree in Business Administration from Drake University with a double major in marketing and management. She also earned an MBA from Drake University. She was inducted into Beta Gamma Sigma (the highest recognition a business student anywhere in the world can receive in a business program).

Major Awards & Honors:

• Jill is one of the first women ever inducted into the Minnesota Women Business Owners Hall of Fame
• One of the first women named to the Top Women in Finance Hall of Fame by Finance and Commerce newspaper
• Named One of 25 Women Industry Leaders by the Minneapolis-St. Paul Business Journal
• The first woman to receive the Mentor of the Year Award from the Women’s Health Leadership Trust.
• Earned designation as a Fellow of the Minnesota Health Strategy & Communications Network – the state’s premier organization for healthcare professionals responsible for strategic planning, marketing, public relations and communications in a wide array of healthcare organizations – The Fellow designation is the organization’s highest leadership career recognition award and provides recognition for members who make significant and sustained contributions to the profession
• Selected for membership in the Women Business Leaders of the U.S. Health Care Industry Foundation – WBL is an invitation only elite group of board members and senior executive women representing all segments of the health care industry
• Received the National Small Business Advocate of the Year award – from the United States Small Business Administration – one of the federal agency’s highest honors – Jill is one of only a few nationwide people to have ever received SBA awards for both her entrepreneurial savvy and her advocacy for small business
• Winner of the Established Woman Award from the Minnesota Chapter of the National Association of Women Business Owners
• Selected as Minnesota’s Young Entrepreneur of the Year by the United States Small Business Administration when Jill was just 29 years of age
• Drake University bestowed its National Young Alumni Achievement Award on Jill
• Jill is the first woman ever designated as President-Emeritus of Minnesota Chapter of the National Association of Women Business Owners

Key Leadership Roles: 

• Jill is the past Chair of the Homes for Heroes Foundation board of directors
• Jill served three terms on the National Small Business Development Center Advisory Board – her second federal-level board appointment – Jill’s appointment to this board was made by a member of the Cabinet of the President of the United States
• Jill Chaired an Advisory Board to the Minnesota Department of Employment and Economic Development
• Jill served on the Board of Directors of the Minnesota Chamber of Commerce for three years and she served two terms as Chair of its Small Business Policy Council – one of the State Chamber’s five major committees
• Jill served on the Greater Minneapolis Chamber of Commerce Board of Directors for six years, was on the Board’s Executive Committee, and chaired its Small Business Committee
• She was a two-term member of the National Advisory Council to the United States Small Business Administration
• Jill was an elected delegate to the White House Conference on Small Business
• Jill was a member of the Business Study Advisory Committee for the Minnesota Department of Trade and Economic Development’s study, “Minnesota Women-owned Businesses: An Analysis of Access to Capital”
• At a field hearing for the United States Senate Small Business Committee, Jill testified before a United States Senate Committee on the major issues facing small businesses, and she sat at the head table with the United States Senator holding the hearing to accept the testimony from the other witnesses
• Jill served on the Board of Directors of the James J. Hill Reference Library for nearly a decade – a renowned business research library – She also served for several years on the Executive Committee of this board and chaired numerous Committees and Task Forces
• Jill served for three years as Chair of the Minnesota Women Business Owners Hall of Fame
• Jill served three terms on the national board of directors of the National Association of Women Business Owners (NAWBO) – the nation’s most respected organization representing the interests of all women entrepreneurs across all industries
• She is a past president of the Minnesota Chapter of NAWBO and has served multiple terms on the Minnesota NAWBO Board of Directors

 

Going to the Dogs: The alpha in a pack of Rottweilers,
there’s not much that intimidates this business consultant

That was the title of the Executive Life Article featuring Jill Johnson, which appeared in Minnesota Business Magazine.  Click on the photo of Jill and her dog, Megan, to read the article in its entirety.

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