Nashawn Johnson

Nashawn Johnson is passionate researcher and advocate for housing affordability and food security. In addition to her Bachelor’s in Urban Studies from Columbia University and coursework in Sustainable Development at Tulane’s School of Architecture, she brings a decade of experience as a practitioner in housing and community development. Nashawn’s background also includes experience in project management and service as a Board Member for People’s Housing +, a merger of Tulane/Canal Neighborhood Development Corporation with two other local affordable housing organizations to broaden its reach and impact.

During the first four years of her professional career Nashawn gained hands-on experience as a Public Policy Research Intern at Enterprise Community Partners and Resident Services Intern at Somerset Development, both in Washington, D.C. She was then named the Bill Emerson National Hunger Fellow, a role in which she conducted research in Los Angeles California for L.A. Kitchen focused on senior food security, and the National Women’s Law Center conducting analysis of federal legislation.

Since completing her fellowship, Nashawn returned home to New Orleans where she has demonstrated her commitment to improving housing for her community. She served as a Senior Program Assistant at Greater New Orleans, Inc. where she project-managed workforce development initiatives, collaborated with community partners to leverage resources, and played a pivotal role in grant development. Prior to joining TCG, Nashawn spent three years as an Associate Consultant at SquareButton (now Evan James Consulting) where she collaborated with clients to prioritize opportunities, researched impactful solutions, assessed the feasibility of solutions, and developed implementation plans to drive results.