Philip W. Johnston

President, Philip W. Johnston Associates
Chair
Philip W. Johnston Associates

As Founder and President of Philip W. Johnston Associates, Mr. Johnston consults on health and human services issues from his offices in Boston, Western Massachusetts, and Washington, D.C. He works with health care associations, federal and state governments, academic institutions, and health care industry leaders. Mr. Johnston has worked in health and human services for more than 30 years. In November 2000, he was elected to a four-year term as Chairman of the Massachusetts Democratic Party.

In 1993, President Clinton appointed Mr. Johnston New England Director of the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, where he served until 1996. His other nationally-focused achievements have included serving as Director of the Robert F. Kennedy Memorial in Washington, D.C., and as Co-Founder and Chairman of the Board of Health Care for America, which worked toward enacting federal universal health care legislation.

Prior to his service in Washington, Mr. Johnston was Secretary of Health and Human Services for the Commonwealth of Massachusetts from 1984-1991. As Chief Executive Officer and principal policy maker for 17 diverse state human services agencies, he also directed the development and implementation of dozens of major projects affecting poor, sick, elderly, and disabled persons in Massachusetts.

Mr. Johnston served for five terms as state representative from the 10th Plymouth District in Massachusetts, founded the Robert F. Kennedy Action Corps, and has taught social and human services public administration at both undergraduate and graduate levels.

He currently serves as Executive Director of Citizens Programs Corporation, and as Chairman of the Massachusetts Health Policy Forum, a health policy initiative in conjunction with the Heller School of Public Affairs at Brandeis University.

Mr. Johnston received his Bachelor of Arts degree from University of Massachusetts at Amherst and a master's degree from the John F. Kennedy School of Government at Harvard University.