Allied Associations
Johnson Focused on
UNCOMPROMISED
OUTREACH
ENTREPRENEUR,
PHILANTHROPIST AND
D.C. AREA POWER BROKER
SHEILA JOHNSON EQUIPPED
TO RELY ON HER BACKGROUND
AND LEADERSHIP SKILLS TO
HELP CHANGE THE GAME
S
by LEONARD SHAPIRO
Sheila Johnson has never had any qualms about
expressing her strong opinions on any subject, so
when the United States Golf Association approached her about possibly
joining its 15-person Executive Committee last year, she had a typically
blunt message in response.
“You know, when I was asked to go through the interview process,” she
said in a recent interview, “I told them there’s no use in me being on the
committee unless these changes are going to be made.”
The changes Johnson referred to would be right in the wheelhouse of
a highly-successful 65-year-old entrepreneurial force. Since that initial
approach, she has been chosen as the USGA’s first African-American
female ever to serve on the prestigious Executive Committee of the
game’s American governing body.
Billionaire Sheila Johnson hopes her visionary touch and
trendsetting acumen will ultimately translate to bringing
more people, especially minorities, to golf.
22
WILLING INNOVATOR
A co-founder of Black Entertainment Television (BET) with her
first husband, Robert L. Johnson, this Illinois native also trained as
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These days, Johnson is mostly concerned about all manner of barriers
that seem to be afflicting a sport that keeps losing players for a wide
variety of reasons. Her specific charge from USGA president Glen
Nager is to help the USGA find a way to make golf more inclusive and
user-friendly for minorities, women, juniors and disabled players.
“Sheila brings to the USGA both experience and an important
perspective as we continue our work to make the game more welcoming,
especially among women and minority golfers,” Nager said when
Johnson joined the Executive Committee.
Back when Augusta National was still holding to its policy of an allmale membership, Johnson let it be known then (and now) that she was
not a very happy female.
“It made me very angry. It was just another barrier that had to be
overcome. It was a ridiculous barrier. I was absolutely thrilled that
Condi (former Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice) got in (as one of
the first two women admitted to Augusta National),” says Johnson, who
has known Rice since she worked in the State Department during the
second Bush Administration. “She’s my friend, she loves the game and
she deserves to be there. It was about time.”
Johnson knows about discrimination. Her father, George Crump, was
a neurosurgeon in an era of Jim Crow segregation who found it virtually
impossible to land a position at established white hospitals, save for
Veterans Administration facilities. As a result, the family moved around
the country 13 times by the time she finished middle school. Essentially,
she’s faced racial and gender bias virtually all her life to become one of
the most widely-respected businesswomen in the country.
TRACY WILCOX/GOLFWEEK
A CLEAR, DETERMINED VOICE