Faculty
Senior Leadership Faculty

Mitzi Johnson

Mitzi Johnson is a consulting Senior Leadership Faculty and Coach at KS Insight, bringing more than twenty years of experience in both leading public organizations and supporting other leaders as a coach and trainer.

As the former Speaker of the House, Vermont Legislature (91st Speaker and third female Speaker of the House) she was widely recognized for fostering collaborative working relationships across diverse stakeholder groups, building agreement across party lines, and strengthening institutions through transparent and inclusive processes.

Fast facts

  • Consulting Senior Leadership Faculty and Coach at KS Insight.
  • Former Speaker of the House, Vermont Legislature (91st Speaker and third female Speaker).
  • More than twenty years of experience leading public organizations and coaching leaders.
  • Core member of the inaugural design team for the Women Igniting Leadership Lab at KS Insight.
  • Chairs the Board of Directors for the Vermont Foodbank.
  • Executive Director and long-time board member of the Adaptive Leadership Network.
  • Directed the Beacons of Democracy project at the State Legislative Leadership Foundation.
  • Twenty years as a volunteer Emergency Medical Technician on the South Hero Rescue ambulance squad.
  • Bachelor of Science in Environmental Studies and International Development from the University of Vermont.
  • Master in Public Administration from Harvard Kennedy School.
Biography

Leadership and coaching

Mitzi Johnson is a consulting Senior Leadership Faculty and Coach at KS Insight, bringing more than twenty years of experience in both leading public organizations, as well as supporting other leaders as a coach and trainer.

As the former Speaker of the House, Vermont Legislature (91st Speaker and third female Speaker of the House) she was widely recognized for fostering collaborative working relationships across diverse stakeholder groups, building agreement across party lines, and strengthening institutions through transparent and inclusive processes.

Practice and lived experience

Mitzi brings to her leadership training practice the success and struggles of decades of lived examples: leading through crises and conflicts, creating cultural change, and building and strengthening purpose-driven organizations from agile start-ups to centuries-old, highly structured institutions. Mitzi is also a core member of the inaugural design team for the Women Igniting Leadership Lab program at KS Insight.

Boards and initiatives

Mitzi chairs the Board of Directors for the Vermont Foodbank and was an Executive Director and long-time board member of the Adaptive Leadership Network, an international nonprofit dedicated to leadership training and complex problem solving.

She directed the Beacons of Democracy project at the State Legislative Leadership Foundation and teaches public budgeting and management to MPPA students. Much of her instinct for calm, decisive leadership in time-dependent, high-stakes situations comes from her twenty years as a volunteer Emergency Medical Technician on the South Hero Rescue ambulance squad.

Education

Mitzi earned a Bachelor of Science in Environmental Studies and International Development from the University of Vermont and a Master in Public Administration from the Harvard Kennedy School where she was a member of the teaching team for Adaptive Leadership. Mitzi received coaching training from Coaches Rising in the Netherlands and the Kansas Leadership Center.