CVNL Placement Announcement: Mike Johnson Named CEO of Habitat for Humanity Sonoma County

CVNL is thrilled to have placed Mike Johnson as the new CEO of Habitat for Humanity Sonoma County. Mike is a seasoned nonprofit executive with expertise in housing shortages for low income families, serving in a number of leadership capacities at Committee on the Shelterless (COTS) in Petaluma, CA. Mike spent the last nineteen years working to build COTS from a small grass roots organization, serving Petaluma, into a well-respected Sonoma County change-agent with a reputation for getting excellent results housing children and adults.

Specializing in operational, programmatic, and financial planing, Mike focused on improving COTS’ program results to achieve housing outcomes that were consistently twice the national average. Hired to serve as COTS’ CEO in 2013, Mike focused on achieving operational excellence by addressing funding challenges, developing new strategies and partnerships, opening new opportunities for support, and establishing reserves.

John Kenedy, who has served as interim CEO since October 2017, said, “we are thrilled to have found someone with Mike’s expertise and passion for finding solutions to Sonoma county’s housing crisis. With his leadership, vision, and understanding of the challenges facing Sonoma County, our Habitat affiliate is poised to achieve its accelerated goal of 600 affordable homes over the next five to eight years.”

Mike’s passion for housing and homelessness stems from his personal experience: he first encountered COTS as a homeless person in 1991. In 1999, after eight years on the streets, Mike was fortunate to have been given a job helping to shelter and feed people like himself. Since then, Mike has had one goal: to provide effective paths from crisis to permanent housing.

“Habitat for Humanity’s mission and vision are among the most compelling on earth. I feel incredibly fortunate at this important juncture to scale-up Habitat’s inovative, cost-efficient housing construction like the Sonoma Wildfire Cottage initiative,” said Johnson. “This pilot project is going to light the way forward and demonstrate that Habitat has just the right housing solutions at just the right time for hundreds of hard-working and fire-impacted families in Sonoma County. I am so honored and proud to be a part of it!”

Habitat’s vision is a world where everyone has a decent place to live. Since its founding they have completed 24 homes and have 39 currently in their pipeline. Habitat homeowners are low-income families, defined as 50-80% of Area Median Income. To learn more, visit www.habitatsoco.org.

Please join CVNL in welcoming Mike Johnson as CEO of
Habitat for Humanity Sonoma County!