Jason Johnson
Jason JohnsonDirector, Product Management

Jason Johnson is a Director on the People and Culture team at Next Street. In his role he leads the firms internal Learning and Development program, manages the firm’s cultural infrastructure, and monitors the overall health of the firm through regular assessment and intervention design.  Jason’s previous roles at the firm included Director of Product Management and Director of Next Street’s Small Business Network.

On working at Next Street

My passion is working to support systemically disadvantaged entrepreneurs and small businesses. Next Street provides me an opportunity to continue this work, but at an ecosystem-wide level.

Before joining Next Street, Jason was Director of the Chicago Urban League Center for Entrepreneurship & Innovation. He led programming that supported client businesses in acquiring 400 new contracts worth $120,000,000 and $25,000,000 in new financing. He is a doctoral candidate in Organizational Leadership at the Chicago School of Professional Psychology, and served as an adjunct professor at Illinois Institute of Technology.

Employee Small Business Spotlight

10 Launch Commandments Music Video

As an entrepreneur, Jason launched and operated a boutique advisory firm that provided strategy consulting, web development, and brand consulting to small to medium-sized businesses and nonprofit organizations from 2009-2013. He also was co-founder and CEO of Konveau, an app that uses personality compatibility to help people break the ice at networking events. Jason is also an accomplished speaker and provides keynote addresses and performs entrepreneurship-inspired hip-hop music.  Jason has been featured presenter for organizations such National Urban League, ITW, Groupon, McDonalds Corporation and Verizon, and has been a featured subject matter expert on platforms such as Forbes, CBS, and NPR. His TEDx Talk, “Four Things that Hip-Hop Taught Me About Business Leadership“, currently has over 60K views.

Outside of Next Street

When he’s not at work or studying, Jason can be found exploring all that Chicago has to offer with his wife Jody and precocious sons Jahar and Joser. He also enjoys doing transcendental meditation, immersing himself  in VR,  flying his first-person view drone, and playing with other high-tech gadgetry.

Publications