Tiffany Hamel Johnson

Tiffany Hamel Johnson is the President and CEO of Chicago United (CU).

Johnson is responsible for leading CU’s mission, vision, and overarching strategy to empower diversity, equity, and inclusion within Chicago’s business community. She joined CU in April of 2020, and is the first African-American woman to head Chicago United. Johnson joined CU from World Business Chicago, where she was the organization’s second-in-command as Executive Vice President of Strategy and Administration. She brings a unique blend of over 25 years of experience in the private, public, and non-profit sectors.

Johnson began her career in advertising and marketing, and shifted to industrial and economic development. Johnson served as Chief Executive Officer of Windy City Harvest, and directed sales and marketing of a $200 million, mixed-income residential development on Chicago’s South Side for Granite Development Company. She was the project manager for the efforts to bring The Boeing Company’s corporate headquarters to Chicago during her first stint at World Business Chicago. In the late 1990s, she worked for Mesirow Stein Real Estate and Illinois Industrial Properties.

“Ive been one of the only, and then I’ve been one of the many,” she says of her experience at diverse and not-so-diverse organizations. “That view will help. I’m used to working with many voices."

Currently, Tiffany serves on the Board of IFF, where she chairs the Governance Committee. She is also on the Board of Trustees for Francis W. Parker and a Board member of YMCA of Metropolitan Chicago.

Johnson is a proud native Chicagoan and Chicago Public Schools graduate. She is a graduate of the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign, where she majored in Spanish and minored in Communications. She resides in the Lakeview neighborhood with her husband and son.