Johnson has held a variety of different roles in her 11 years with UWNU, which serves to unite people and organizations to build healthy, stable and well-educated communities where individuals, families and neighborhoods thrive.

Rhett Long, chairman of the UWNU board of directors, said the interview process exceeded his expectations, with Johnson standing out in several areas.

“In the end, we had the right candidate inside the UWNU organization,” Long said in a press release.

Among Johnson’s many accomplishments is the creation of Welcome Baby, a free home-visitation program promoting healthy, happy and supportive new beginnings for parents, babies and family members.

Welcome Baby, mirrored after a similar program in Utah County, was implemented at UWNU by Johnson after visiting United Way of Utah County.

According to Johnson, Welcome Baby at UWNU turned out to be quite different from the program in Utah County.

“Programs should be looking different,” she said. “Different communities need to meet different needs.”

Johnson said there are many key positions needing to be filled at UWNU, including her former role as the director of community resources.

Until Johnson finds a qualified candidate for the director position, she is maintaining her work in community resources in addition to her CEO duties.

It’s been difficult managing with vacant leadership roles, Johnson said, but they have kept the ball rolling with several staff members stepping up to help fill the need.

Johnson said UWNU has wonderful community partners and she is looking forward to living out the ideas and dreams she has had for the organization as well as helping United Way meet its full mission.