D.C. Business Leader Tapped for Prestigious Howard Chair

Howard University announced that Marie C. Johns, former member of the Howard University Board of Trustees and deputy director of the U.S. Small Business Administration (SBA) during the Obama administration, has been appointed the 2025–2026 Gwendolyn S. and Colbert I. King Endowed Chair in Public Policy. 

Johns, currently a Trustee Emeritus, previously served on the Board of Trustees from 2000 to 2010 and from 2014 to 2024. 

Created in 2008 by Pulitzer Prize–winning journalist Colbert I. King and former Social Security Commissioner Gwendolyn S. King, both Howard alumni, the endowed chair provides students with access to senior public service executives who have developed and advanced public policy initiatives during their government service. The program has featured lectures and seminars on voting, leadership, civil rights, economic affairs, and global diplomacy, among other public policy topics.

“We have known Marie Johns for more than 30 years and have long admired her dedication and service to the public, and particularly to the business community,” Gwen and Colby King said in a joint statement. “She will offer students a treasure of knowledge on the importance of civic leadership in the creation of public policies to benefit all our citizens.”

Howard University interim President Wayne A.I. Frederick praised Johns’ appointment.

“The King Chair represents Howard’s commitment to preparing the next generation of leaders to shape public policy with vision and integrity,” Frederick said. “Marie Johns’ experiences in private industry and in public arenas make her most suitable to carry forward Gwendolyn S. and Colbert I. King’s vision for this series.”

Previous King Chairs include the late U.S. Rep. Elijah Cummings (D-Maryland), Elaine R. Jones, former president of the NAACP Legal Defense Fund, political strategist Donna Brazile, and most recently, former Maryland Lieutenant Governor and current co-host of MSNBC’s ”The Weeknight” Michael Steele. 

Johns is CEO of PPC-Leftwich, a minority/woman-led management and consulting firm with deep roots in the District. 

She has been a leader in business, civic, and government service for more than 30 years. Her experience includes holding senior positions in the telecommunications industry, including retiring as president of Verizon Washington. In that position, she was responsible for more than 1,800 employees and nearly 800,000 customers. 

Johns served as deputy administrator of the SBA from 2010 to 2013. During her tenure, she oversaw record lending of more than $30 billion to over 60,000 small businesses, chaired the President’s Interagency Task Force on Veterans’ Small Business Development, created the SBA’s Council on Underserved Communities, and launched Start Young, an SBA/U.S. Department of Labor initiative providing entrepreneurial training to Job Corps students. 

Johns is also the founding chair of the Washington, D.C. Technology Council and has served as a board member, president, or chair of numerous organizations including the D.C. Chamber of Commerce, the Federal City Council, the Greater Washington Board of Trade, and the D.C. Judicial Nomination Commission. She is also a member of the Greater Washington Business Hall of Fame and one of Washingtonian magazine’s “100 Most Powerful Women.

She is a 2013 recipient of an honorary Doctor of Humane Letters from Howard University and holds two degrees—a Bachelor of Science and a Master of Public Administration—from Indiana University.

 “It is an honor to be entrusted with the legacy of the King Endowed Chair, which I am deeply committed to advancing,” Johns said. “I look forward to engaging with Howard students, challenging them to think boldly about solutions to today’s most pressing policy issues, and equipping them with the tools to lead with courage, truth, and service.”