Page 19 - 2020 BusinessWest Difference Makers Program

By Joseph Bednar
ack in the mid-’70s, Ronn Johnson recalls, he’d walk past a nonde- script house on Wilbraham Road
in Springfield, a few blocks down the road from both his home and his school. Sometimes he’d sit in the front room of that house, waiting for a dental appoint- ment. In the neighboring Presbyterian church, a young, dynamic pastor, the Rev. Ronald Peters, had recently taken over a decidedly dwindling flock.
“I never thought this was a place I’d ever have a connection to,” Johnson told BusinessWest. “But I do believe that God has a plan for every one of us. I’m a very faith-driven person. I’ve been blessed
to be in places where people see my interests and read my heart, and where I’m able to make some things happen.”
Today, he makes them happen in
that same house. The dental office long gone, it now serves as the administrative center of Matin Luther King Jr. Family Services Inc., where he’s been president and CEO for the past seven-plus years.
The neighborhood has changed
#
much over the past half-century. Peters, who rebuilt that church by attracting kids and teenagers and then their parents, restored the church to vibrancy and oversaw the construction of the community center that became MLK Family Services.
Meanwhile, Johnson has spent much of the past four decades making a real difference for children and families in the community.
He’s done that through a variety of roles, all of which blended business acumen with a heart for service. He’s also done it through the Brianna Fund,
a charity named after his daughter that has, over the past 22 years, helped children with disabilities access the tools and resources they need to achieve a better life.
“I do what I do because I have a passion for making a difference for people,” Johnson said. “It’s that simple. And I’ve been fortunate enough where I’ve been able to make a career around doing that. So I feel I’m doubly blessed to have made a good life for myself, but in the context of being a professional helper.
“It’s made my life more complete, more purposeful — not just crunching numbers for folks to get rich, but working on the side of creating opportunities that help corporations make good decisions about how to invest in our community and invest in people,” he went on. “And meeting the most basic needs people can have — food, sustenance, shelter, education — that’s very much what we’re about here.”
His is a winding story with many stops, all of them improving quality of life in Springfield and impacting lives well beyond it, demonstrating why Ronn Johnson is a true Difference Maker — one whose influence will continue to resonate in the decades to come.
“
I do what I do because
I have a passion for making a difference for” people. It’s that simple.
Congratulations
Ronn Johnson
President and CEO
at Martin Luther King Jr. Family Services
- Board, Staff, and Consumers
And Congratulations to the other Difference Makers!
Photo by Leah Martin Photography
(413) 746-3655 | www.mlkjrfamilyservices.org
19