2022 Speaker Profile – Johnson, Clarence A.

Clarence A. Johnson

Director, Diversity Management Operations Center, Defense Human Resources Activity, Office of the Under Secretary of Defense for Personnel and Readiness, (USD(P&R))

Clarence A. Johnson, a member of the Senior Executive Service, is Director, Diversity Management Operations Center, Defense Human Resources Activity, Office of the Under Secretary of Defense for Personnel and Readiness (USD(P&R)), Washington, D.C. He is responsible for operationalizing diversity management and equal opportunity policies and programs affecting 1.4M active duty military personnel; 1.3M Reserve Component (RC) personnel; and over 900,000 civilians within the Department of Defense (DoD). He provides supervision and direction of the Defense Equal Opportunity Management Institute (DEOMI), the premiere DoD school in equal opportunity and equal employment opportunity (EEO) training, education and research; and the Investigations Resolutions Directorate, which investigates DoD EEO complaints. Additionally, Mr. Johnson directs DoD Diversity and Inclusion efforts, including diversity outreach and the Workforce Recruitment Program for College Students and Recent Graduates with Disabilities, and he provides executive support for the Defense Advisory Committee on Women in the Services.

Mr. Johnson joined the Senior Executive Service in February 2003, as Principal Director and Director, Civilian EEO (Policy), Office of the Deputy Assistant Secretary of Defense (Equal Opportunity). His duties in that office were transformed when he was made Director, Office of Diversity Management and Equal Opportunity (Policy), USD(P&R), a position he held until September 2018.

Prior to becoming a civil servant, Mr. Johnson was a United States Air Force officer. As an active duty colonel, he served as Director, Military Equal Opportunity (Policy) in the Office of the Deputy Assistant Secretary of Defense for Equal Opportunity. He provided policy guidance to the military components regarding policies and programs which prescribe, promote, coordinate, and enforce equal opportunity and treatment of active duty and RC military personnel; oversaw policy implementation and evaluated/monitored the performance of DoD component programs; and provided oversight for DEOMI. His decorations include the Defense Superior Service Medal (one Oak Leaf Cluster), the Legion of Merit, and the Defense Meritorious Service Medal (three oak leaf clusters).

Mr. Johnson holds a Master’s Degree in Human Resource Management from Webster University, Missouri, and a Bachelor’s Degree in Biology from Tuskegee Institute, Alabama. Mr. Johnson is also a graduate of Air Command and Staff College, the Air War College, the National Security Management Course (National Defense University) and the Georgetown University Strategic Diversity and Inclusion Management Certificate Program.

He and his wife, Gloria, reside in Clinton, Maryland. They have three children and four grandchildren.