As founder and President of Philip W. Johnston Associates, Phil Johnston consults on health and human services issues from his offices in Boston, Western Massachusetts, and Washington D.C. working with health care associations, federal and stated government, academic institutions and health care industry leaders to bring better quality and more cost effective health care to all. Mr. Johnston has worked in health and human services for more than 30 years. In November 2000 Mr. Johnston was elected to a four-year term as Chairman of the Massachusetts Democratic Party. He is a former Massachusetts legislator and Cabinet member with a strong background in both state and national issues.
Mr. Johnston also serves as Executive Director of Citizens Programs Corporation, a non-profit grant-making organization focused on health policy issues affecting the poor and uninsured. In addition, Mr. Johnston is Chairman of the Massachusetts Health Policy Forum, a health policy initiative in conjunction with the Heller School of Public Affairs at Brandeis University.
Prior to founding Philip W. Johnston Associates in. 1996, Mr. Johnston was a Democratic candidate for Congress in the 10th District of Massachusetts.
President Clinton appointed Mr. Johnston New England Director of the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, where he served from 1993 until 1996.
Before joining HHS, Mr. Johnston served as the director of the Robert F. Kennedy Memorial in Washington, D.C., an institution dedicated to improving social justice and human rights throughout the world.
As co-founder and Chairman of the Board of Directors of Health Care for America, in 1991, Mr. Johnston worked toward enacting federal legislation providing for universal health care.
Before his service in Washington,Mr. Johnston was Secretary of Human Services in the Commonwealth of Massachusetts from 1984-1991. As such, he was Chief Executive Officer and principal policy maker for 17 diverse and sensitive state human services agencies, including adult and juvenile corrections, parole, public welfare, child welfare, public health, mental health and retardation, medical security, disabilities and rate setting.
He directed the development and implementation of dozens of major projects affecting the poor, sick, elderly and disabled persons in Massachusetts. This included the Mental Health Action Project, a five-year, $350 million initiative to reform the state's mental health system and the drafting, enactment and operation of the state's universal health care legislation.
Before his appointment by Governor Michael Dukakis, he served for five terms as state representative from the 10th Plymouth District in Massachusetts.
In 1969, Mr. Johnston founded the Robert F, Kennedy Action Corps, a private, non-profit agency which provides residential and educational services for foster and delinquent children from throughout the state.
He has taught social services, human services and public administration at both the undergraduate and graduate levels. He received the Bachelor of Arts Degree from the University of Massachusetts at Amherst in 1968 and his Masters Degree from the John F. Kennedy School of Government, Harvard University in 1977.