Dr. Calvin C. Johnson is the Deputy Assistant Secretary for Research, Evaluation and Monitoring at the United States Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD). Dr. Johnson provides executive leadership and results that focus on the management of HUD’s evidence-building and program evaluation enterprise. As a member of the senior executive service (SES), his efforts support HUD in determining the effectiveness of its policies and programs intended to benefit the nation’s poorest and most vulnerable citizens. As a member of the senior executive service, Dr. Johnson is committed to fully exercising the authority of his office in delivering evidence/findings based on high-quality evaluation projects. To inform policy and program decisions, Dr. Johnson engages in crucial conversations with key stakeholders to affirmatively further fair housing and in support of the agency’s mission: HUD's mission is to create strong, sustainable, inclusive communities and quality affordable homes for all. HUD is working to strengthen the housing market to bolster the economy and protect consumers; meet the need for quality affordable rental homes; utilize housing as a platform for improving quality of life; build inclusive and sustainable communities free from discrimination; and transform the way HUD does business.

During the past 10 years, Dr. Johnson has provided executive leadership that supports HUD's evidence-building and evaluation strategy to determine the effectiveness of its policies and programs that benefit the nation's poorest and most vulnerable citizens. He is a valued internal/external partner in the whole of government approaches to identifying effective interventions that inform policy and program decisions. As an engaged leader, Dr. Johnson oversees three divisions of highly technical staff -- from engineers and regional planners to social/behavioral scientists and neuroscientists. Under his leadership, Dr. Johnson supports staff in their professional development and in tackling some of the most tractable social problems affecting low-income communities and the nation's most vulnerable citizens. He has participated in Interagency Policy Committees (IPC) that explore the intersectionality of housing and community development, health, employment, education, and public safety. He has supported critical initiatives including the National Summit to Prevent Youth Violence. As HUD's career executive working with cities experiencing high rates of youth violence as cities, he supported innovative place-based violence prevention initiatives known to be effective at preventing youth violence. On the Community Violence Intervention (CVI) initiative, Dr. Johnson serves as HUD's career executive responsible for implementing HUD's CVI Action Plan. He is leading HUD's efforts in standing up a Community of Practice recognizing HUD grantees who have effectively leveraged HUD grant funding to implement promising CVI. With stakeholders across all levels of government and participation for public sector stakeholders, Dr. Johnson is a valued partner in identifying strategies to remove barriers to housing faced by returning citizens.

While focusing on domestic and international housing policy, Dr. Johnson also serves as the lead career executive for a Memorandum of Understanding (MOU) with Japan to explore Aging in Place innovations. He has published reports on promising Aging in Place housing and community development approaches in the U.S. and how they compare to practices in Japan. He represents the U.S./HUD in bilateral research and policy discussions on housing and community development. Dr. Johnson has served on the National Center for Injury Control and Prevention's Board of Scientific Counselors. In his role on the Board, he represented HUD in ensuring that injury prevention issues affecting HUD-assisted elderly, disabled, and child populations were included in evidence-building, evaluations, and program development at the Center for Disease Control and Prevention. Dr. Johnson is a U.S.-HUD executive sponsor to the G7 Senior Urban Development Official (SUDO) where he provides technical support on matters relevant to G7 Ministers/Secretaries of Sustainable Urban Development, including collaborative research and knowledge-building projects. In his role, he staffed HUD's Secretary in the first-ever meeting of the G7 Ministers/Secretaries of Sustainable Urban Development (September 2022) and has begun the planning process for the second meeting to be held in July 2023. Dr. Johnson was appointed by Secretary Marcia L. Fudge to serve on the Commission for the Social Status of Black Men and Boys (CSSBMB). The 2020 Commission on the Social Status of Black Men and Boys Act (S.2163) established the CSSBMB within the U.S. Commission on Civil Rights and is tasked with recommending policies to Congress, the White House, and federal agencies intended to improve the social and economic conditions experienced by Black men and boys as a result of disparities in education, criminal justice, health, employment, fatherhood, mentorship, and violence.

In 2020, Dr. Calvin Johnson was inducted as a fellow of the National Academy of Public Administration (NAPA) and serves as an active member of the Standing Panel on Social Equity in Governance supporting our Leading by Convening initiatives and the Social Equity Leadership Conference.