Rep.
Connie "LaJoyce" Johnson, a Democrat, represents part of St. Louis
City (District 61) in the Missouri House of Representatives.
In
addition to her legislative duties, Rep. Johnson is a lawyer. She is currently employed as an adjunct professor
at the University of St. Louis School of Public Health.
Prior
to her election, she served as the assistant to the director, Division of
Aging, Missouri Department of Social Services from 1999-2000. She oversaw the
minority aging program and provided leadership and staffed the commission on
the special health, psychological and social needs of older minority
individuals and the Governor's Advisory Council on Aging. She also worked from 1997-1999, on the legal
team in the Office of the General Counsel for the Missouri Department of
Health. There she worked on Personnel
Advisory Board cases, childcare licensing and other programming issues. She
also served as a member of the Minority Health Advisory Council. In 1999 she assisted the legislative liaison
for the Missouri Department of Health in tracking legislation in the Missouri
House of Representatives. After
graduation from law school, Rep Johnson started working for the Missouri
Department of Health in the Center for Local Public Health Services. As the administrative liaison, she managed
core public health contracts for 117 counties in Missouri. In addition to those duties, she assisted
the director in researching special projects, including insurance for
Missouri's low-income children. Rep.
Johnson is a member of the Missouri Public Health Association; Delta Sigma
Theta Sorority, Inc.; Mound City Bar Association, public member; and the
National Association of Healthcare Executives. She serves on the Walbridge
Advisory Committee of St. Louis Caring Communities and the Black Child
Development Institute. Rep. Johnson
also served on the Advisory Council for NBA Gateways. She supports the public information meetings offered by St. Louis
City Police officers in districts 6, 7, and 8.
Rep. Johnson also supports the Area F Neighborhood Council by the Urban
League of Metropolitan St. Louis. She
is the committeewoman for the 27th Ward in St. Louis and serves on the St. Louis
NAACP Political Action Committee. She is also a member of the St. Louis Metropolitan
Women's Caucus; NorthsideNeighborhood Action Association; and the Sue Shear Institute
for Women in Public Life. Rep. Johnson is the 2001
chairman of the Youth Conference of the Missouri Legislative Black Caucus
Foundation and serves as the 2001 secretary for the Missouri Legislative Black
Caucus. Honors
and awards for Rep. Johnson include: Mortar Board and President's Service Award
(Bradley University), Danforth Leadership award, Outstanding College Students
of America, and the Top Ladies of Distinction Unsung Heroine award. She was a public member of the Board of
Geologists Registration from 1998-2000 and a commissioner on the St. Louis
Planning and Industrial Expansion Authority from 1998-2000. Rep. Johnson was also Missouri's First
Congressional District Electoral College representative for the 1996
Presidential election. A
1987 graduate of Incarnate Word Academy in St. Louis, Rep. Johnson received a
bachelor of science degree from Bradley University in 1991 in
communications/radio/tv/video with a minor in psychology and news. She received
a juris doctorate and masters degree in health administration from Saint Louis
University in 1996. Born
July 1, 1969 in Chicago, Ill., Rep. Johnson moved to St. Louis in 1979. She currently resides in St. Louis City with
her mother, Alice Buchanan.