REP. CONNIE "LAJOYCE" JOHNSON

92nd General Assembly

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, employed at the Law Firm of Armstrong Teasdale in St. Louis, Missouri where she works with the litigation practice group with emphasis on health law and medical malpractice. She is also an adjunct professor at the University of St. Louis School of Public Health.

Her extensive experience includes serving as assistant to the director, Division of Aging, Missouri Department of Social Services. 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.

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 114 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 Delta Sigma Theta Sorority, Inc. and the Mound City Bar Association. She serves on the Walbridge Advisory Committee of St. Louis Caring Communities. She is the committeewoman for the 27th Ward in St. Louis and serves on the St. Louis NAACP Political Action Committee. Rep. Johnson also serves as the Vice President of the Missouri Legislative Black Caucus Foundation. In addition, she is a member of the Sue Shear Institute for Women in Public Life.

Honors and awards for Rep. Johnson include: Mortar Board and President's Service Award (Bradley University), Danforth Leadership award, St. Louis Association of Colored Women Community Service award, St. Louis Teachers Union Lifetime Achievement award, 2001 Mtumishi Service award for public service to the African American Community in the field of mental health, 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. In addition, Rep. Johnson recently spoke at the Missouri Immunization Conference and at the National Conference of State Legislatures in regards to the National Health Policy. She also attended the National Governor’s Association on Chronic Diseases to help design a plan to address the health disparities in Missouri. Rep. Johnson was also Missouri's First Congressional District Electoral College representative for the 1996 Presidential election. In addition, Rep. Johnson has recently returned from South Africa where she was a US delegate with the American Council of Young Political Leaders.

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 master’s 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.