In 2010, three weeks after he arrived in Madison to take the helm at the Boys and Girls Club of Dane County, he had lunch with Monica Howard, an old friend from his time in Chicago who’d lived in Madison for a while.
She recalls him holding his hand to his forehead and worrying aloud, “I don’t know if these white people will accept me.”
Howard told him not to worry.
“Accept you?” she recalls replying. “You’re going to take over this city.”
In many ways, that’s exactly what he did. In his official role as CEO of the BGCDC, he expanded the influence of the organization from one location on Madison’s South Side to open centers in Fitchburg and Sun Prairie, merge with existing clubs in Walworth County, embed the organization in Madison’s high schools, and build a new workforce development center. Outside that job, he became an outspoken advocate for Madison’s Black community and against gun violence, a magnanimous giver of outlandish gifts, a relentless fundraiser for his own organization and others, and an organizer of relief efforts in Dane County during the COVID panic and across the country following tornadoes and hurricanes.
Johnson died unexpectedly on Sunday, June 7. He was 50, having celebrated the milestone in October by publishing a book, The Audacity to Lead. Word of his death moved through Madison the way news of a sudden loss does in a city he had spent 16 years making smaller and more connected: first, disbelief, and then an outpouring of grief, memories, and a celebration of what his legacy will become.
(Photo by A. David Dahmer)
Johnson was born and raised in Chicago, spending most of his childhood in the Cabrini-Green public housing projects, and credited a Boys & Girls Club there with shaping the trajectory of his life. He worked at a Chicago club while attending night school, then rose through nonprofit and public-sector roles in Philadelphia, St. Louis and Indianapolis before being hired in 2010 to lead the Boys and Girls Clubs of Dane County. He arrived a few years after the organization, in partnership with the Madison schools, had launched its AVID/TOPS college-readiness program with a single classroom of 28 students at East High School.
(Photo by A. David Dahmer)
What he built from there is most of the institutional map of the organization as Madison now knows it. Over his tenure he helped raise more than $50 million, according to the BGCDC statements. The club expanded into Fitchburg and Sun Prairie, merged with the Boys and Girls Club of Walworth County, embedded staff in the area’s high schools through AVID/TOPS, and in 2023 opened the McKenzie Regional Workforce Center, which became both the organization’s headquarters and a training ground for young people in the trades and entrepreneurship. AVID/TOPS, the single classroom he inherited, now reaches hundreds of students across Madison’s comprehensive high schools.
(Photo by A. David Dahmer)
But the title on his door never contained him. In March 2020, as the pandemic shuttered schools and businesses, Johnson convened the Dane County COVID Emergency Fund, working with the United Way of Dane County and Madison365; donors gave more than $200,000 in a single day, and the broader campaign ultimately raised close to $2 million. He led convoys of volunteer drivers to deliver aid to communities battered by hurricanes. He worked to keep Madison’s protests peaceful after the murder of George Floyd. In 2013, he spent three days living as a homeless man alongside grocer Tim Metcalfe and fellow nonprofit leader Will Green, documenting it as he went.
The pattern was always the same: see a need, move now, raise the money, bring people along.
(Photo by A. David Dahmer)
Those who worked beside him return again and again to the same handful of things: the laugh, the bias toward action, the way he made a room feel seen.
Sabrina Madison, the Common Council president, first met him at a meet-and-greet arranged not long after he was hired, when Johnson set out to get to know the people doing community work across the city — especially Black Madisonians. She posted on Facebook:
What I remember most from that first meeting was that this brotha who grew up in Chicago seemed relatable. And he had this big laugh. Sure, we talked about community, our work, and being Black in Madison but it was the relatedness that I remember most.… So it’s his laughter I can remember right now and where I’ll end this note.
— Sabrina Madison, Madison Common Council president
Renee Moe, the CEO of the United Way of Dane County, was one of his closest institutional partners. At a vigil last Tuesday, she described two leaders whose styles fit together precisely — and sometimes ground against each other in productive ways.
He was always go, go, go, get it done… there were tensions across the years, but always with the understanding that we were on the same team trying to get big things done together for the community. I love him as a brother. I feel like we tested each other, I think we made each other better.
— Renee Moe, CEO, United Way of Dane County
For Joe Gothard, now superintendent of the Madison schools, the relationship began in 2010 over a breakfast Gothard scheduled when he was still principal at La Follette High School and Johnson was the new name leading the club. In a statement issued last week, Gothard said:
When Michael was in the room, everyone knew it. However, his gift was always ensuring the focus remained on the children and families who needed support, particularly those in underserved communities and students of color.… To witness 231 graduating AVID/TOPS students walk across the stage and share their college choices and career goals was proof of Michael’s tenacity in creating this truly remarkable partnership.
— Dr. Joe Gothard, superintendent, Madison Metropolitan School District
Ruben Anthony of the Urban League of Greater Madison spoke of him both as a collaborator and a once-in-a-generation figure at the vigil last week.
Only once in a lifetime, does somebody come as gifted and as committed as him. We were blessed in this community to have him for the time that we had him. He was a giant. He was a champion for our kids, a community advocate, one that pursued justice in a big way.
— Dr. Ruben Anthony, CEO, Urban League of Greater Madison
Others remembered the smaller, stubborn gestures that revealed the same character. Diana Walker of the Salvation Army of Dane County recalled asking him to lend his name (and muscle) to a weightlifting fundraiser.
The day of the event, he was on time and he looked at me and asked: ‘Where are the other executives?’ I looked at him, he looked at me and we both laughed. He was it! He lifted those weights and had a ball.
— Diana Walker, director of housing services, Salvation Army of Dane County
Dane County Supervisor Goodwill Obieze met him only months before his death, in January 2026, while both were volunteering at the Fitchburg center distributing donated personal care supplies.
I was surprised to see the President and CEO doing the work himself. Moments later, he stepped into a Zoom meeting, then came back out and continued helping, even taking a moment to warm up his car before returning to serve.… A leader who doesn’t just talk about service but lives it.
— Goodwill Obieze, Dane County supervisor
Tim Metcalfe, the grocer who had once spent three days on the street beside him, and who called Michael his best friend, kept it to a single word. Speaking at the vigil, he said:
When I think of Michael, the word that comes to mind is loyalty. He was the kind of guy that would stand up for you through absolutely anything… You were all of our best friend. I couldn’t ask for a better friend than Michael.
— Tim Metcalfe, owner, Metcalfe’s Market
Local healthcare leader Corinda Rainey-Moore noted Johnson’s willingness to disagree, then move past differences.
What made Michael great is that he never held a grudge against anyone. You could cause him harm or say negative things about him one day and if you needed help the next day, he would help you. … Michael you are going to be so missed. There will never be another person like you in this lifetime. You have definitely earned your rest. All I can your job here is done. Well done our faithful servant. Well done.
— Corinda Rainey-Moore
Coach Shan Hart befriended Johnson and his family in Indianapolis, before Johnson came to Madison, and have remained close since. Hart recalls Johnson inviting him to an event with the ownership of the Cincinatti Reds; “Coach,” Johnson told him, “you know I need you to show up and talk sports for me.”
He was like a brother to me, and we shared a passion for serving our community, children, & families. When I learned of Michael’s passing, I was at a loss for words. What I remember most is that he was a loving husband, devoted father, and loyal friend.
— Coach Shan Hart, Indianapolis, Indiana
Kaleem Caire, the founder of One City Schools, was hiking in the mountains of Montana when the news reached him. He had known Johnson a long time, through a friendship he described as complicated and enduring in equal measure. Reaching for something large enough to hold the man, he landed on Maximus, the general-turned-gladiator who spends a film fighting for others.
He lived his adult life in the arena, fighting for others and for his family, while proving to the world and to himself that a young Black man from the Cabrini-Green projects in Chicago could accomplish more in life, raise strong children, support a dynamic and gifted wife, and create pathways for others — out of and back to their neighborhood — to make life better for everyone.
— Kaleem Caire, founder, One City Schools
Caire offered one more image — an accounting, of the kind Johnson himself was always running for the families he served.
Michael Johnson’s phone has to be turned sideways to see the full length of his ledger of great efforts.
He is survived by his wife, Toya, and their three children.
A visitation will be held from 3 to 7 pm on Thursday, June 18, at the Boys and Girls Club, 4619 Jenewein Rd, Fitchburg. Further visitation will take place Friday, June 19, from 11 am to noon, followed by celebration of life from noon to 2 pm, at High Point Church, 7702 Old Sauk Road in Madison. Johnson will be laid to rest at Restvale Cemetery in Alsip, Illinois.
