Darlene Ayers-Johnson

Darlene Ayers-Johnson of the San Francisco Bay Area has long served in distinguished positions at the federal, state, and municipal levels of government. Some of Ms. Ayers-Johnson's major career achievements include her appointment by former President George W. Bush to the role of Senior Advisor to the Pacific Rim Regional Administrator of the U.S. General Services Administration and her appointment by former Oakland Mayor Jerry Brown to the Oakland Board of Port Commissioners. Presently, she serves as a consultant and community development expert for the northern California division of advertising firm Clear Channel Airports.

A native of Oakland, California, Darlene Ayers-Johnson established her career in the Bay Area and developed a reputation for breaking down business-world barriers limiting the upward mobility of women and people of color. After working in management positions at several Bay Area corporations, she left the private sector in the early 1990s to head five departments of state government for former California Governor Pete Wilson. With one of these departments, Ms. Ayers-Johnson spearheaded school rebuilding operations in Los Angeles following the Northridge earthquake. Ms. Ayers-Johnson also found time to return to college to earn an Associate's degree in Business Administration and a Bachelor's degree in Human Relations from Golden Gate University. Upon leaving state government services in 2000, she founded a consultancy, Ayers-Johnson & Associates.

From 2000 to 2008, Darlene Ayers-Johnson served as a Commissioner with the Oakland Board of Port Commissioners. During that time, she held several elected positions as an officer on the Board, including President, and she headed an art program aimed at beautifying the entire Port of Oakland. Ms. Ayers-Johnson also sat on the California Commission on the Status of Women from 2006 to 2010; she was appointed to the Commission by former California Governor Arnold Schwarzenegger and approved by the state senate. In her present role, Ms. Ayers-Johnson advises Clear Channel Airports on indoor advertising at Bay Area airports as a consultant.