Eric Anthony Johnson is a native of New Orleans and has worked and studied throughout the country, but the new president of Minneapolis-based affordable housing developer Aeon is no stranger to Minnesota.
Johnson, who starts his job as president and CEO of Aeon on Feb. 8, earned a Master of Public Administration degree from Minnesota State University-Mankato in 1996 and later embarked on a career path that included a stop in Bloomington.
As Bloomington’s director of community development from 2018 to 2020, Johnson oversaw the creation of the city’s inclusionary housing policy and a $15 million affordable housing trust fund. The fund helped Aeon acquire and preserve 306 affordable homes.
In his most recent job as chief of economic development, housing, and neighborhood services for the city of Dallas, Johnson led efforts to create a $100 million affordable housing fund.
An alumnus of the Harvard University Advanced Management Development Program in Real Estate, Johnson earned an MBA from the University of Tennessee, and a Ph.D. in Urban Affairs and Public Policy from the University of Delaware.
Johnson succeeds Alan Arthur, who started his run as president and CEO in 1988 – two years after Aeon’s founding. The nonprofit developer, owner and manager of affordable housing now serves more than 16,000 people each year at 5,800 homes.
In the following interview, Johnson talks about his career path, his new role with Aeon, and the big-picture challenges and opportunities related to the construction of affordable housing in Minnesota.
