Tequila Johnson
Co-founder and Vice President, The Equity Alliance

Profile

Tequila Johnson is award-winning community organizer and strategist whose work focuses on creating equality and increasing civic engagement among Black Americans and other communities of color.  She has been featured in The New York Times, The Washington Post, on CNN, MSNBC and around the country. Johnson is the co-founder and vice president of The Equity Alliance, a Tennessee-based nonprofit that equips black and brown citizens with tools and strategies to strengthen their communities and make government work better. In 2018, Johnson served as the statewide manager for the Tennessee Black Voter Project, a statewide coalition of nearly two dozen local nonprofits working together toward the goal of registering 50,000 Black Tennesseans to vote. The group, under Johnson’s leadership, submitted 91,000 voter registration forms.  In addition to her involvement in local politics and community organizing, Johnson is also the founder and CEO of The Equity Consulting Group, LLC, a firm specializing in issue advocacy, government relations, community relations and media strategy. She served as campaign manager and lead strategist for newcomer Christiane Buggs’s successful Metro Nashville School Board election and has provided strategic oversight, analysis and field operations for a variety of political organizations. Her work in and for the community has earned widespread praise and recognition. Her awards include: The Nashville Business Journal’s Women of Influence Award 2019; Nashville Chamber of Commerce’s Small Business Superstar 2019; the NAACP Ella Baker Power Award 2019; the Women’s Political Collaborative of Tennessee’s Movers and Shakers Award 2018; Nashville Business’ 100 Leading African Americans 2018; Nashville Black 40 Under 40 2018; and Nashville Voice’s 2018 Nashvillian of the Year. Johnson was a featured presenter at the 2018 Healthy and Free Tennessee Reproductive Rights Summit, in 2019 at the national Unrig Summit, and in 2019 at the Muslim Women’s Conference in Abu Dhabi, UAE. Johnson currently serves as the Assistant Director of Outreach and Student Engagement at the Tennessee State University Center for Service Learning and Civic Engagement. In that role, she is responsible for connecting students, staff and faculty to various outreach opportunities and managing service-learning initiatives. Previously at TSU, she served as the program director for the Martin Luther King, Jr. Day of Service grant and the Historic Black Colleges and Universities community outreach initiative, a collaborative program funded by a $447,000 from The Corporation for National and Community Service.As part of her work at the university, Johnson provides service and leadership to Tennessee State University through her involvement on several councils, as an advisor to undergraduate organizations, and as the president of the University Staff Senate. She is also an active member of Delta Sigma Theta Sorority, Inc., Frontiers International and an assistant leader for a local Girl Scouts Troop. Johnson is a graduate of Tennessee State University, where she received her master’s degree in counseling psychology and is currently pursuing a Ph.D. in industrial and organizational psychology. Additionally she is a certified project manager and holds a graduate certificate in grant writing and nonprofit, public and organizational management.When she’s not working, she enjoys singing in her church choir and spending time with her daughter.