Jerry L. Johnson, joined RLJ Equity Partners in 2007 as a Vice President.  RLJ Equity Partners is a private equity firm founded by Robert L. Johnson and the Carlyle Group that acquires control positions in companies with enterprise values between $75 and $300 million.  The firm invests in a broad range of sectors which include: Business Services, Government Services, Transportation and Media.  Johnson led RLJ’s investment alongside the Carlye Group in Brazil’s largest tour operator.

In 2004, he was appointed by President George W. Bush as a White House Fellow to serve as a Special Assistant to the Secretary of Defense.  Johnson was awarded the Secretary of Defense Medal for Exceptional Public Service for his work on the Quadrennial Defense Review. 

Also, Johnson has been an investment banker with Donaldson, Lufkin, & Jenrette and consultant with McKinsey & Company.  While in business school, he led a year-long project with Harvard Business School students to devise a strategy for the BancBoston Capital to invest over $100 million in burgeoning domestic markets.

Johnson’s civic involvement encompasses leadership roles with a wide range of local, state and international organizations, including:  the Pacific Council on International Policy, the Asia Society, Atlantik-Brücke, the Aspen Institute, and the Federal Communications Commission Capital Access Working Group.  He is also a term member of the Council on Foreign Relations.  Furthermore, he serves on the board of directors at the White House Fellows Alumni Association, Global Kids and the Edward Brooke Charter School.

Johnson received his M.B.A. from Harvard Business School and his B.S. in Chemical Engineering, summa cum laude, from the University of Tennessee, Knoxville where he was the President of the Tau Beta Pi Engineering Honor Society.  He was recognized with the University of Tennessee’s Distinguished Alumni Award in 2009.