Wayne State University School of Social Work graduate student El Johnson was named the 2024 recipient of the Virginia M. Wagner Educational Award, given through the Soroptimist International Midwestern Region. Soroptimist is a volunteer organization working to improve the lives of women and girls in local communities and the world through programs leading to social and economic empowerment. 

The Soroptimist’s mission rings true for Johnson, who discovered the desire to help people, especially women, girls, and people with disabilities, at a very young age. Throughout numerous career shifts, changing life circumstances, and perhaps most profoundly, a battle with breast cancer, that desire has always been at the core of who Johnson is.

Johnson said that parallel interests in arts, business and human services are part of the reason for the multiple career paths that she’s taken that eventually led her to Wayne State’s School of Social Work.

For much of her first career, Johnson worked in graphic arts and commercial printing in New York. During a downturn in the industry, Johnson was looking to make some extra money and began picking up shifts as relief staff in residential group homes for developmentally and intellectually delayed adults and was eventually hired as the recreational supervisor.

“I was moonlighting,” Jonson said. “This was my side hustle, right? Working in human services has been my side hustle since the early ‘90s.”

Although Johnson felt she had “ink in her blood” after working in graphic arts and commercial printing for more than 25 years, Johnson married late and moved to Michigan to be closer to her husband’s family in Windsor after their son was born.

After a brief stint working for the Wyandotte School System Johnson accepted a job in the Canadian Consulate General’s immigration section in Detroit. It was during that time that she was diagnosed with an aggressive form of breast cancer, which led to numerous rounds of chemotherapy, radiation, lumpectomy surgery and a severe case of lymphedema that made working in the fast-paced and demanding position nearly impossible. Johnson quickly learned that the Americans With Disabilities Act didn’t apply to employees of the Canadian Consulate. After a grueling process of filing numerous appeals for accommodations, she finally was allowed to work an adjusted schedule.  

After seven years, the consulate’s immigration department closed, forcing Johnson to start over once again. Having survived a potentially deadly disease, she was motivated to take a more proactive approach to helping those in need.

“You don’t really understand what it’s like to take the risk to completely reinvent yourself until you’re looking down the barrel of a gun,” she said. “If you think you’re going to die, you suddenly see what’s in front of you, and it’s worth using whatever time you have left to do the right thing.”

Johnson began shadowing and assisting a woman in recovery from substance use who had created a program for adolescent intervention, and the families, to prevent early initial drug use. This personalized “internship” lasted for 18 months. Overwhelmed by the opioid-related overdose deaths, especially close to home in metro Detroit’s downriver area, Johnson felt that not enough attention was being brought to the issue. This led her to work with Richard Sands, who started the downriver chapter of Face Addiction Now (formerly Families Against Narcotics), and other community ventures, including SUDDs (Stop Underage Drinking/Drugs Downriver, sponsored by The Guidance Center). “We were trying to organize a voice for the voiceless,” said Johnson. “It was a very difficult time, and people were still dying.”

Johnson felt that she needed to do more. With encouragement from her husband, Johnson decided it was time to go back to school to officially become a social worker. After earning an associate’s in applied science in human services from Baker College, Johnson enrolled at Wayne State and completed her bachelor’s in social work with departmental distinction in 2022.

As a master’s program student, Johnson leveraged her lived experience and awareness of disparities faced by individuals with disabilities—including physical, mental, and substance use-related disabilities—to found the Social Work Disability Justice Coalition (SWDJC). Launched in 2023, the organization aims to raise awareness and expand research focused on “the last and least visible protected population under the U.S. Constitution: people with disabilities.”

“It’s difficult to express the urgency and the gravity of these issues the way I feel it,” Johnson said of her feelings regarding people who use drugs and victims of human trafficking. “Social apathy for these populations, a subset of people with disabilities - in my opinion, falls under the prejudiced umbrella of ableism. Professors like Jason Carbone and Michael Kral also perceive the impact on individuals, families, and communities across social strata. These social issues are equal-opportunity killers – affecting not only those who are 'less fortunate' – with the ability to disrupt an entire civilization.”   

Acting Dean Debra Patterson stated, "El Johnson's unwavering dedication to empowering women, girls, and people with disabilities is a testament to her character and embodies the very spirit of Soroptimist and Wayne State Warriors. Her journey, marked by resilience and compassion, has prepared her to be a powerful advocate for change. Johnson's work within the community, coupled with her academic pursuits, make her an exemplary recipient of the Virginia M. Wagner Educational Award."

Johnson said that the Virginia M. Wagner Educational Award has helped to pay for a semester of tuition and is especially meaningful because the Soroptimists’ mission and values so closely align with her own. Johnson works with the Taylor Substance Abuse Prevention Task Force, sponsored by Corewell Health's Taylor Teen Wellness program, and is the subcommittee chair of Downriver Anti-trafficking Coalition, a direct interest of the Soroptimists.

“El is a phenomenal student leader whose work has positively impacted both the School of Social Work and the wider campus community,” said Assistant Professor Jason T. Carbone, faculty advisor of SWDJC. “It is great that her efforts are being recognized within the broader community. She is very deserving of this award.” 

Johnson’s continued work with other organizations including the Michigan Developmental Disabilities Institute, and the SWDJC also aligns with the university’s Prosperity Agenda, an initiative launched by President Kimberly Andrews Espy in 2024, which prioritizes empowering health for our urban neighborhoods. “Our responsibility extends well beyond our academics,” said Espy in her March 2024 investiture address. “As a top-tier public research university in the heart of our vibrant city, we must confront the real health challenges of our urban families who we live next to, and work with, every day.”

Johnson credits the School of Social Work’s administration, Dean Sheryl Kubiak, Acting Dean Debra Patterson, and the student services team for making Wayne State feel like home and a place where she can fulfill her dharma (true purpose). “I think Wayne State helped me develop into the person I was supposed to be,” Johnson said.

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Writer: Sarah Freeman and Editor: Betsy Vanderstelt