Denise_Johnson_Board_President_QA_Final

DENISE AQUILANTE JOHNSON YWCA Golden Gate Silicon Valley Board President Q&A Q: HOW AND WHEN DID YOU FIRST GET INVOLVED WITH YWCA GOLDEN GATE SILICON VALLEY AND WHAT INSPIRED YOU TO STEP INTO A LEADERSHIP ROLE? My journey with YWCA Golden Gate Silicon Valley began in 2017 when I joined the Board of Directors, invited to apply through my work at Kaiser Permanente. The connection felt natural — the YWCA’s mission to eliminate racism and empower women mirrors the values I lived and led by throughout my five-decade nursing and healthcare career. Growing up in Brooklyn, NY in an at-risk family, I experienced firsthand many of the social determinants of health that the YWCA works to address every day — poverty, access to education, housing stability, and domestic violence. My three older sisters were my original mentors, opening doors for me that they themselves never had. That lived experience drives my commitment to serve, and stepping into the President role is an extension of that same drive to improve the lived experience for others. Q: WHAT DOES IT LOOK LIKE TO BUILD A MORE EQUITABLE AND JUST COMMUNITY, AND WHAT ROLE CAN AN ORGANIZATION LIKE YWCA PLAY? An equitable and just community is one where your zip code, your background, or the color of your skin does not determine your access to healthcare, education, housing, or opportunity. It means meeting people where they are — not expecting the most vulnerable among us to always come to us. The YWCA is uniquely positioned to do this work because it operates at the intersection of racial justice and gender equity and has the trust of the communities it serves. Real equity requires us to identify and address cultural and racial disparities — not just acknowledge they exist — and build pathways that give everyone a genuine chance to thrive. Q: WHAT OPPORTUNITIES AND CHALLENGES DO YOU SEE AHEAD FOR YWCA THIS YEAR/IN THE NEXT TWO YEARS? The need for YWCA’s work has never been greater, and that is both our biggest challenge and our greatest opportunity. We are navigating a political environment where funding for the programs our community depends on is under real pressure — and yet the demand for those services continues to grow. Our work must be to protect and expand what we offer, even as we diversify our funding streams and find creative ways to sustain our mission. What gives me