LaShaune P. Johnson, PhD

LaShaune P. Johnson is an Associate Professor in the Master of Public Health program and the Assistant Director of Creighton University at Highlander, a Purpose-Built Community in the heart of Omaha’s Black communities.  She is also the Founder of Estella Lucia Evaluation, LLC., a firm that specializes in culturally-responsive evaluation, equity-focused facilitating, coaching and training. She is a medical sociologist who has a PhD in Sociology from the University of California-Santa Barbara. She earned her undergraduate degree in Sociology and Medieval/Renaissance Studies from Wellesley College. She is an alumna of both the Leaders in Equitable Evaluation and Diversity (LEEAD) and Place-Based Justice (PBJN) BIPOC Leadership Collective.  As researcher, she focuses on LGBTQ+ health, Black breast cancer inequities,  Black mental health, and Muslim maternal/child health.  To do her work, she uses community-based, arts-based and participatory research and evaluation methods. She is the President-Elect of the Midwest Sociological Society, and, as the Program Chair of the MSS 2023 meetings, her theme is “Beyond the Academe: Community-Partnered Research and Teaching”.