Yvonne Johnson (October 26, 1942 – December 4, 2024) was an American politician who was the 46th Mayor of Greensboro, North Carolina, from 2007 until 2009. She was previously a member of the Greensboro City Council for 14 years, beginning in 1993 and Mayor Pro-Tem for 6 years. Johnson was the first African-American to serve as Greensboro's mayor.
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Life
Johnson grew up in Greensboro, and experienced segregation from a young age. She was a Girl Scout and attended Bennett College, where she became involved in civil rights activism. She participated in sit-ins, once being incarcerated for three days following a demonstration, and walked in the 1963 March on Washington. She graduated from Bennett in 1964, and went on to earn a master's degree in guidance and counseling from North Carolina A&T.
In 1982, Johnson became the leader of local non-profit One Step Further, a United Way Agency in Greensboro that provides mediation and court alternative programs to Greensboro's youth. She served as their executive director until early 2024. Johnson also worked as a workshop facilitator, focusing on topics of diversity and racism.
Johnson joined the Greensboro City Council in 1993, serving until 2007; she was Mayor Pro-Tem of the council from 2001 until 2007. She was the first African-American woman to hold the Mayor Pro-Tem position. As a city council member, she supported the establishment of a civil rights museum in Greensboro's Woolworth's, site of the Greensboro sit-ins, and the Greensboro Truth and Reconciliation Commission, which investigated the events of the 1979 Greensboro massacre.