Community organizer and author Happy Johnson will discuss his innovative efforts in leadership and service at Wartburg College Tuesday, March 19.
Johnson, a Georgetown University graduate and former AmeriCorps volunteer, has been hailed as a leading young humanitarian as founder of the Team Happy Foundation. He will speak in Neumann Auditorium at 11:30 a.m. about his organization, which provided thousands of volunteers in hurricane-ravaged New Orleans and gave more than 1,000 blankets to orphanages in earthquake-ridden and poverty-stricken Port Au Prince, Haiti.
The public is invited to attend his talk.
Johnson drove an emergency response vehicle in New Orleans after Hurricane Katrina, before establishing the Team Happy Foundation. He has since harnessed the power of social media to mobilize volunteers to help rebuild homes, schools and parks and provide needed resources.
Civil rights leader Rep. John Lewis, D-Ga., lauded the Happy Johnson Foundation as a model service organization for youths and students.
Johnson has written “The Adventures of Happy & Big Wanda,” a children’s book and family educational resource that teaches teamwork through disaster preparedness. He has been featured on BBC World News, USA Today, the American Red Cross’ 125th Anniversary Magazine, CNN and C-SPAN.