Workforce Solutions Jam | From Policy to Practice: Preparing Providers for Implementation

At Health Management Associates (HMA), Alicia serves as the Georgia managing principal, driving strategic innovation in human services, healthcare and community development. She brings deep expertise at the intersection of municipalities, universities, schools, and health systems (MUSH), offering strategic guidance tailored to the unique challenges and opportunities within this sector.

With a proven track record of navigating complex policy, funding, and operational landscapes, Alicia excels in facilitating cross-sector collaboration, optimizing resource allocation, and driving impactful, data-informed solutions. This is true when addressing healthcare access, social determinants of health, or community development, aligning stakeholders, leveraging best practices, and ensuring sustainable, measurable outcomes. Focusing on efficiency, SDOH integration, and excellence in national projects, she provides expertise in collaborative convening, strategic planning, training, program and policy development, stakeholder engagement, and evaluation for health and human services programs.

Before joining HMA, Alicia led groundbreaking economic inclusion initiatives as the first Savannah-born executive director of Step Up Savannah. These initiatives helped over 1,200 individuals secure self-sufficient employment, provided financial literacy and public benefits access to more than 10,000 households regionally, and launched a civic leadership training program training over 125 Southeast Georgia emerging leaders. She also played a key role in developing the region’s first minority-owned business services cooperative and Opportunity Index.

Alicia’s career is marked by leadership roles that have reshaped communities and organizations. She has worked as the director of Medicaid Marketing and Member Services at WellCare of Georgia, Inc., where she managed outreach and member services for over 545,000 Medicaid beneficiaries. She was also the first public information officer for the Eastern Judicial Circuit District Attorney’s Office, where she championed community engagement and restructured the office’s Violence Intervention Program. Additionally, she has held multiple positions within the Savannah-Chatham County Public Schools District, including as the district’s grant writer and strategic planner.

Alicia is a dedicated advocate for socioeconomic resilience in our communities, holding leadership roles including serving as co-chair of the Savannah Mayor’s Racial Equity and Leadership Taskforce, the Prosperity Now community champion and a member of the Invest Health Community Advisory Panel. She has been recognized as a National League of Cities Southern City Leader and a Bank of America Racial Economic Justice Fellow. She sits on numerous boards and supports a range of national projects, including Bloomberg America Sustainable Cities, Chatham County Employee Disciplinary Appeal Committee, and the East Savannah United Board of Directors. Her contributions to the Urban League of Greater Atlanta’s State of Black Georgia Report and her involvement in national and local panels highlight her commitment to systemic change.

Alicia earned her doctorate in business administration, specializing in organizational leadership, from Northcentral University. She has a master’s degree in management and organizational leadership from the University of Phoenix and a bachelor’s degree double majoring in English and communications from Armstrong State University. She is also a certified grant writer, civil mediator, and lifetime facilitator for Bridges Out of Poverty.

Beyond her professional impact, Alicia is a devoted wife to Illustrator and SCAD Professor Emeritus H. Pernell Johnson and a proud mother and grandmother. She balances her career with a deep-rooted commitment to faith, family, and community, ensuring her legacy of leadership continues to inspire future generations.