Philip W. Johnston

In 1984, Governor Michael S. Dukakis appointed Phil the Secretary of Health and Human Services in Massachusetts.  In 1991, Phil served as the Executive Director of Robert F. Kennedy Human Rights, in Washington, D.C., an organization established by the Kennedy family to continue to carry on Robert F. Kennedy’s work in the field of social justice and human rights in the United States and around the globe.  In 1992, he was appointed by President Clinton to serve as the New England Administrator of the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services.  Phil was appointed in 2007 by Governor Deval Patrick as a member of the Board of Trustees of the University of Massachusetts. Phil has served on the Board of Directors of Blue Cross Blue Shield of Massachusetts since 1998.  In 2002, he was appointed to Chair the Board of the Blue Cross Blue Shield of Massachusetts Foundation.  In addition, Phil is the Board Chair of the Massachusetts Health Policy Forum. Phil also sits on the Boards of ConforMIS, the Robert F. Kennedy Center for Justice and Human Rights, the Carroll Center for the Blind, the Tramuto Foundation, Health eVillages, along with the Advisory Board for the Kenneth B. Schwartz Center.  In 2012, Phil was appointed to the Advisory Board of the Taubman Center for State and Local Government at the Harvard Kennedy School.  Most recently, Phil was named a trustee of the Franklin D. Roosevelt Presidential Library and Museum in Hyde Park, New York.  Phil founded and served as Executive Director of the Robert F. Kennedy Children’s Action Corps.