Karen Major Johnson joined East Baltimore Development Inc. (EBDI) in 2004 as the Attorney for the Family Advocacy Department and currently serves as the Chief Real Estate Officer. During her tenure at EBDI, Ms. Johnson has served in many leadership positions overseeing the work for most EBDI lines of business--the Family Advocacy, Relocation, Acquisition, Economic Inclusion, and Real Estate Development Departments. While managing the human capital work associated with the Family Advocacy and Relocation Departments, Ms. Johnson was responsible for ensuring residents directly impacted by the relocation and redevelopment effort had access to job opportunities, beneficial resources, affordable housing, and incentives to return.
When Ms. Johnson began managing EBDI’s real estate development activities, she continued incorporating the principles of putting the community first and placed the same level of priority for residential and commercial construction projects to meet or exceed EBDI economic inclusion goals, housing affordability mandates and opportunity to return initiatives as those projects meeting construction schedule benchmarks and staying within budget. That prioritization has helped EBDI sustain its commitment to implementing responsible redevelopment practices.
Prior to Ms. Johnson’s work with EBDI, she served as a litigation attorney practicing in the areas of employment discrimination, personal injury, real estate transactions, and family law. Ms. Johnson earned her Juris Doctor from the University of Maryland School of Law in 1996 and graduated from Howard University, cum laude, in 1992. Karen is a proud and active member of the Delta Sigma Theta Sorority, Inc.