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Profiles in Giving Back: Rick Johnson

Rick Johnson had always been passionate about government service and the impact it can have on others. In 1990, through the Woodrow Wilson Public Policy/International Affairs Fellowship, he took a step towards public service, attending a summer institute at Princeton’s Woodrow Wilson School and completed graduate-level coursework in public policy studies at the University of Chicago.

“One of my favorite summers was the one I spent as a Fellow at Princeton before my master’s program,” says Mr. Johnson.  “The other Fellows were amazing and supportive people who inspired me to work harder. I often wonder where life has taken them, and what great things they have achieved.”

But sometimes, Mr. Johnson reflects, life takes you in directions you don’t expect. Instead of pursuing a career in government, he used his training to become an expert in health policy, helping organizations better deliver patient care. Mr. Johnson is the Founder and President of Maquixtia, a health care technology and data analysis company dedicated to making home health and portable health data useful and available to the medical community.

Outside of work, the opportunities provided by his WW Fellowship enabled Mr. Johnson to have meaningful impact on issues that are important to him—like curbing domestic violence in the Latino community, ending the death penalty in the United States, strengthening local public schools, and ensuring that people of color are treated fairly.

“The Foundation invested in me and I am where I am in life in part because of the Foundation,” says Mr. Johnson. “I feel it’s important to give back, so the Woodrow Wilson Foundation can invest in others.”

Mr. Johnson received a bachelor’s degree in political science from the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign.  A frequent speaker on various health care topics, he lives in Eagle River, WI.

“I would ask every Fellow,” he says, “to think about the impact the Foundation has had on his or her life, and consider making a gift to say ‘thank you,’ to repay a debt of gratitude, and to allow the Foundation to continue its important work.”


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