David L. Johnson is the president of Regional Growth Strategies LLC, a consulting practice working with communities, universities and foundations seeking to define collaborative opportunities to grow, capitalize and sustain technology-based regional economies.

Johnson has been involved in the hands-on work of economic development for nearly 25 years. He began this engagement as a finance lawyer and community volunteer, seeking to organize and then co-founding Indiana’s life sciences initiative, BioCrossroads, in 2001-2002. Johnson went on to serve as the BioCrossroads CEO from 2005-2018. There, he organized and led the capitalization of five seed and early-stage venture capital funds to support locally based life sciences start-ups. He also drove the formation and capitalization of several major public-private enterprises. These include the Indiana Biosciences Research Institute, an industry-university applied research enterprise; OrthoWorx Indiana, a spin-out organization focused on northern Indiana’s historically outsized concentration of major manufacturers and med-tech start-ups in orthopedics implants; and 16 Tech, Central Indiana’s first innovation district, rising on 50 acres of formerly blighted real estate in the heart of downtown Indianapolis and focused on advancing both community growth and innovation opportunities in healthcare and life sciences through a compelling place-based strategy.

More recently, and in addition to his continuing leadership role at BioCrossroads, Johnson also served as the CEO of the Central Indiana Corporate Partnership (CICP) from 2012 until early 2023. CICP is a nationally recognized, collaborative economic development organization of chief executives drawn from Indiana’s leading companies, universities and philanthropic foundations (and the parent organization of BioCrossroads). At CICP, Johnson identified key opportunities for and oversaw the formation of two additional branded initiatives: AgriNovus Indiana, to organize and advance the state’s significant ag-biosciences sector; and Ascend Indiana, to address shared and critical needs of industry leaders for an effective, employer-focused platform to supply essential workforce and talent. At CICP, Johnson also spearheaded efforts to join regional industry and academic leaders under a new initiative—AnalytixIN—in pursuit of timely opportunities for clinical and commercial applications in artificial intelligence and data analytics.

Johnson is an honors graduate of Harvard University, Harvard Law School and Oxford University, where he studied as a Rhodes Scholar. Currently, he also serves as a Non-Resident Senior Fellow for the Brookings Institution’s Metropolitan Policy Program.

Share this event