Lynn Johnson is a social entrepreneur, theater teaching artist, and girl advocate dedicated to igniting a compassion revolution through theater and expressive arts. She is the Co-Founder/CEO of Glitter & Razz Productions LLC based in Oakland, CA. Glitter & Razz produces Go Girls! Camp – a program where girls learn social/emotional skills through the creation of original plays – and is the publisher of Starring Celia (written by Allison Kenny and illustrated by Thorina Rose), the story of a 4th grade girl who goes from being bullied to becoming a “Go Girl!”

Lynn knew that she wanted to be an actor when she was just 5 years old and has spent her whole life centered around the learning, teaching, and creation of theater. She spent her childhood moving throughout the northeastern U.S. until her family settled in Concord, MA her 8th grade year. Being a “drama geek” and 1 of only a few African American students living in the town at the time, Lynn developed a strong awareness of and commitment to those who live their lives “being different.” At a young age, she began to develop a personal and professional mission dedicated to using the art of theater to celebrate difference while building strong, peaceful, loving, and diverse communities.

After graduation from Northwestern University, she discovered her entrepreneurial tendencies when she founded TurnStyle Teen Theatre, a multicultural teen ensemble. The company used the process of creating original productions to explore themes central to the lives of its members. Also in Chicago, Lynn worked as a company member for Child’s Play Touring Theatre, a nationally recognized theater that performs stories and poems written by young people throughout the United States. Later, in Chapel Hill, NC she designed and directed a number of community-based educational programs that focused on literature, oral history, community building, and personal narrative. She served as the Education Director for both the StreetSigns Center for Literature and Performance in Chapel Hill and Burning Coal Theatre Company in Raleigh. She also created programming for the Opera Company of North Carolina and directed The Village Whippersnapper Ensemble, a group of home-schooled students and their mothers that adapted and performed classics and original stories for local school groups and libraries.

Lynn transferred her direct youth service experience to work as a trainer and organizational development consultant when she joined the staff of the Bay Area non-profit, Community Network for Youth Development (CNYD). Over her 4 years there, she led a variety of training workshops, advised on a number of city-wide youth serving efforts in San Francisco, and specialized in the connections between the arts and youth development. Lynn serves as the Membership Director for Teaching Artists Guild, an member-driven organization committed to promoting the visibility and impact of artists who teach to make change in schools and communities.

Lynn lives in Oakland, CA with her wife, Allison Kenny, their 2 dogs, and their daughter whom they adopted in 2015 through the foster care system.  They write about their parenting adventures on RaisingaGoGirl.com.