Lynn Johnson Confirmed as Assistant Secretary for Family Support at HHS

Please join Ascend in congratulating Lynn Johnson on her confirmation as Assistant Secretary for Family Support in the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services (HHS).

Lynn most recently served as the Executive Director of Jefferson County Human Services located in Colorado and founded the Jefferson County Prosperity Project (JPP), which is an inaugural Ascend Network Partner. Lynn believes passionately in incorporating the voice and experience of families in program and policy design and has a deep understanding of the landscape that families and state and county leaders are facing – and the urgency behind transforming systems to serve children and families for stronger outcomes.

JPP takes a two-generation approach to break intergenerational cycles of poverty by better aligning outcomes and existing services for families in Jefferson County, Colorado. Through Lynn’s steadfast leadership, she increased collaboration among county departments, such as child welfare, workforce, and criminal justice, to streamline services and save program costs. She also established a Family Advisory Committee to elevate the voices of parents in the program and to create a feedback loop to analyze the effectiveness of the program through the lens of families being served. JPP has been recognized nationally for its strong model aimed at increasing the social capital of families in their community.

Thank you to each of you who provided letters or in-person support for Lynn during her confirmation process; your support has been invaluable in ensuring a skilled and passionate 2Gen leader will lead a federal agency viewed as a critical partner for our collective work on behalf of children and families. Lynn will be sworn in in the next week or two and we look forward to continuing to work with her in her new capacity as Assistant Secretary.

Sincerely,

Anne Mosle and the Ascend team

Photo caption, from left to right: Anne Mosle, Vice President, Aspen Institute and Executive Director, Ascend; U.S. Senator Michael Bennet; and Lynn Johnson, recently confirmed as Assistant Secretary for Family Support, U.S. Department of Health and Human Services.