Baltimore civic leader Alicia Wilson to join Johns Hopkins as vice president for economic development

Alicia Wilson, an accomplished attorney and civic leader with extensive expertise in community-building and creating local economic opportunity, has been appointed vice president for economic development for Johns Hopkins University and Johns Hopkins Health System.

Image caption: Alicia Wilson

Wilson, a Baltimore native, has deep ties to business, community, and civic institutions across the city, and she brings more than a decade of experience forging effective partnerships between public, private, and nonprofit institutions to increase economic and social opportunity in Baltimore. She will lead the newly created Office of Economic Development when she joins the institution on July 29.

In her new role, Wilson will lead a core team driving Johns Hopkins' strategy and initiatives as an anchor institution in and around Baltimore, and elevating and expanding the institution's commitment to the city through investments in economic and neighborhood development, health care, and education. Her efforts will build on the success of existing community programs and investments, including HopkinsLocal, BLocal, the East Baltimore Development Initiative, and the Homewood Community Partners Initiative.

"I'm honored to join the leadership team of the most significant institution in our city and region dedicated to economic development," Wilson said. "This is an incredible opportunity to help drive what has long been a signature priority for Johns Hopkins and its leadership and take it even further."

Wilson joins Johns Hopkins from the Port Covington Development team, a group that includes partners, stakeholders, and investors from Plank Industries, Sagamore Development Company, Goldman Sachs Urban Investment Group, and Weller Development Company. Since 2016 she has served as senior vice president of impact investments and senior legal counsel for Port Covington Impact Investments, as well as vice president of community affairs and legal advisor for Sagamore Development Company. She led the development and implementation of community engagement, economic development, and impact investment strategies.

Under her leadership, the company expanded its investments in and engagement with communities across the city, and it executed the largest community benefits agreement in Baltimore City history as part of one of the nation's largest redevelopment projects.

Prior to her work with the Port Covington Development team, Wilson spent eight years as a labor and employment and litigation partner at Gordon Feinblatt LLC. She graduated from Baltimore's Mergenthaler Vocational-Technical High School, where she was class valedictorian, and went on to earn a BA in political science from UMBC and a JD from the University of Maryland.

"We are thrilled to welcome to our leadership team someone with Alicia's depth of knowledge and experience who also shares Johns Hopkins' deep and abiding commitment to the success of Baltimore and the region," Johns Hopkins University President Ronald J. Daniels said. "We look forward to working with Alicia to further strengthen the ties between the university, health system, and our surrounding communities in ways that create opportunity for our neighbors and strengthen the city we all call home."

Added Kevin Sowers, president of the Johns Hopkins Health System and executive vice president of Johns Hopkins Medicine: "With our existing programs, to be grown and expanded under Alicia's strong leadership, a clearer picture emerges of a rejuvenated Baltimore that reflects our collective aspirations for what we can achieve when we commit ourselves to achieve a common goal. We have only scratched the surface of what we can accomplish together."