White House Author

Marie Johns was the Deputy Administrator of the U.S. Small Business Administration, where she contributed to management of the agency and development of SBA policy. Johns was nominated by President Obama on December 17, 2009 and confirmed by unanimous consent in the Senate on June 22, 2010.

Prior to becoming Deputy Administrator, Johns was the Managing Member of L&L Consulting, LLC, an organizational effectiveness and public policy consulting practice. Previously, she served as President of Verizon Washington, where she was responsible for nearly 2,000 employees and more than 800,000 customers, including many small businesses. Johns worked to develop products and services to meet the needs of Verizon’s small business customers, and worked closely with Verizon’s vendors, suppliers, and subcontractors, some of whom were SBA borrowers. She retired from Verizon in 2004 after 21 years of service in the telecommunications industry.