Champion for Youth: Kym Johnson, CEO of Bananas, INC.

We are thrilled to celebrate Kym Johnson, a proud LeaderSpring Center Class of 2012 East Bay Fellow, as a 2025 Champion For Youth—an honor presented by the East Oakland Youth Development Center (EOYDC) to exemplary leaders who uplift and affirm young people through their work, influence, and creativity.

For over two decades, EOYDC’s Champion For Youth Award has recognized community members who pour love, care, and dedication into young people across the Bay Area. This year, Kym is being honored for her powerful, unwavering commitment to children, families, and communities throughout Oakland and beyond.

Kym is the CEO of BANANAS, Inc., an early care and education organization that provides essential resources for families and early educators in Oakland and northern Alameda County. Her leadership is grounded in equity, access, and collective care. Beyond her role at BANANAS, Kym is deeply engaged in systems-level change: she sits on the Executive Committee of Oakland Starting Smart and Strong, chairs the Alameda County Early Care and Education Planning Council, and serves as a Commissioner on the City of Oakland Children’s Initiative Oversight Commission. She is also a Councilmember for the Community Advisory Council for Measure C, the early care and education lead for Rise East, and the Board Chair of MISSSEY, an organization that supports girls and gender-expansive youth in being safe from sexual exploitation.

As a LeaderSpring alum, Kym represents the very heart of transformative leadership: community-rooted, equity-centered, and future-focused. Her recognition as a Champion For Youth is a powerful reflection of the leadership she’s cultivated across systems—and the real change she continues to make in the lives of youth and families every day.

Kym will be honored alongside other Champions For Youth at the Black Futures Ball on August 2nd—a celebration of legacy, vision, and community power. Tickets are available now, and we’d love for you to join us in honoring Kym and all of this year’s incredible awardees.

Please join LeaderSpring Center in thanking Kym Johnson for being a true Champion For Youth—and congratulating her on this well-deserved honor!

Learn more about Bananas, Inc: https://bananasbunch.org/

Next
Next

The nation’s first rape crisis center is closing