Brisa Johnson

Brisa Johnson (16) — a political science graduate — runs voter outreach and engagement programs for local and state elections as the civic engagement manager at Alliance San Diego, a nonprofit social justice organization. She works on policy initiatives and organizing activism campaigns. 

Brisa transferred to PLNU in 2014 from the San Diego Community College District where she received her associate’s degree in Black studies. She started working toward her degree in 2006, but balancing work and classes was a challenge. While that challenge continued at PLNU, both her tenacity and dedicated professors led her to achieve her goal of earning her degree.

“I found the most support in the political science department working directly with my professors, letting them know my situation, and being completely vulnerable and honest with them,” she said. “I think that’s really important for students to be completely honest about where they are in their journey in order to be successful and achieve their goals.” 

Her job required she complete her degree by 2016, and despite her hectic work schedule in a presidential election cycle, her advisor and professors worked with Brisa individually to make it possible to finish her degree on time by making adjustments to her schedule and some classes. 

Internships are a required component of the political science major. Instead of adding one more thing to her packed schedule, she asked if her internship could be her position as a first-time field director for a local proposition campaign. The department accepted her request.

“It fit the intern description of learning and maneuvering through a completely new environment,” she said. 

Brisa says the difficulty of balancing work and school was completely worth it at PLNU because the campus was smaller, the classrooms were more personal, and she worked with the same professors every semester. 

Brisa developed a strong bond with one of her professors, Dr. Lindsey Lupo. She was the first faculty member to reach out to Brisa before she even stepped foot on campus. They are both working mothers of young children and have a shared interest in the politics of race. “She sent a personal email introducing herself and that meant a lot to me,” Brisa said. “I felt very safe and vulnerable with her.”

For Brisa, earning her degree from PLNU was both an honor and an accomplishment. As a Black and Latina female, she appreciated that her professors and classmates did not shy away from discussing racial injustices, something she is passionate about. This is a testament to Dr. Lindsey Lupo and Dr. Linda Beail, she said. 

Her course in campaigns and elections helped her understand the statistics and demographics of the voters to whom she was reaching out, and her women in politics class helped her analyze women as a part of the political landscape in San Diego. Brisa’s work requires her to collect and analyze lots of voter data and her Scopes and Methods class taught her how to properly conduct data-driven research and effectively present her data. “Everything I was learning, I was able to apply immediately in my job,” she said.