Fleet Partner Spotlight: Annie Johnston of Madison Metropolitan School District

By Mahanth S. Joishy, Fleet Superintendent

To wrap up Women’s History Month in style, we are pleased to spotlight a stylish longtime partner to Fleet, Annie Johnston.  Annie is the Experiential learning Coordinator for Madison Metropolitan School District (MMSD) and reports to the MMSD headquarters at Doyle Administrative Building. The team there is focused on the wide world of educational opportunities available to students outside of the classroom, in real industries in various pathways. With an active apprenticeship program at Fleet that includes high school students, technical college students, and also 4-year university students, it was a natural fit that Annie would be a liaison to Fleet to assist us in running the program.

In fact Annie, Fleet, and other City agencies go way back starting with her previous job at Common Wealth Development, a local partner non-profit where for a time Annie reported to current Fleet Chief of Staff Rachel Darken.  “I was sad to see her go,” said Annie about Rachel leaving Common Wealth to work for the City. “But I love the fact that I get to continue working with her from Common Wealth through today.” At Common Wealth Annie oversaw the Wanda Fullmore program that brings local youth into a number of City divisions for summer internships and was named after a legendary City employee in the Mayor’s Office.

Annie was born in Canada, grew up in Alabama, Arizona, and Milwaukee, and has been in Madison for 12 years. She attended University of Wisconsin-Madison to study Legal Studies and Sociology with a certificate in Criminal Justice, and first got exposure to justice involved youth during a college internship at Briarpatch. And so a career was born because “I realized I really liked working with teenagers,” said Annie.

After graduation from college Annie stayed in town and got a job at Common Wealth, where she worked with hundreds of young people over 4 years.  “It was really great working for the organization, I learned a lot about youth, and it was very rewarding being able to work with students and see them through the years, celebrating their wins,” she said. We are proud that many of those wins involved the City of Madison in a win-win arrangement between the students and the divisions they interned for.

COVID was a time of change and transition for Annie, as it was for many of us in different ways. In this period she created a partnership between Common Wealth and MMSD to administer the work credit program while still at Common Wealth.  “That’s how I got connected with the school district. The job I’m in opened up, and it was a perfect fit.” Thus Annie made the move to MMSD in August 2021.

The MMSD team has a new leader with Superintendent Joe Gothard and many at the organization are ready to welcome him into the role. “Looking forward to having somebody from Madison to be at the district,” says Annie.

Outside of work Annie has bartended at City Bar in the past, where I have witnessed her display a special set of skills on multiple occasions and can vouch for them as a former bartender myself. She is an avid player of Dungeons & Dragons too, and has become a Dungeon Master, though as someone who’s never played I can’t vouch for her game playing skills and whatever that means…

Annie lives with her two cats, Eugene and Harriett, and enjoys reading thriller novels.

Annie is more than a partner in the work we do at Fleet - she is also a friend to Rachel, me and others. Too many times I have joked, “Annie, are you okay?” We look forward to learning about her accomplishments for many years to come.