Johnny Manzon-Santos
Johnny is passionate about surfacing connections. He is co-principal of pearldiving LLC, a coaching and consulting practice committed to partnering with individuals and organizations in transition. He invites emerging and seasoned leaders to tell the truth, align head-heart-stomach, and lead from where we are—with fierceness, humor and humanity.
Since 1985 Johnny has been engaged in peace and social justice movements as an activist, organizer, and client advocate. A strategic thinker with deep experience in the nonprofit sector, he served 15 years as executive director of health/HIV agencies in New York and San Francisco. He has led through boom and bust economic times and is intimately familiar with start-up, rapid expansion, downsizing, and merger. Johnny’s earliest community work centered on crisis counseling and anti-discrimination training with young people in high-risk situations.
His leadership has been recognized by the American Foundation for AIDS Research, New York State Department of Health, Astraea Lesbian Foundation for Justice, and KQED as an Asian Pacific American Heritage Bay Area Local Hero. In 2008 he was selected to deliver the inaugural Balgopal Lecture on Asian Americans & Human Rights at the University of Illinois. Johnny is certified by the Coaches Training Institute, credentialed through the International Coach Federation, and trains and mentors coaches as a faculty member with Leadership that Works. He is an alumnus of Brown University and the Executive Program for Nonprofit Leaders at Stanford’s Graduate School of Business.