Women Coming Together
Helping Each Other
Sheila C. Johnson
Sheila
C. Johnson, CEO of Salamander Hospitality, LLC, and a partner in Lincoln
Holdings, LLC, has enjoyed success in many arenas.
Market Salamander, in Middleburg, Virginia, one of the first components in the portfolio of Salamander Hospitality, is a working chefs’ market. Future additions include Market Salamander in Palm Beach, Florida, opening fall 2006, and the luxurious Salamander Resort & Spa, currently under development just outside of Middleburg. In addition, Johnson owns Woodlands Resort & Inn, a five-star, five diamond property located outside of Charleston, SC.
Lincoln Holdings owns the Washington Capitals and Washington Mystics and has a minority interest in Washington Sports and Entertainment Limited Partnership, which controls the Washington Wizards, Washington/Baltimore TicketMaster, in-house promoter Musicentre Productions, and the management of the Verizon Center and the George Mason University Patriot Center. Johnson is president, managing partner and governor for the Washington Mystics WNBA team.
While Johnson is committed to developing successful businesses, her philanthropy is of ultimate importance to her. An accomplished violinist herself, her primary concerns are to make opportunities available for children and young adults to express their creativity through the arts and to ensure that the world is a safe place for children.
Johnson sits on the boards of Parsons The New School for Design, The National Campaign to Prevent Teen Pregnancy, The Jamestown-Yorktown Foundation, the United States Equestrian Team Foundation, Episcopal High School, the Curry School of Education Foundation at the University of Virginia, the Centers for Disease Control Foundation, the SUNY Morrisville Foundation, the University of Illinois Foundation, Wolf Trap Center for the Performing Arts, and the Sorensen Institute for Political Leadership. She is on the advisory board of the Smithsonian’s National Zoological Park. She is also president of the Washington International Horse Show. She has been a significant donor to each of these organizations. Other contributions include: Bennett College; United Negro College Fund; Strings for Schools in Philadelphia; Urban Gateways in Chicago; and, closer to home, The Wolf Trap Foundation for the Performing Arts, supporting early childhood education programs. She also established the Sheila C. Johnson Performing Arts Center at the Hill School in Middleburg, VA.
As an advocate for the protection of children and women’s empowerment, Johnson serves as an Ambassador for CARE . Believing that children are our future, Johnson’s international work to date has helped introduce tougher sanctions and legislation to protect children globally.
Johnson has always been committed to enhancing the life of children. As a co-founder of Black Entertainment Television, her crowning achievement was the development of an award-winning weekly program Teen Summit, giving teenagers a chance to talk frankly about their critical issues. Young adults still approach her to tell her how valuable the show was for their lives.
Johnson’s entrepreneurial spirit runs through every aspect of her life and she is both a catalyst and a tireless supporter of the causes to which she gives herself. Of all her many accomplishments, she is most proud to be the mother of her two children.