Erica Molina Johnson is assistant director of communications at Florida Polytechnic University. She creates digital and print content for the University, including news stories, press releases, high-level University documents, presidential communications, and campuswide messaging. She also edits and assists with drafting content for clients throughout Florida Poly.
Johnson joined the University as content coordinator in 2019.
Prior to joining Florida Poly, she was marketing director at Doña Ana Community College in Las Cruces, New Mexico. There she built the college’s social media presence from the ground up, led advertising efforts, and spearheaded a full redesign of the college’s website.
Johnson is an accomplished marketing professional and led sales and marketing efforts for TAG Partners (previously TAG Home Care Marketing), a home health and hospice-focused marketing firm in the Nashville, Tennessee, area from 2012-2018. She led a rebranding of the company and drafted the marketing content offered to health care clients. She also successfully managed top-tier accounts and drove sales for the company.
She began a successful freelance writing career in 2011, providing marketing content and services for companies as diverse as home health and hospice, pest control, business software, and financial technology, as well as reporting and writing services for print news media.
Johnson was born and raised in El Paso, Texas, where she enjoyed a successful journalism career as a newspaper reporter and editor at the El Paso Times from 1999-2012. Her coverage specialties included higher education, health, courts, and local government, though she also wrote about local police, neighborhood news, business, and features.
In her personal time, she enjoys spending time with her family and their two dogs, Toby and Phoebe.
Awards and Honors
Community Involvement
This session will demonstrate that practical risk management is for everyone, regardless of a formal program. Attendees will learn actionable and simple strategies that are easy to implement, enabling them to start immediately by focusing on their top risks to build greater operational resilience and ensure the sustained success of their auxiliary enterprises.
Michelle Powell serves as the pioneering Risk Manager at Florida Polytechnic University, the state’s sole 100% STEM-dedicated institution. Having been with the university for nearly 11 years, Michelle transitioned from a leadership role in Admissions in October 2023 to establish and evolve the risk management function from the ground up. In this solo capacity, Michelle builds robust frameworks for our dynamic, young university, overseeing our insurance portfolio, consulting on third-party and event risks, and developing critical campus-wide training programs. Michelle has obtained the Committee of Sponsoring Organizations (COSO) Enterprise Risk Management certificate and the Associate in Risk Management (ARM) and Construction Risk and Insurance Specialist (CRIS) designations. Her distinct background in mathematics and engineering, combined with extensive higher education leadership, brings an analytical and strategic approach enhancing the institution’s resilience.
