Eugene “Ace” Johnson

Culture

New Vision Entertainment

Started in Oakland as a spoken word performance company and creative youth platform. Produced showcases, artistic development programs, and live events that gave young people a stage, a voice, and a vocabulary for their own experience. The work was cultural. The infrastructure behind it was operational from day one.

OutcomeThe first proof that creative work could run on real systems.

Education

iVisionary Academy and the #iVision Movement

2011–2017

Launched to deliver youth leadership development across East Bay schools and community spaces. Secured the first $40,000 in grant funding, facilitated 100+ workshops, and grew a movement that reached 150,000+ young people. $25,000+ went directly to youth participants. Built the seven-lesson leadership curriculum still in use, and organized nationwide talent tours.

OutcomeA replicable education model that left behind leaders, not just participants.

Entrepreneurship

The Cre8ive Genius LLC

Formalized consulting under one entity, advising founders, creatives, and community organizations on brand positioning, audience development, and operational systems. Directed social strategy and analytics for nine years, built paid campaigns across Meta and Google, ran influencer marketing end to end, and trained client teams on their own CRMs.

Outcome25% average increase in client visibility, and clients who could run their own systems after the engagement ended.

Operations Strategy

Impact Hub Oakland

Event Production Manager & Community Strategist

Joined to build programming and operational infrastructure for a 10,000+ square foot innovation hub. Managed event production, vendor coordination, facility operations, and community partnerships.

Outcome30% increase in event attendance through programming and logistics redesign.

Nonprofit

BLOC Love Foundation

Co-Founder & Executive Director · registered in San Leandro, work based in Oakland

Co-founded to coordinate community care and mutual aid at scale. Built the volunteer infrastructure, event operations, and coordination systems that let a small team mobilize 500+ volunteers across 100+ events while deploying $70,000 in direct resources. Founded the first Seventh Street Cleanup for Black Earth Day in West Oakland, and partnered with Community Ready Corps across the East Bay. Served as President and Board Chair 2021 to 2024.

Outcome5,000+ served. A grassroots organization running with the systems discipline of something ten times its size.

Operations Strategy

Evolve Oakland

When COVID closed the doors, led the pivot from physical hub to a creator-focused production and business support model. Rebuilt programming for virtual delivery, added digital production support, and stood up peer business advisory cohorts.

Outcome15+ member businesses kept their revenue through the shutdown.

Culture

Esther's Orbit Room Cultural Revival

Led the community activation of a historic Black landmark from concept to launch. Ran stakeholder engagement, outreach, and a multi-platform communications strategy. Designed and facilitated a business incubator for Black entrepreneurs, supporting founders through structured business plans and growth strategy.

OutcomeA closed landmark reopened as a working incubator, and a cohort of founders with plans they could execute.

Operations Strategy

Savers / Value Village

Took operations management on a retail production floor moving 3,000+ items a day across five departments. Coordinated donation intake, sorting, pricing, and merchandising. Identified bottlenecks and re-engineered workflows to accelerate throughput without losing quality control. Built low-code reporting across all five departments.

OutcomeManual reporting time cut, and the same systems method proven in an environment with no software budget and a physical constraint on every step.

AI & Automation

The technical layer

Completed TripleTen's AI Automation program, then applied it in production immediately. Built end-to-end workflows in Zapier, Make, and n8n with Gemini and Claude, including sentiment analysis, ticket routing, and real-time decision-support pipelines.

OutcomeThe practice gained a technical layer. Consulting that does not just diagnose the gap but builds the system that closes it.