This is the 8th article in Players of Pride Hall, a subsection of Bears Doing Big Things, celebrating the stories of notable M-A alumni in the Hall of Fame.
Chi Johnson ‘91 has always been passionate about sports, a love she has carried with her throughout her career and even passed down to her two sons. Growing up in Palo Alto, Johnson’s dad was director of the Onetta Harris Community Center in East Menlo Park, which was how she started sports. “He coordinated a lot of basketball and softball leagues and I just started to participate in them,” Johnson said.
Johnson attended Palo Alto High School for her freshman year and transferred to M-A halfway through her sophomore year. “I needed a more diverse high school and M-A was just that,” Johnson said. Her favorite class at M-A was French with Sonja Seaberg who was “one of those teachers that I knew I could always talk to and trust,” she said.
While transferring high schools halfway through the year might be challenging for some, Johnson’s experience was smooth sailing. “I already knew a lot of M-A kids through my dad’s community center so it was never too hard,” she said.
Immediately after transferring, Johnson competed in the high jump event all three years at M-A and played basketball as a point guard her junior and senior years. Both years playing basketball, Johnson was awarded athlete of the year, first team PAL, all Peninsula, and all County. In track, she was state champion her junior year and runner up her senior year. Johnson was also the high jump CCS champion her junior and senior years.
Former PE teacher Pamela Wimberly was Johnson’s basketball coach at M-A. “She was very welcoming when I transferred and always made me feel supported,” she said. “I really liked the team atmosphere at M-A. You are working and relying on each other to be successful.”
Johnson reflects on her team’s biggest win versus Menlo when she hit a buzzer beater shot to win the game. “It was a big rivalry for us and a very heated game,” Johnson said. Kate Paye, who is currently the Stanford women’s basketball head coach, was the point guard on the opposing team.
As for track, Johnson initially took the sport up for fun, without any intention of pursuing it seriously, but ended up achieving great success. “In middle school someone dared me to high jump and I just did. I ended up loving it,” she said. “I like track because I’m an introvert. It was just me. If anyone screwed up it was all on me and I thrived with that pressure.”
I like track because I’m an introvert. It was just me. If anyone screwed up it was all on me and I thrived with that pressure.
After high school, Johnson attended UC Berkeley through a track scholarship, but her recruitment process was a little different than others. Johnson’s mom worked for the Stanford Athletics program, so college coaches were already familiar with her athleticism. “They contacted my mom and we went from there,” she explained.
At Berkeley, Johnson’s best high jump was at 5 feet 10 inches, putting her in the top 10 female high jumpers there. She also started triple jumping at Berkeley with guidance from Olympian Sheila Hudson and coaches Ed Miller and Robin Johnson.
While her transfer to M-A may have been easy, Johnson’s transition to college introduced new challenges. “It was a hard adjustment period for me. Training for track is much more intense in college so the first year was a little rough,” she said.
After running two years at Berkeley, Johnson got pregnant with twin boys and took a redshirt year to care for her newborns. She came back to Berkeley to run for two more years and continued her major in English and minor in education.
Johnson noted the obstacles with having two babies in college: “It was definitely hard at first. I ended up commuting from Palo Alto, where my family lives, to school three to four days a week so they could help take care of my kids. I did what I had to do and I have no regrets,” she said.
“Being away from track for a year was a good period for me because I actually found the drive and love that I had for the sport. It reminded me why I started running in the first place,” Johnson said.
As for her biggest challenges in her sports career, she pointed to time management. “There’s the practice schedule, travel schedule, and especially when I had little kids during track I had to manage the daycare schedule, getting to classes, and it’s all just really busy,” she said.
After graduating from Berkeley, Johnson ended her track career and began her teaching credential at Notre Dame de Namur University while also working at Sugen, a biotechnology company.
Johnson’s love for the biotech industry expanded at Sugen and she ultimately decided to leave the education path and didn’t finish her teaching credential. “I always wanted to work with kids and be a teacher, but then I got into biotech and realized this profession is actually doing things to give people a better quality of life. It was very interesting and inspiring,” Johnson said.
I always wanted to work with kids and be a teacher, but then I got into biotech and realized this profession is actually doing things to give people a better quality of life.
Johnson then went on to work at Affymax, another biotech company, for 10 years. During her time at Affymax, she got her master’s in occupational health and safety and environmental management through Columbia Southern University, an online college.
Johnson is now in her 11th year at Prothena as the head of facilities and environmental health and safety. Johnson works to ensure the company is in compliance with the laws and regulations in order to have labs on site and also oversees the company’s Ireland and California facilities. “Before COVID, I was in Ireland about once a month touching base with our employees out there. I don’t actually work in the labs, I just make sure they’re all running smoothly. I love that Prothena is actively developing and discovering treatments for diseases,” Johnson said.
Outside of work, Johnson loves to spend time with her two sons, who both followed her footsteps into sports. Her son Khalid played basketball at Sonoma State and is now the head freshman basketball coach for Mills High School. Khalil, Johnson’s other son, is an instructional aid at Mills High School and the assistant varsity basketball coach there. “My dad inspired all of us,” Johnson said.
Johnson was inducted into M-A’s Hall of Fame in 1994, the first year of inductees, for her achievements in track and field. In 1998, she was inducted again for basketball. “It was a really cool experience because I got to meet athletes from many different sports,” Johnson said. In 2015, Johnson was also inducted into the Peninsula Sports Hall of Fame for track and field which consists of all Bay Area athletes, including Tom Brady and Barry Bonds.
To continue her love for sports, Johnson participated in many adult leagues around the Bay Area until her kids were in middle school. “I think sports have given me the work ethic I have. It pushes me because I’m so competitive and I feel like I have to get everything done. You can’t half ass in sports and that transfers to my life today,” she said.
Johnson’s advice to current student-athletes: “Put yourself out there. Go introduce yourself to coaches and fellow athletes. It’s a lot of work but if you really love it, it’s worth it.”
