A Spelman Foundation Behind a Career of Compassion

Guided by sisterhood and Spelman confidence, Kirstin Johnson-Nixon built a lifelong career uplifting families and strengthening communities

When Kirstin Johnson-Nixon, C’87, arrived at Spelman College as a psychology major from Minneapolis, she had no idea just how profoundly the institution and its accompanying sisterhood would shape her life, her purpose and her path. Today, Johnson-Nixon, MSW, is a respected school social worker in Minneapolis, a mental-health practitioner supporting ten schools each week, and a community connector known for strengthening families. Johnson-Nixon said her journey began on Spelman’s campus.

“Spelman helped me say to myself that there was nothing I couldn’t do,” said Johnson-Nixon.

Professors like the late Dr. B. LaConyea Butler in the Psychology Department reaffirmed her talent and helped her understand the power she had to make an impact on the lives of others. The confidence she gained at Spelman would become the foundation upon which she built her life’s work.

 Johnson-Nixon attributes much of her success to Spelman’s culture of sisterhood. Her Spelman sisters didn’t just support her—they expanded her horizons. When she realized, after working in Atlanta for several years, that she needed further education, it was a Spelman sister who encouraged her to pursue a graduate degree and planted the seed that one day she could open her own therapy business.

I had a Spelman sister who suggested Smith because she went there. She thought I would really like the program, and I had always wanted to work with people in community settings,” said Johnson-Nixon. These conversations broadened her sense of possibility, reinforcing the idea that she could build a career centered around her passions.

After earning her Master of Social Work from Smith, Johnson-Nixon began working with families in Washington, D.C., whose children had been removed by child protective services. She approached each challenge with a belief instilled at Spelman: wherever we are, we do our best work when we’re there.

That philosophy guided her through a move back to Minneapolis, where she spent two decades serving teen parents and their children. Her work extended far beyond counseling. She ensured students had academically supportive environments, high-quality childcare, transportation and even funds for prom and other joy-filled experiences. There were days she provided childcare herself. Hundreds of students and families flourished under her care.

Today, she continues to serve as a mental health support professional, delivering one-on-one and group therapy to students from pre-K through high school across ten schools weekly. Over the course of her career, she has helped hundreds of families and students succeed.

The care she brings to her work is equally reflected in the way she nurtures her community. “I have a very robust community that I feel I am the mother of,” said Johnson-Nixon. “Often people come and say that they’re shocked we have a neighborhood that’s so close. I think that part of it is always reaching out to new people and making people connect… I feel that I am a connector in that way.” Johnson-Nixon attributed her keen ability to bridge communities to the lifelong sisterhood she gained through Spelman.

Drawing from her journey, Johnson-Nixon advised the younger generation of Spelman students interested in social work to explore new opportunities in their chosen fields and study abroad to see the variety of communities that exist beyond the U.S. Most of all, she advised Spelman students to invest in their sisterhood.

I wouldn’t be half the person I am today if I hadn’t gone to Spelman,” Johnson-Nixon said in an interview with the Atlanta Journal Constitution. “I have four brothers and no sisters. The one thing that I definitely have because of Spelman is sisterhood.”