Rose Padilla Johnson leads Davis Street, a San Leandro, California-based community outreach organization. During her more than 25 years at the helm, Rose Padilla Johnson grew the San Leandro organization from a $380,000 agency in 1991 to the $10.5 million service entity it is today.
To serve the undocumented and marginalized residents of San Leandro, Davis Street takes financial and organizational risks that result in successes for the San Leandro community. For example, Davis Street merged with Stepping Stones Growth Center in 2017, when that organization faced operational challenges. Davis Street saw the value of Stepping Stones’ services to persons with disabilities, and decided to step in and acquire that agency. It programs are still offered today.
In another effort to help financially challenged families in the San Leandro area, Davis Street is continuing to being 60 subsidized child-care slots in Marea Alta, where a housing complex is constructed. Even in the absence of a license to operate, Davis Street deemed it necessary to work to offer subsidized child care because of the real need at Marea Alta.
