Caleb Johnston

Caleb Johnston · Washington, D.C.

Public service through research, programs, and community engagement.

I’m a Program Associate at Georgetown University’s Prisons and Justice Initiative and a graduate of Georgetown’s M.A. in American Government program.

I care about how people experience institutions—and about doing the work that makes those institutions more responsive. At PJI, that means coordinating people and logistics, building useful office systems, and supporting education and reentry programs.

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Caleb Johnston smiling in a navy blazer.
Caleb Johnston · Washington, D.C.

About

A commitment to useful public service.

Growing up, I watched people I loved navigate economic hardship and institutional barriers that narrowed their choices. Those experiences made the stakes of public service personal and drew me toward a question that still guides my work: how can institutions become more responsive to the people who depend on them?

Caregiving at The Special Angels of The Woodlands during high school and undergrad gave that question an everyday form. Being present, paying attention, and building relationships showed me how much the experience of support depends on the person providing it. My studies in government and economics helped me examine the systems behind those encounters; my work in classrooms, campaigns, and reentry programs has kept the people within them at the center.

I want to bring those perspectives together in a career in public service and, over time, public leadership. For me, that means understanding why institutions fall short, listening to the people affected, and doing the practical work of making them serve people better.

Experience

Public service in practice.

Program coordination, research, teaching, and community engagement—with a focus on the people who experience institutions firsthand.

Georgetown University · Prisons and Justice Initiative

Program Associate

August 2026–present

Previously: Operations Assistant (graduate practicum), January–July 2026

I lead day-to-day front desk coordination and weekly administrative staff meetings, helping organize office priorities and follow-through. I also coordinate office and event supply procurement and contact vendors and other third parties on PJI’s behalf. The work connects everyday operational details with the needs of students, staff, faculty, and partners.

  • Program coordination: coordinated Paralegal Program finals—from faculty communication and materials to proctoring, scanning, secure transmission, and follow-up—and conducted mock interviews. I also support correctional-education programming and graduation logistics.
  • Operational systems: created inventory and location guides for four office areas, prepared an operations manual for staff review, and supported intern onboarding.
  • Student and alumni engagement: join students for outings and community events, including the Family First Initiative’s Kings Dominion trip, building relationships beyond the classroom and office.
  • Professional network development: helped establish and now help manage the PJI Alumni & Professional Network on LinkedIn. I recruit members and share weekly, employer-verified job highlights for Pivot and Paralegal alumni.
Caleb Johnston at the PJI front desk beside a Georgetown bulldog mascot.
At Georgetown’s Prisons and Justice Initiative.

Building practical tools for shared work.

Completed

Office inventory & location guides

Reorganized and inventoried four large office areas, creating location-coded guides that make supplies and shared resources easier to find.

In development

Supply ordering & monthly checks

Developing a Google Sheets tracker to organize purchasing priorities, stock records, and recurring supply reviews.

Implemented

Visitor-log system

Created and implemented a shared Google Sheets visitor log to record office visits and give the team a common reference for front desk activity.

Caleb Johnston staffing a Carmichael for Ward 5 Council outreach table.

February–June 2026

Deputy Campaign Manager

Carmichael for Ward 5 Council

Coordinated 10+ volunteers across canvassing, phone banking, petition verification, and events. Represented the candidate at 10+ public events, drafted briefings and messaging, and relayed residents’ concerns to campaign leadership.

Caleb Johnston leading a classroom discussion on international relations.

August 2025–May 2026

Graduate Teaching Assistant

Georgetown University · Department of Government

Led weekly U.S. politics and international relations discussions for approximately 40 students. Developed assignments and review materials, graded writing, held office hours, and provided academic support.

June–August 2024

Political Research Assistant

The University of Texas at Austin · Department of Government

Built and validated election data spanning 2000–2024 for faculty-led research on democratic norms. Located and coded approximately 100 victory and concession statements, documenting sources and coding decisions.

Selected research

Research with practical purpose.

How do institutions shape people’s choices and translate policy into daily experience? These briefs explain the question, evidence, and limits behind my work.

Graduate capstone Qualitative case study

Reentry governance · Embedded research

Our Sacred Space: Governance of Reentry at Georgetown’s Prisons and Justice Initiative

Developed a reentry-governance framework and practical recommendations circulated among PJI staff, drawing on nine interviews, 15 field journals, field observations, literature review, and documentary analysis. This embedded case study examines frontline discretion at the organization where I worked. The full paper remains private; the public brief explains the approach and its limits.

Georgetown University · July 2026 Read the one-page brief

Faculty-led research contribution

Winners and Losers: Electoral Rhetoric and Democratic Norms

I constructed and quality-checked election records, verified victory and concession statements, and coded approximately 100 statements. The overall research question, analysis, and eventual findings belong to the faculty-led project.

Faculty-led research project · UT Austin (Department of Government) · August 2024 Read the one-page brief

Academic policy project

A Two-Tier Strategy for Public Safety around Banner Lane and Sursum Corda

A place-based policy analysis comparing the status quo, environmental-design interventions, and a combined strategy pairing near-term physical improvements with youth employment, treatment access, and community violence intervention.

Georgetown University · October 2025 · Not commissioned by the D.C. Council Read the one-page brief

Econometric analysis

Recreational Marijuana Legalization and Manufacturing Work Hours: A State-Level Econometric Analysis

A 50-state OLS analysis with diagnostics and a logged specification. The observed association is presented as exploratory, not causal, and the brief makes the cross-sectional design’s limits explicit.

UT Austin (Department of Economics) · December 2024 Read the one-page brief
Additional research Research design, community strategy, and political theory

Proposed research design

When Identity Becomes Political: Racial Identity Activation and Political Alignment Among Multiracial Americans

A proposed randomized survey experiment with competing hypotheses, a planned 1,200-person sample, and a defined analytical strategy. The study has not been conducted: no participants were recruited, no data were collected, and no results are claimed.

Georgetown University · May 2026 Read the one-page brief

Nonviolent strategy

Rebuilding Power from the Ground Up: A Nonviolent Strategy for Institutionalizing Resident Power in Sursum Corda

A theory-informed movement design mapping stakeholders, leverage points, accessible tactics, coalition building, intersectional risks, and measures of durable resident capacity. It is a conceptual strategy, not an implemented campaign.

Georgetown University · December 2025 Read the one-page brief

Theory building and synthesis

Why Similar Interests Produce Different Partisan Loyalties: Institutional Experience and Political Learning in the United States

A theoretical account of how repeated encounters with public institutions shape trust, legitimacy, and political learning. It links policy feedback to partisan attachment without presenting an original-data empirical study.

Georgetown University · December 2025 Read the one-page brief

The 59-page capstone remains private. Other full papers may be available upon request; access can depend on participant privacy and organizational sensitivity. Email contact@caleb-johnston.com.

Education & leadership development

Learning institutions.
Preparing to lead.

From government and economics to applied public service—and continued development as a leader.

August 2024

Undergraduate foundation

The University of Texas at Austin

B.A. in Government and Economics (double major)

GPA 3.67

At UT Austin, studying government and economics taught me to critically examine how institutions produce outcomes: whose choices they shape, which incentives they create, and where they fall short.

August 2026

Graduate study & applied research

Georgetown University

M.A. in American Government

GPA 4.00

Georgetown deepened that analytical foundation and pushed me to see the relationship between institutions and people as a driver of outcomes in its own right. Teaching, my PJI practicum, and my reentry-governance capstone brought that perspective into focus: how people experience an institution—and how it responds to them—helps shape what it can accomplish.

Caleb Johnston in master’s graduation regalia at Georgetown.
Georgetown commencement, 2026.

October 2026–
February 2027

Active · Leadership development

WPS Global Leadership Initiative

One of 15 participants in an international cohort.

I am participating in mentorship and leadership discussions centered on Women, Peace and Security. The initiative began in October 2026 and is scheduled to continue through February 2027, extending my preparation for public service and leadership.

Continuing education

Tools to support thoughtful, effective work.

Course certificates in project coordination, AI literacy, and foundational machine learning complement my experience in operations and research.

Foundations of service

Learning to show up for people.

Caregiving and hospitality shaped habits I still rely on: attention, patience, clear communication, and responsibility for the details.

Where service began · High school & undergrad

Caregiving at The Special Angels of The Woodlands.

Caregiving made service personal: being present, supporting everyday activities, and getting to know the people I worked with. It remains a foundation for how I approach participant support, community engagement, and the responsibility of working with others.

Those relationships—and my involvement with Best Buddies—helped shape the understanding of inclusion that I bring to my work in public institutions.

Caleb Johnston participating in a nail-painting activity at The Special Angels of The Woodlands.
Practicing my cosmetology skills
Caleb Johnston sharing a playful moment with a participant at Special Angels.
Relationships, humor, and underestimating The Milwaukee Bucks in the 2021 NBA Finals.

Hospitality · 2021–2025

Service under pressure.

Across four years at Pappasito’s Cantina in service, to-go operations, bartending, training, and headwaiting, I learned to anticipate needs, communicate clearly, and work with a team under pressure.

I carry that experience into public-interest work: welcome people well, stay organized, and take responsibility for the details that affect someone else’s day.

Caleb Johnston in his Pappasito’s uniform.
Four years in hospitality, 2021–2025.

Beyond the work

Beyond the work.

Family, friends, basketball, food, exercise—and especially dogs—keep me grounded. I value a life with room for both meaningful work and the people and interests beyond it.

Start a conversation
Caleb Johnston taking a jump shot, with the ball and hoop visible, on an outdoor basketball court.
Pickup basketball—one of my favorite ways to reset.
Caleb Johnston smiling while holding one of his dogs.
At home with one very spoiled roommate.

Get in touch

Let’s connect.

I welcome conversations about opportunities in public-interest programs, research, policy, government, and community engagement—especially work that connects analysis with practical implementation.

Email contact@caleb-johnston.com LinkedIn linkedin.com/in/caleb-david-johnston Résumé Download PDF