Ali Johnson helped launch a mobile app at Fayetteville-based technology company Field Agent before taking a role in the nonprofit sector.
“That’s where I started dipping my toe in the water of technology and marketing,” she said. The location-specific app used technology that showed whether student athletes were in class.
This led Johnson to help launch Hark in 2016. The platform was designed to connect people to area resources through personal support and referrals. Hark streamlined access to help in health, housing, transportation, education and employment.
“That was where I dove headfirst into this nonprofit space,” she said. “What ultimately drew me there was I get to use my talent … to go help people tangibly in a way where they’re saying, ‘I need help in some form.’”
Excellerate Foundation was a project supporter and acquired Hark in 2019. Johnson transitioned to a leadership role in the foundation, overseeing marketing and communications, and led the rebranding from Endeavor Foundation. The foundation has since launched workforce development and housing initiatives.
Foundation subsidiary Excellerate Housing is part of a public-private collaboration that’s developing 160-unit McAuley Place to provide affordable housing for employees of Bentonville Schools and other families in the district. The project is expected to be completed by the end of 2026 and was recently featured on “NBC Nightly News.”
Johnson, who considers Farmington her hometown, moved from central California to Northwest Arkansas after her father, a retired coach, joined University of Arkansas Athletics in 1990. She graduated from the UA in 2008 and played soccer for the Razorbacks.
She supports Potter’s House, Ladies of Grace, and youth sports and participates in the annual homelessness survey. She enjoys playing sports with friends and family and collecting vintage art.