"If a man does not keep pace with his companions, perhaps it is because he hears a different drummer. Let him step to the music which he hears, however measured or far away." -Henry David Thoreau.

Over the years, Bill Johnson's parents have often resorted to Henry David Thoreaus's famous quote about men who march to the beat of a different drummer when describing their oldest boy's unusual background to friends and family.

Many young men drop out of medical school, but few parents have had to deal with a son leaving college determined to volunteer as a medic with the Afghan rebels fighting Soviet invasion forces in Afghanistan, or watched as he continued his patriotic travels working as a medic for the Nicaraguan freedom fighters, the Contras, then labored in a South African factory alongside the Zulu and Xhosa to learn first-hand about the effects of apartheid.

For several years, Bill traveled the globe to experience for himself the governments, cultures and peoples of more than forty countries. Often on foot, relying on his wits and what he could fit into a backpack, he was almost always welcomed into the communities where he stayed.

When he finally returned to the classroom, it was in West Germany, where he could study the cultural, business and political distinctions between East and West Germany after the fall of the Berlin Wall in 1992.

Given Bill's very traditional background and upbringing, his folks certainly had no reason to think he would become such a world traveling political activist. He was born in 1959, the oldest of six children in a career military and civil service family. The Johnson family, members of St. Barnabas' Catholic Church in Eastlake since 1974, encouraged Bill in Boy Scouts, volunteer activities and school sports.

In 1977, he graduated from John Carroll High School, then attended Springhill College (Mobile) on a full academic scholarship. He received a B.S. in Chemistry in 1981, graduating cum laude, and was accepted to the University of Alabama Medical School, which he attended briefly before embarking on his travels.

By the time Bill fully resumed life back in the states, where for several years he operated and industrial/commercial construction company, he had developed a personal political philosophy that emphasized individual freedom, independence and responsibility.

His family had gradually accepted that their son, the would-be doctor, had become instead a non-conformist who would put himself on the line for what he believed was right no matter what the consequences. Some of his stances have proved to be as challenging as his seven hundred mile walk across the African desert and Savanna.

Bill's travels finally led him full circle, back home to Birmingham, where he has committed himself to political service.

Some of his youthful political ideas have been tempered by society's harsh realities, others have been deepened by age and maturity. Yet today, he is just as politically committed and energized about changing life for the better as he was in his twenties.

As a crusader in the struggle to reform Alabama's judicial system, he has worked with the Alabama Civil Justice Reform Committee in an attempt to pass Tort Reform in Alabama's Legislature.

In 1996, Bill managed Bob Riley's successful bid for US Congress in Alabama's Third District.

In 1997, he was elected to the City Council in Birmingham, Alabama. As a council member, Bill Johnson brings a unique lifetime of experience and dedication to the job of making a difference in city government.

In 2002, Bill managed the statwide grassroots effort in Bob Riley's successful bid for Governor of Alabama. Riley appointed him Assistant Director of The Alabama Department of Economic and Community Affairs or ADECA in January 2003.

In November of 2005, Governor Riley appointed Bill as Director. ADECA manages more than $200 million in federal grant dollars each year with some 230 employees. Bill serves as Executive Director of the Black Belt Action Commission, State Alternate for the Appalachia Regional Commission, and State Alternate for the Delta Regional Authority.

Bill is married to the former Kathy Hale, Assistant Public Relations Manager for Hyundai Motor Manufacturing, Montgomery, AL. They have three children Kaleigh, Kaleb and Hayley and reside in Prattville, Alabama.