Johnny Wong, PhD | Principal Planner | Tenure: 4 years

Johnny Wong works as a Principal Planner for the MPO managing the Data & Analytics and Smart Cities programs. Johnny has been happily working for the MPO for four years and has been invited to participate in several notable plans like the 2045 Long Range Transportation Plan update, the State of the System report series, and the federally-acclaimed Nondiscrimination Plan. He hopes that his planning work allows people of all races, incomes, and abilities to travel with dignity. Before planning, Johnny was in academia and taught economic and political geography courses at the University of South Florida for almost 7 years while completing his PhD. He still stays up-to-date on geographic theories and frameworks and seeks to integrate them into his planning work.

Johnny is originally from Fayetteville, North Carolina and moved to the Tampa Bay area when he was an infant. He is proud to have grown up in Largo’s Ridgecrest/Rainbow Village community and credits his passion for social justice to observing the plight of his neighbors and seeking to understand the causes. When off-the-clock, Johnny likes to read, play tennis, lift weights, and spend time doing all kinds of family things.