She Gives Back
Constance Hill-Johnson
Building a Legacy
of Giving Back by Elizabeth Denham
The Spark The word philanthropy comes from the Greek word “philos” meaning “love” and “anthropos,” meaning “man” or “humanity.” This definition, “love of humanity” is what drives Constance Hill-Johnson in her quest to leave the world a better place than she found it. “My heart has always been bent toward serving, and the last 18 months of my life have been all about giving back,” Hill-Johnson said. “I am at a place in my journey where I am trying to see what’s next. And in that context, my
46 The Franchise Woman
husband and I have discussed what our legacy will be. What will we leave behind?” Hill-Johnson owns a Visiting Angels franchise in Cleveland and has been in business for more than 15 years. Visiting Angels is a senior home care provider assisting senior citizens with personal hygiene, meal preparation, housekeeping, medication reminders, transportation and errands. Hill-Johnson’s passion for philanthropy, especially Black philanthropy
and advocacy, led her to bring the national traveling exhibit, Soul of Philanthropy: Reframed and Exhibited, to her hometown of Cleveland. “I was like a dog with a bone trying to figure out how to get this to Cleveland,” she said. “And I wanted it to be about more than the temporary exhibit. I wanted it to be about changing the conversation around philanthropy and what that means, particularly in the Black community. We began to say, ‘it’s not a moment, it’s a movement.’ ”
