Elaine Johannes

Elaine Johannes is the Kansas Health Foundation distinguished professor in community health for K-State
research and extension, and is a state extension specialist in the department of applied human sciences, College of Health and Human Sciences at Kansas State University.

Johannes has extensive experience in working with communities to address health disparities, unequal access to
health care, and the social drivers and conditions that impact people’s health and well-being. Her extension programming and applied scholarship build the capacity for resilience and well-being among youth, families, networks, and communities. As an extension youth development specialist, Johannes has taught graduate level courses in the IDEA youth development master’s degree program beginning in 2004, and has served on the National ECOP/APLU (Extension Committee on Planning) Healthy People Initiative - Positive Youth Development Action team (2015-2018).

Extending her community engagement, Johannes is president of the Kansas Community Health Worker Coalition (KCHWC). She teaches in the Kansas Community Health Worker certification course, facilitates applied placement experiences for K-State MPH students, supervises graduate student practicums in her department, and teaches graduate courses in grant development and writing which culminate in a proposal to improve community services and infrastructures.

Ph.D. in Life Span Human Development, Kansas State University, 2003
M.S. in Adult and Community Counseling, Kansas State University, 1982
B.S. in Psychology, Kansas State University, 1979