Akilah Johnson joined The Washington Post in 2021 as a national reporter exploring the effect of racism and social inequality on health. In prior roles at ProPublica and the Boston Globe she covered the intersection of health, race, politics and immigration. At ProPublica, she won a George Polk award, National Magazine award and was Pulitzer finalist for examining covid-19's toll on Black Americans. At the Globe, she was part of a team of journalists who shared a Pulitzer Prize for breaking news coverage of the 2013 Boston Marathon bombing, and she was a Pulitzer finalist as a member of the Spotlight Team investigation into racism in Boston.

Her reporting has earned other national awards including NABJ Salute to Excellence Awards, ONA's Knight Award for Public Service and a National Headliner Award for Journalistic Innovation. Before her time at the Globe, Akilah covered education and public safety for the South Florida Sun Sentinel in Fort Lauderdale.

She is a graduate of the University of Miami and alumna of the John S. Knight Journalism Fellowships at Stanford University.