Peer pressure, gang banging, drug dealing, and street violence were some of the many influences Charles Lee-Johnson had to live with as a child growing up in South Central Los Angeles. Now the CEO and executive director of the National Family Life and Education Center in Culver City, Johnson helps children find the path away from the gang influence and into success. Johnson shared The Rites of Passage curriculum with University of La Verne students in Founder’s Auditorium on March 13. Johnson received his bachelor’s degree in sociology from Morehouse College and his master’s degree at the University of California Los Angeles in social welfare. / photo by Seanette Garcia
