Lecester Johnson, Executive Director

Lecester is the executive director of Academy of Hope. She has a master's (MA) and an education specialist (Ed.S) degree in transition special education and severe emotional disturbance from The George Washington University. She is also a certified vocational evaluator (CVE). Lecester received the 2011 Meyer Exponent Award for excellence in non profit management.

Before joining Academy of Hope, Lecester managed the successful adult education  and workforce development programs at Community Preservation and Development Corporation (CPDC) and created the career assessment and college resource center in partnership with The George Washington University graduate training program in vocational evaluation.

Lecester has served as a career-assessment and workforce-development consultant to numerous organizations in the D.C. metropolitan area and has co-authored articles on assessment and career portfolios. She also assisted with the initial re-establishment of the District of Columbia Public Schools vocational evaluation program.

A committed educator and advocate, Lecester has a broad range of experiences in education and workforce development. She spent five years as a special education support teacher in Fairfax County Public Schools and has worked as a case manager and job-placement specialist for people with disabilities. Lecester is the recipient of the 2003 Dick Omang Best Practices Award for vocational evaluation, and she served as a Department of Education Institute for Rehabilitation Issues (IRI) Scholar from 2004 to 2005, during which time she contributed to two chapters in the IRI publication on vocational evaluation.

Lecester is a member of numerous professional associations and has been an active member on  community boards and task forces. She has served as an adjunct instructor at The George Washington University, and regularly presents at national professional conferences.