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Mentor Molds Bright Futures
Christopher Johnson’s career in education began nearly 40 years ago, when he landed a job as a high school bus driver—to and from his own school in Greenville, S.C. He was charged with not only getting his peers to school safely but also keeping them in line. Even then, he had an innate ability to foster a culture of respect and caring.
Today, Johnson, GRI, SRS, is a leader in 100 Black Men, a nonprofit organization dedicated to building a culture of achievement and empowerment for Black youth. He helps young people find the confidence to rise past obstacles and achieve dreams they might once have thought impossible, stressing the importance of setting goals and graduating from high school and college.
After four years in the Marine Corps following high school, he enrolled at South Carolina State University and joined the Kappa Alpha Psi fraternity, which encourages mentorship.
“A lot of our work centered on youth development,” he says. “Seeing strong Black men in the community is paramount to helping future generations.”
A former eighth grade math teacher, Johnson was named Georgia’s Assistant Principal of the Year and a KAP mentor of the year in 2005. He capped his own education by earning his doctorate in educational leadership from Georgia Southern University in 2011.
When Johnson entered real estate five years ago and became a REALTOR®, he lent his expertise to the DeKalb Association of REALTORS®, becoming its school board committee chair and helping launch the association’s financial literacy program.
Johnson also serves as board secretary of the DeKalb County chapter of 100 Black Men and a driving force of its Leadership Academy. He has always been moved by the organization’s motto, “What they see is what they’ll be.” Mentoring for him means making a commitment to help mentees wherever they are, whether it’s picking up a student from school in a pinch or offering guidance about responsible behavior at the prom.
Gian Crunk was 14 when he became Johnson’s mentee in the 100 Black Men of South Metro Atlanta’s Rites of Passage program. Mentees are from lower-income households and often raised by single moms. “We spent one-on-one time together, him being a positive male role model in my life,” says Crunk, who is now 34 and still close with Johnson. “My biological father lives overseas, so I don’t have the closest relationship with him.”
A standout student, Crunk was named national mentee of the year in 2008 for his leadership, fundraising and business savvy. Johnson continued as his mentor until Crunk received several college scholarship offers.
“I call him my uncle, out of respect to my real father,” Crunk says, “but he feels like a father figure. He’s going to challenge you in the best ways possible. He is going to demand that you’re great.”