Founder & Visionary

Lester Walton is the relentless force and compassionate mind behind Walton’s Academy and its flagship initiative, the Redemption Project. A native of New Orleans, Lester was raised in the heart of a city known for its rich culture but also its glaring inequalities. He grew up witnessing firsthand the cycle of violence, poverty, and trauma that consumed many of his peers, especially young Black boys who were often criminalized before they were ever cared for. While others wrote them off as lost causes, Lester saw them as misdirected brilliance, wounded, not worthless.

For over 25 years, Lester has fostered youth in his own home, creating safe spaces for healing, guidance, and structure. But after decades of one-on-one impact, he felt called to build something bigger and something bolder. Walton’s Academy was born from that conviction, to not only interrupt generational trauma but to recalibrate it entirely. The Redemption Project, his most ambitious effort yet, fuses clinical science, military-style discipline, and deep cultural responsiveness to provide at-risk male youth with the tools to rewire their minds, reclaim their futures, and rewrite their narratives. Lester isn’t just building a program; he’s building a movement. With sharp wit, a therapist’s patience, and a community organizer’s urgency, he continues to challenge what’s possible for the young men most often forgotten. For Lester, this work isn’t charity, it’s a legacy.