Former Top Teen Pledges Half-Million Dollars in Arts Scholarships

Award-winning playwright, director and entrepreneur Je’Caryous Johnson, a former member of Top Teens of America (TTA), a youth service organization sponsored by Top Ladies of Distinction, Inc. (TLOD), announced that his foundation will pledge a half-million dollars ($500,000) to fund scholarships for Top Teens pursuing higher education in the arts. Johnson was honored at the Inaugural TTA Alumni Awards Reception June 29, 2019 as part of TLOD’s national biennial conference, Syn-Lod, and TTA’s 50th anniversary celebration held in Atlanta, GA.

Johnson made the announcement after presenting a check for a $5,000 TTA arts scholarship and accepting an award from TLOD 13th National President, Lady Drema Lee Woldman, for his outstanding career in the arts and his contributions to TTA. Over the next 10 years, the Je’Caryous Johnson Foundation will contribute $50,000 annually in scholarships for Top Teens attending college pursuing a degree in the arts. Johnson was a member of the Humble Intercontinental Chapter of TTA from 1993 to 1995. During the reception, Johnson shared his personal story of how he was introduced to TTA by his childhood friend Ashley Pryor and how TTA and TLOD made a positive impact on his life.

The scholarships will be made available to eligible members in TTA chapters all over the U.S.

Adopted by TLOD in 1969, Top Teens of America was developed with the primary objective to help alleviate the moral and social problems engulfing youth (ages 13-18) in communities and to empower them to become productive members of society. As the primary national program thrust of TLOD, Top Teens participate in community service, hands-on mentoring, leadership development, educational and social opportunities. They also travel to area and national conferences that are planned for their cultural, scholastic and social development. Over the years, thousands of youth have come through Top Teens of America and made a difference in the communities in which they live.

A Houston native, Johnson attended the University of Houston before becoming a highly sought-after playwright, producer, director and CEO of Je’Caryous Johnson Entertainment in Beverly Hills. After being labeled an underachiever with a learning disorder, Johnson worked tirelessly to turn his life around. An accomplished entrepreneur in the entertainment industry, his accolades and accomplishments are indicative of his determined nature. With over two decades of experience in the performing arts and the second highest grossing playwright in the world with over $100 million, Johnson has directed some of the best acting legends, including Billy Dee Williams, Richard Roundtree, Vivica A. Fox and Louis Gossett, Jr. He has also trained with theater masters Jose Quintero, Edward Albee, America’s greatest main stream playwrights, and August Wilson, America’s greatest African-American playwright.

A four-time national championship playwright, Johnson is a recipient of the NAACP 2007 Trailblazer Award and is the youngest producer/playwright to garner national media attention. He was the first person to adapt an African-American romance novel into a stage play. Johnson was also the first person to write and produce a novel and a play, simultaneously. He was handpicked by the estate of Sammy Davis Jr. to write Mr. Bojangles on Broadway: Sammy Davis Jr. – The World’s Greatest Entertainer. Davis’s estate also requested that Quincy Jones (who owns the rights to the biography) collaborate with Johnson on the Broadway show.

Known for adapting best-selling novels into plays, Johnson is the author of several novels and play adaptations of his own. As CEO of Je’Caryous Johnson Entertainment, Johnson is expanding into television projects, direct-to-consumer films, full-length feature film projects, and a host of other ventures. He is teaming up with Mathew Knowles to launch Survivor: The Destiny's Child Musical in 2020. Johnson is also a much sought-after speaker who possesses a unique ability to infuse humor with empowering messages.

About the Je’Caryous Johnson Foundation

The Je’Caryous Johnson Foundation was formed to teach and change people for the good through the arts. The Foundation also writes and produces educational plays, called “Theatre for the Living,” where they teach young adults to deal with social issues like peer pressure, substance abuse, child abuse, rape and sexually transmitted diseases, etc. With its thought-provoking, entertaining and inspirational content, the Foundation effectively injects Biblical based integrity through the expression of the African American experience in America. For more information about the Je’Caryous Johnson Foundation, visit https://jecaryousjohnsonfoundation.org/

About Top Ladies of Distinction, Inc.

Top Ladies of Distinction, Inc. (TLOD) is a non-profit professional humanitarian organization, organized in Tyler Texas, in 1964, with the purpose of organizing the talents, energies and skills of women nationally in a collaborative effort to help alleviate the moral and social problems confronting youth. Since its inception, the organization has expanded its objective to include its major focus on youth known as Top Teens of America (ages 13-18), improving the Status of Women, service to Senior Citizens, Community Beautification and Community Partnerships. TLOD’s 120+ chapters nationwide support the National Council of Negro Women (NCNW), the National Association for the Advancement of Colored People (NAACP), United Negro College Fund (UNCF), Sickle Cell Disease Awareness (SCDA) and the awarding of national, area and local scholarships to Top Teens located in each of TLOD’s six geographic areas. For more information, visit www.tlodinc.org, follow us on Facebook at TLOD, Inc. – National and @tlodinc1964 on Instagram and Twitter.