Charles E. Lewis, Jr., MSW, PhD, is the President at Congressional Research Institute for Social Work and Policy. He is also an adjunct professor at Howard University School of Social Work where he teaches a seminar in advanced policy analysis. Dr. Lewis is the president of the board of directors for the Mental Health Association of the District of Columbia and is a member of the Citizen's Advisory Committee for the District of Columbia Department of Corrections.

The son of a Baptist minister (the late Charles E. Lewis, Sr.), Dr. Lewis is a product of the African American church. He himself is a licensed minister who from 1989-1995 served as the Men's Ministry Coordinator under the pastorate of Dr. Johnny Ray Youngblood at Saint Paul Community Baptist Church in Brooklyn, NY. His encounter with many African American males involved in the criminal justice system compelled him to return to school to complete his formal education in 1992 at the age of 42. After completing his BA in psychology and MSW in clinical counseling at Clark Atlanta University, he completed his Ph.D. in social policy analysis at Columbia University. His dissertation was titled, "The Negative Effects of Incarceration on Fathers in Fragile Families."

Dr. Lewis published an article in the Journal of Sociology and Social Welfare from his dissertation and has written several book chapters on African American males and incarceration. He and Harold Dean Trulear published an article in Black Theology: An International Journal titled, "Rethinking the Roles of African American Churches as Social Service Providers."