*EVENT WILL BE HOSTED IN PARTNERSHIP WITH THE JONATHAN CLUB*

Father Gregory Boyle, a native Angeleno and Jesuit priest, is the founder of Homeboy Industries, the world’s largest gang rehabilitation and re-entry program. He  witnessed the devastating impact of gang violence on his community during the so-called “decade of death” that began in the late 1980s and peaked at 1,000 gang-related killings in 1992. In the face of law enforcement tactics and criminal justice policies of suppression and mass incarceration as the means to end gang violence, he led parish and community members to adopt what was a radical approach at the time: treat gang members as human beings. Father Boyle continues to champion dignity, hope, and opportunity for those on the margins.

Father Boyle is the author of the 2010 New York Times-bestseller Tattoos on the Heart: The Power of Boundless Compassion and Barking to the Choir: The Power of Radical Kinship.  He was named a Champion of Change by President Obama in 2014 and received the University of Notre Dame’s 2017 Laetare Medal, the oldest honor given to American Catholics.  

Join us for a luncheon celebrating a life of compassion, courage, and community impact.  In partnership with the Jonathan Club, the Rotary Club of Los Angeles (LA5) proudly honors Father Gregory Boyle as the 2025 Distinguished Citizen—an Angeleno whose unwavering commitment to kinship and transformation embodies the spirit of Service above Self.