REASONS TO INVEST
When you invest in the Ron Clark Academy, your gift’s impact is far-reaching, affecting the lives of students and educators here and across the country. Students validate the success of RCA’s learning environment: each class experiences double percentile increases in performance across all subject areas during the first academic year and continues to improve over time. The first four graduating classes received over $5 million in academic scholarships to premiere high schools in Georgia and beyond. Your investment changes lives.
“The Ron Clark Academy graduating class of 2014 earned over $1.8 million in scholarships for high school. We are so proud of them!”
OPERATIONAL REVENUE
“The potential is there; it is our responsibility to see it, to encourage it, and to let our children know that, without a doubt, we believe in their dreams.”
– THE END OF MOLASSES CLASSES BY RON CLARK –
MEET THE DEVELOPMENT TEAM
Kirk Brown
Chief Development & Communications Officer
Mr. Kirk Brown is Chief Development & Communications Officer for the Ron Clark Academy where he leads the fundraising, partnerships, and communications strategy. Over the past 12 years of his fundraising career, Kirk has successfully raised more than $70 million dollars to support individuals, including RCA’s most recent gift of $5 million from Oprah Winfrey—the single largest gift the Academy had ever received.
Kirk is very involved in the Atlanta community, serving as an Executive Board member for the Harvard Debate Council Diversity Project and a Plywood Advisor for Plywood People. In December 2010, he cofounded the Emerging 100 of Atlanta which now has inducted more than 100 young professional men in Atlanta, spawned chapters in several U.S. cities, and has awarded nearly $245,000 in scholarships to metro Atlanta seniors and college students.
Kirk’s a member of the Association of Fundraising Professionals and a 15-year member of Alpha Phi Alpha Fraternity, Inc., where serves on the Board of Directors for the historic Eta Lambda chapter in Atlanta. In March 2015, he graduated from Leadership Atlanta’s young professional leadership development program, LEAD Atlanta, and is a founding member of the LEAD Atlanta Alumni Association.
Kirk has been recognized as a “Leader in Academia” for Who’s Who in Black Atlanta, Who’s Who 30 Under 30 by the Atlanta Business Chronicle, APEX Society’s Power 30 Under 30, and by his alma mater Georgia State University as an inaugural 40 Under 40 honoree. And in 2020, the Hyatt Regency honored Kirk with the 2020 Herald Award for community service.
Kirk Brown
Chief Development & Communications Officer
Kyle Walcott
Manager, Development & Communications
Kyle Walcott joined the Ron Clark Academy family in July of 2016. Originally from Connecticut, he received his Bachelor of Business Administration degree in Marketing from Georgia State University in 2013. Post-graduation, he followed his desire to serve our youth by providing in-classroom support and after-school tutoring services to students as an AmeriCorps member with City Year Washington, D.C. After fulfilling his service commitment, his role as scholar relations coordinator with the United Negro College Fund allowed him to implement leadership development programs to underrepresented college students nationwide.Upon returning to Atlanta in 2015, his entry into the world of fundraising began with United Way of Greater Atlanta as a member of the Loaned Executive program. Tasked with managing a portfolio of over 40 accounts, Kyle acquired a passion for bringing individuals and companies together in order to uplift our communities in need. Most recently, Kyle served as Georgia State’s development coordinator of annual programs, where he oversaw strategic plans concerning student philanthropy and young alumni giving. At RCA, Kyle contributes to the process of writing grant proposals and engaging both individual donors and corporate sponsors in order to maximize the fundraising potential of our school. He currently resides in Atlanta where he is an active member of the fundraising committee for the local alumni chapter of Alpha Phi Alpha Fraternity, Inc.
Kyle Walcott
Manager, Development & Communications
