Fact, Atlanta is a city of movers and shakers.
If you’ve ever wondered “how do I become one of Atlanta’s elite, a mover/shaker of sorts,” look no further than Mr. Kirk Brown. Honestly, I wonder who in the city doesn’t know Kirk. He’s everywhere. I wouldn’t be surprised if his picture ended up in the ATL airport on the welcome sign someday (speaking it into existence).
By day, Kirk is the head of development for the Ron Clark Academy (RCA), an internationally-acclaimed middle school in southeast Atlanta, where he’s responsible for leading the fundraising and advancement programs for the innovative private school. Over the past 11 years of Kirk’s fundraising career, he has successfully raised more than 70 million dollars to support individuals, including RCA’s most recent surprise gift of $5 million from Oprah Winfrey — the largest single gift the Academy had ever received. If you’re interested in donating to RCA, and pitting yourself with the likes of Oprah, check out this link
Allow me to paint a clearer picture of Kirk’s role: RCA’s acclaim and general reputation is not solely for its track record of producing highly educated and talented youth. One of characteristics that RCA is best known for within the educational community is being a model school for teachers to view and learn non-traditional teaching tactics. With this comes countless hours of preparation for each day. Needless to say, this is not your typical 9-5.
What’s wild is that this is only by day; Kirk’s evenings are even more action packed!
He’s cofounder of the Emerging 100 of Atlanta, the young professional auxiliary of the 100 Black Men of Atlanta, Inc., which now has more than 100 members and chapters across the U.S. He is an active, 13-year member of Alpha Phi Alpha Fraternity, Inc., where he serves on the Board of Directors for the Eta Lambda chapter, the Southern Region in partnerships, and as Alumni Advisor for the Zeta Mu chapter at his alma mater— Georgia State University. And these are just some of the activities where he holds leadership roles.
Additional involvement (past and present) includes:
Harvard Diversity Project Executive Board Member
Plywood People Advisor & Past Presenter
United Way Young Professional Leaders, an engagement group he helped establish
LEAD Atlanta 2015 Graduate and Past Committee Co-Chair
Kirk is legitimately a rockstar and he has received a plethora of honors and accolades to prove it:
Atlanta Journal-Constitution “My Style” feature
Project Excel “Mentor of the Year”
Emerging 100 “Member of the Year”
Zeta Mu Chapter of Alpha Phi Alpha, Fraternity, Inc.’s “Alumni Brother of the Year”
Who’s Who in Black Atlanta “Leader in Academia”
Alpha Phi Alpha Fraternity’s “Augustus Witherspoon Leadership Award”
Atlanta Business Chronicle’s “Who’s Who 30 Under 30”
APEX Society “Power 30 Under 30”
Georgia State University’s inaugural “40 Under 40”
When both your style and prestige are unmatched, I have no choice but to feature you. What better way to kick off the year than with Kirk Brown in his signature billionaire-esque attire? Did I mention that we are giving New Year’s vibes all January? Take that, take that (Diddy voice).
God is a good God so keep doing what you love to do,the sky is the limite !