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Remembering Our Dear Friend Cal LaRoche

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2025 American Journey Awards

AMERICAN JOURNEY AWARD HONOREE(S)

Cecilia A. Conrad, Ph.D

CEO, Lever for Change; Board Director, Ex Officio Senior Advisor, Collaborative Philanthropy and Fellows, MacArthur Foundation

Lovette Russell

Senior Consultant, Coxe Curry & Associates & Chair of the Board of Trustees, Spelman College

Michael Russell, Sr.

CEO, H. J. Russell & Company

Ron Brown Scholar Award Recipients

Robert B. Binswanger Communitarian Award

Caleb Franklin
RBS 2001

Robert B. Binswanger Communitarian Award

Brennan Gould
RBS 2001

American Journey Award for Emerging Leadership

Jon Piper
RBS 1998

ABOUT THE AWARD

The Ronald H. Brown American Journey Award was established in 2009 to honor outstanding Americans who exemplify the vision and transformative ideals of Ronald H. Brown (1941–1996). Ronald H. Brown American Journey Awards are granted to individuals who have developed opportunities and fostered the achievements of others. Like the late Ron Brown, these role models demonstrate through their life experiences the importance of mentoring, service, and nurturance of a network of leaders in America. They embody the spirit of the Ron Brown Scholar Program mission and serve as a model to which Scholars should aspire.

In Memoriam:
Cal LaRoche (1946–2025)

It is with profound sadness that we share the passing of Cal LaRoche, a brilliant and dedicated advisor and champion of the Ron Brown Scholar Program, who left us on Wednesday, April 9th, 2025.

Born in New York in January 1946, Cal graduated from Central State University in Ohio, where he joined the Eta Gamma Chapter of Omega Psi Phi Fraternity. His career spanned decades of leadership and innovation, beginning at the National Security Agency and continuing through key roles at IBM, SkyTel Communications, and The Orkand Corporation. 

A visionary entrepreneur, Cal later co-founded DC Ventures and Associates.

His commitment to service was unwavering. Cal chaired the Boards of Trustees at Suburban Hospital in Bethesda and Norwood School and served with distinction for 15 years on the Advisory Board of the Ron Brown Scholar Program. His leadership extended to the Beta Mu, Boulé Foundation Board, where he served as Chair, and to Patients For Affordable Drugs, where he was a founding board member and Treasurer.

An avid golfer and advocate for equity in the sport, Cal co-founded the Pro-Duffer/Carter Foundation Scholarship to promote diversity in golf. A long-time member of TPC Potomac at Avenel Farm, he was as passionate about creating opportunity as he was about the game itself.

Cal’s legacy is carried on by his beloved family: his mother, Lucille “Gloria” David; his wife, Esperanza, and their sons, CJ and Ethan; his former wife, Cheryl LaRoche; their daughters, Gina LaRoche, Renee LaRoche-Morris, and Danielle LaRoche; six grandchildren; and his siblings. His wisdom, warmth, and unwavering belief in the potential of young people will remain an enduring part of the Ron Brown Scholar community.

We are forever grateful for Cal’s enduring support, leadership, and love. He leaves behind a legacy of excellence, generosity, and deep humanity. He will be deeply missed.
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HONOREE

Cecilia A. Conrad, Ph.D

CEO, Lever for Change; Board Director, Ex OfficioSenior Advisor, Collaborative Philanthropy and Fellows, MacArthur Foundation

Cecilia A. Conrad, Ph.D. is CEO of Lever for Change, a member of the Board of Directors – Ex Officio, and a Senior Advisor at the John D. and Catherine T. MacArthur Foundation.

Dr. Conrad was formerly a Managing Director at the Foundation, where she led the MacArthur Fellows program and steered the cross-Foundation team that created MacArthur’s 100&Change—an athematic, open call competition that periodically makes a single $100 million grant to help solve a critical problem of our time. She continues to manage the 100&Change competition.

Before joining the Foundation in January 2013, Conrad had a distinguished career as both a professor and an administrator at Pomona College in Claremont, CA. She held the Stedman Sumner Chair in Economics and is currently a Professor of Economics, Emerita. She served as Associate Dean of the College (2004-2007), as Vice President for Academic Affairs and Dean of the College (2009-2012), and as Acting President (Fall 2012). From 2007-2009, she was interim Vice President and Dean of the Faculty at Scripps College.

As Associate Dean and Vice President for Academic Affairs at Pomona, Conrad championed the College’s summer undergraduate research program and expanded it to the arts and humanities, led conversations regarding the value and assessment of a liberal arts college education, nurtured collaborations between the arts and the sciences, and worked with academic departments to improve the campus climate for diversity.

As a member of the faculty, Conrad contributed to the curriculum of several interdisciplinary programs and, in 2002, was recognized as California’s Carnegie Professor of the Year, a prestigious national award that recognizes faculty members for their achievement as undergraduate professors. Conrad’s academic research focuses on the effects of race and gender on economic status. Her work has appeared in both academic journals and nonacademic publications including The American Prospect and Black Enterprise.

Before joining the faculty at Pomona College, Conrad served on the faculties of Barnard College and Duke University. She was also an economist at the Federal Trade Commission and a visiting scholar at The Joint Center for Political and Economic Studies.

Conrad is a member of the board of trustees of Bryn Mawr College, The Poetry Foundation, the National Academy of Social Insurance, IES Study Abroad, and the African Center for Economic Transformation. She is a member of the TIAA Board of Governors and of the 2021-2023 Generosity Commission.

Conrad received the National Urban League’s Women of Power Award in 2008 and the National Economic Association’s Samuel Z. Westerfield award in 2018. She has honorary doctorates from Claremont Graduate University and the University of Massachusetts Dartmouth.

Conrad received her Bachelor of Arts degree from Wellesley College where she received the 2023 Alumnae Achievement Award and her Ph.D. in economics from Stanford University.

HONOREE

Lovette Russell

Senior Consultant, Coxe Curry & Associates & Chair of the Board of Trustees, Spelman College

A graduate of Spelman College, Lovette is an active alumna and is Chair of the College’s Board of Trustees. She also chairs the Hughes Spalding Hospital Community Foundation and is a member of Buckhead Cascade City Chapter of The Links, Incorporated, and Alpha Kappa Alpha Sorority, Incorporated.

Many organizations have honored Lovette for her service and impact. Having chaired or co-chaired many of the city’s leading events—including the Mayor’s Masked Ball, the Atlanta History Center’s Swan House Ball, Zoo Atlanta’s The Beastly Feast, Park Pride’s 25th Anniversary Gala, and the inaugural Grady Hospital Gala—she was named the 2012 Volunteer Fundraiser of the Year by the Association of Fundraising Professionals. That same year, she received the 11Alive Boisfeuillet Jones Community Service Award and was named the Mary Caan Volunteer of the Year by the Lupus Foundation. Both the YWCA of Greater Atlanta and Atlanta Woman Magazine recognized her as a Woman of Achievement. Lovette received the Trailblazer Award from the NAACP in 2013. In 2017, she was honored by the naming of the emergency department at Hughes Spalding Hospital as the Lovette Twyman Russell Emergency Department. Most recently, she was honored at the Atlanta History Center’s 35th annual Swan House Ball and by Children’s Healthcare of Atlanta at their 2023 Hope & Will Ball.

An experienced triathlete, Lovette has completed several triathlon events, in addition to the Honolulu Marathon, and has trained groups of women and inner-city children to compete in triathlons. She and her husband, Michael Russell, CEO of H. J. Russell & Company, are the proud parents of two children—Michael, director of partnership sales at Fenway Sports Management, and Benjamin, who completed his master’s at the University of South Carolina and is now an assistant project manager at McKenney’s, Inc.

HONOREE

Michael Russell, Sr.

CEO, H. J. Russell & Company

Michael Russell has served as chief executive officer of H. J. Russell & Company in Atlanta, Georgia, since 2003. H. J. Russell & Company, founded over 60 years ago, is a vertically integrated service provider specializing in construction and program management services. The company has extensive experience in building and renovating projects in diverse market segments including mission critical data center, public assembly, multi-family residential, sports facilities , student housing and healthcare.

Prior to becoming chief executive officer, Mr. Russell, who joined the company in 1990, served in various executive roles, most recently as executive vice president responsible for the management and strategic direction of the construction and program management divisions.

Mr. Russell is a member of the board of directors of the Federal Reserve Bank of Atlanta. He is also vice chairman of Concessions International, an innovator in the airport food and beverage concessions industry. He is actively involved in the strategic direction and growth initiatives of Concessions. The Russell Companies, which consists of H. J. Russell & Company and Concessions International, employs more than 2,000 individuals with operations in 10 major cities including Atlanta, location of its headquarters; Dallas; Boston; Miami; Seattle; Denver; and the US Virgin Islands.

Mr. Russell’s civic involvement includes serving on the boards of the Georgia Research Alliance and NACD. He is on the executive committee of the Metro Atlanta Chamber of Commerce, The Atlanta Committee for Progress and is a member of the Atlanta Rotary Club, AEC Unites, and 100 Black Men of Atlanta.

Mr. Russell received his BS degree in civil engineering from the University of Virginia and his MBA from Georgia State University.

Ron Brown Scholar Award Recipients

Brennan Gould

RBS 2001

Brennan Gould is president and chief executive officer of the Charlottesville Area Community Foundation. The Foundation is a community-centered, equity-forward organization with a mission to drive positive, sustainable change in Charlottesville and its surrounding communities. As president, her primary responsibility is to oversee all aspects of the Foundation’s strategy, vision and operations. The Foundation manages nearly $300 million in assets and distributes over $25 million in grants annually.

Prior to becoming president, Brennan served as director of the Foundation’s grantmaking programs. As director, she oversaw community investments in the areas of rural food insecurity, maternal and infant health disparities, education, community redevelopment, and greenway trail networks. Brennan has been with the Foundation since 2010.

Brennan gained national recognition for her work to create the Foundation’s Heal Charlottesville Fund. Formed immediately after the August 2017 white supremacist violence in Charlottesville, the Fund was the primary provider of financial assistance to survivors devastated by the acts of terror. The Fund also made grants to initiatives advancing racial equity and seeking to build power among black and brown communities. In 2018, the Council on Foundations selected Brennan to receive its Robert W. Scrivner Award for Creative Grantmaking in recognition of her work on the Heal Charlottesville Fund.

Under her leadership, the Foundation has grown its influence in the Central Virginia region and mobilized philanthropy to respond to the COVID-19 pandemic. The Foundation was awarded the 2020 Truist Promise Award from Philanthropy Southeast for its innovative response.

Brennan has also evolved the Foundation toward a more proactive and aligned organization that better leverages its capital and capabilities for lasting and transformative change. She has strengthened operations, built internal infrastructure, reshaped organizational culture, and launched new partnerships to further enhance the foundation’s community leadership and impact.

Brennan serves on the Board of Directors of the Council on Foundations. She is a former co-chair of the University of Virginia’s President’s Council on University-Community Partnerships and continues to serve as a member of the Council.

Drawing on nearly 15 years of executive leadership and management experience, Brennan consults with organizations for strategic planning, organizational development, and executive coaching.

A native of Iowa, Brennan holds a degree in philosophy from the University of Iowa and is a distinguished 2001 Ron Brown Scholar, Davidson Fellow Laureate and graduate of the Council on Foundations Career Pathways Program. Brennan and her husband, Andre, live in Charlottesville with their five young children.

Ron Brown Scholar Award Recipient

Jon Piper

MIM SOFTWARE

RBS 1998

After earning a BS in Chemistry in 2002 and a MS, ABT in Computer Science from Wake Forest University, Jon has worked in the field of image processing for more than a decade. He joined MIM Software in 2005 as a Research Engineer where he is now the Chief Scientific Officer. Jon has played an integral role in the creation and implementation of novel products and algorithms in radiology, radiation oncology, and urology. He has traveled the world collaborating with leading physicians and researchers in medicine and computer science. He has authored various patents and scientific manuscripts and frequently presents his work at professional society meetings.