The Value of One, The Power of All: The Ron Brown Scholars Impact Podcast

During Summer 2024, the Ron Brown Scholar Program will launch Season #2 of "The Value of One, The Power of All," hosted by Ray Pryor (RBS '15). This podcast highlights the stories of the scholars, alumni, staff, partners, and friends that make this program special. To learn more, visit ⁠www.ronbrown.org⁠.

As Ray Pryor - 2015 Ron Brown Scholar and Host of The Value of One, The Power of All - shares his favorite snippets from Season #1 where he interviewed 12 fellow Ron Brown Scholars who have launched their own business ventures, he also gives a sneak peek into what's coming up for Season #2. To learn more, visit www.ronbrown.org.

One day, Caleb Franklin - 2001 Ron Brown Scholar and Founder of Matter Entertainment and HeyLabs - gets invited by a roommate to sit in on a random Hindu and Urdu course at Harvard. Fast forward some years, Caleb has founded a talent agency in Mumbai as well as a venture-backed tech startup that connects Indian celebrities and brands to their audiences through shoutouts and NFTs. To learn more, visit www.ronbrown.org.

After taking off during the COVID-19 pandemic, David Boone - 2012 Ron Brown Scholar and Founder of BlendEd and Thru - made the hard decision to let the sun set on his first edtech venture a lot earlier than he thought it would. Now, he's taking all the hard lessons he learned to build a mobile-first job readiness platform for young adults seeking zero-debt careers. To learn more, visit ⁠www.ronbrown.org⁠.

No one loves the dentist, but it's hard not to love it when you don't have to go to the dentist, but rather, your dentist comes to you. When Lowell Caulder - 2005 Ron Brown Scholar and Co-Founder of Studio Dental - decided to leave Harvard Business School to build a modern dental practice on wheels, he not only embraced but enjoyed having to juggle all of the moving and unknown variables that come with innovative health care service delivery. Since the COVID-19 pandemic took him and the business in different directions, Lowell continues to find and solve complex problems whether he's an entrepreneur or an intrapreneur. To learn more, visit www.ronbrown.org.

Jeff Nelson - 2006 Ron Brown Scholar, Advisory Board Member, and Co-Founder of Blavity⁠ - became an entrepreneur before he even knew it was a term. After stumbling into computer science as a major and software engineering as a career, his knack for problem-solving led him and his college classmates to launch their own Black media tech company. What started as a content platform named after the cultural experience of Black students at predominantly white institutions has now grown into a Google Venture-backed holding company of Black Millennial and Gen Z brands including AfroTech, 21Ninety, Blavity360°, Home & Texture, Shadow and Act, Talent Infusion, and Travel Noire. To learn more, visit www.ronbrown.org.

The food industry is about as essential as it gets, and coming out of the COVID-19 pandemic when local grocery stores and restaurants kept the world fed amidst a global crisis, Brandon Hill - 2011 Ron Brown Scholar and Co-Founder of Vori - and Colin Webb - 2014 Ron Brown Scholar and Co-Founder of Sauce - both launched venture-backed companies that are bringing world-class technology to those small business owners that need it most. To learn more, visit www.ronbrown.org.

Inspired by her own struggle to find and enjoy all-natural, non-toxic, Black-owned beauty products, Dr. Kristian Edwards - 2005 Ron Brown Scholar and Founder of BLK + GRN - created an e-commerce marketplace, academy, incubator, and financing ecosystem to help independent brands launch and grow. As the platform designed and run by and for Black women continues to evolve, she shares how she protects her margins without compromising her values, especially in a dynamic business and social environment when those two objectives can conflict with one another. To learn more, visit www.ronbrown.org.

A split decision to move to China for a gap year before medical school turned into a half-decade journey of pleasing your inner child with cookie flavors inspired from all over the world. Tyrell Russell - 2012 Ron Brown Scholar, President of the Ron Brown Scholar Alumni Association, and Founder of The Kookie Box - traces the passion he has for food, the imagination he brings to his brand, and the joy his cookies inspire back to his childhood. To learn more, visit www.ronbrown.org.

Javaughn Lawrence - 2010 Ron Brown Scholar and Founder of Drip - loved to collect and trade Yu-Gi-Oh and Pokémon cards as a kid. As he takes his childhood hobby online and builds “the Shopify for livestream commerce” of physical collectibles and NFTs, his true mission is to create more economic opportunity for others. To learn more, visit www.ronbrown.org.

After years of working for some of the most iconic brands, Brittany Coleman - 2009 Ron Brown Scholar and Founder of Tough Cutie - is building an outdoor apparel company that's made in the USA by women for women. While their premium hiking socks empower women to blaze their own trails, Brittany is committed to increasing diversity in the outdoors along the way. To learn more, visit www.ronbrown.org.

From surviving the Rwandan genocide to becoming a Forbes 30 under 30 honoree, Robert Kabera - 2007 Ron Brown Scholar, Advisory Board Member, and Founder of Sync Energy AI - brings us into the tunnel that kept his family safe and shares how the Ron Brown Scholar community has informed and transformed his career. To learn more, visit www.ronbrown.org.

For Ethan Monreal-Jackson - 2008 Ron Brown Scholar, Advisory Board Member, and Founder of Newtype Ventures - investing in founders of African, Latin, and Indigenous heritage isn't just good for society and good for business: it's personal. To learn more, visit www.ronbrown.org.

In February 2023, the Ron Brown Scholar Program launches a new podcast, "The Value of One, The Power of All," hosted by Ray Pryor (RBS '15). This podcast highlights the stories of the scholars, alumni, staff, partners, and friends that make this program special. To learn more, visit www.ronbrown.org.