During his time as a student at The Steward School, Class of 1991 alumnus Lee Kallman never dreamed he would combine his passions for cycling and his love for his hometown of Richmond into a momentous international event.

The Steward School Alumni Association presented its third annual Alumni Achievement Award to Mr. Kallman at Convocation 2016 on Friday, September 9. After Alumni Association Vice President Dani Fraizer ’09 announced the award, Mr. Kallman was introduced by his friend, classmate, and current Steward parent, Josh Silverman ’91, who nominated him for the honor.

“When we were in school together, Lee was one of the quietest students,” Mr. Silverman said. “But he tried everything, and he built upon what he experienced at Steward in his career. This shows that it’s not about being the loudest person in the room—Lee is a prime example of the idea that if you work hard, you will achieve great things in life.”

After graduating from Radford University in 1995, Mr. Kallman spent several years working in sports and technology marketing in Atlanta, gaining experience working in the 1999 Women’s World Cup. He moved back to Richmond in 2006 and soon heard that the city was considering submitting a bid to host the annual UCI Road World Championships. Inspired by his personal interest in cycling, Mr. Kallman reached out to a friend involved and offered to help. He was brought on to an eight-person team as a marketing consultant in spring 2011.

After officially submitting a bid in August 2011, the group found out the following month that Richmond had been awarded the race in September 2015. “From there, it became a four-year sprint to get all of the pieces in place to host a truly incredible, once-in-a-lifetime event,” Mr. Kallman said.

Planning the event involved an array of challenges—Mr. Kallman said his team faced a lot of adversity due to concerns about heavy traffic and parking difficulties. But in the weeks leading up to the race, “we felt the question mark hovering over us shift to a waft of excitement and engagement—people really seemed to get it,” he said.

He added: “The ultimate goal had always been to showcase the Richmond community in a way that would bring everyone together and show the country—the world—what this city is all about. I was so incredibly proud of our community for coming together and making the event such a huge success.”

Since wrapping up the event in early 2016, Mr. Kallman has spearheaded marketing for a data collection service company in Innsbrook called RetailData. He credits much of his career success to Steward and the opportunities he was offered during his time here.

“Much like the evolution of Richmond, Steward has evolved tremendously in a similar timeframe,” he said. “Steward gives its students ample opportunities to try everything, and it was those collective opportunities that allowed me to figure out what I enjoy. Even if I failed, I realized it was ok to fail, and I learned more about myself because of that. During times when I was unsure about pulling off the race, these lessons from Steward helped me develop an attitude that said, ‘Maybe we can do it—why not try?’”

In addition to Mr. Kallman’s remarks, the ceremony included performances of Neil Diamond’s “I’m a Believer” by the Middle and Upper School Jazz Band under the direction of John McAlister, as well as Steve Kupferschmid and Don Besig’s “Take These Wings” by the Spartan Select Upper School Ensemble and Eighth-Grade Chorus under the direction of Bonnie Anderson and Donna Gocha.

Mr. Kallman was profiled in the spring/summer 2015 edition of Crossroads, The Steward School magazine.