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Ryan James Wins VA Milken Award

 

 

With tears running down his cheeks and Milken Family Foundation Chairman and Co-Founder Lowell Milken looking on proudly, Ryan James addresses the assembly gathered in his honor. "I'm going to save my voice, because we are going to work today," he says. James credits his family for his success: "I wish my grandfather could see this moment, because when I look at my male role models, he was it—and that's what I try to do," he says. He also thanks his mother, Chrisantha James, "who put this idea into my head to be a teacher when I was in eighth grade." Chrisantha James works in professional development for the Richmond Public School District and attended the assembly, but neither she nor her son knew what was in store until James' name was announced.