• Joe Olwig
    President
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    Joe Olwig
    President
    Joe is a graduate of the University of Dayton where he earned a BS in Business Administration.  Joe also earned his Master’s in Education and Master’s in Business Administration at Saint Louis University.  Joe currently serves as a Director and Senior Strategist at Mission Matters Group where he supports nonprofit CEOs and their leadership teams with strategy, people development, and organizational health. Prior to joining Mission Matters, Joe was the School Leader at KIPP Inspire Academy, a 5-8 charter school in St. Louis.  Before serving as Principal, Joe was a teacher and Assistant School Leader at KIPP Inspire and a Teach For America Corps Member in Charlotte, NC.  Joe and his wife Laura are proud supporters of LPA and have lived in Lafayette Square with their son Henry for the past 10 years.
  • Paul Brown
    Vice President
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    Paul Brown
    Vice President
    Paul M. Brown was one of the original four co-founders of Lafayette Preparatory Academy. He has been continuously involved with the school from the first informal meetings of the original co-founders in 2010 to discuss the idea of organizing a charter school to serve neighborhoods in and near downtown St. Louis, progressing to regular meetings of a larger Steering Committee over the course of about two years, through incorporation of the school, and finally obtaining approval of the school’s charter by the State of Missouri and opening the school in 2013. Paul has served as a member of LPA’s board of directors since the school was incorporated and was LPA’s first treasurer and also chaired the board’s real estate committee. In 2016, Paul received the Missouri Public Charter School Association's Charter School Advocate of the Year Award. Paul is an attorney. Today, he serves as Chief Counsel – Litigation in the Office of the Missouri Attorney General. In that role, Paul leads a team of 40 lawyers, paralegals, and administrative staff in defending lawsuits that are brought against the State of Missouri, its agencies, departments, and employees, including state-wide elected officials, legislators and judges. Before joining the Attorney General’s Office in 2020, Paul was a partner for more than 35 years at Thompson Coburn, LLP, in downtown St. Louis, where he focused his law practice on the trial of civil lawsuits in state and federal court in Missouri and Illinois. Paul was inducted into the American Board of Trial Advocates in 2005 and has been recognized as one of the Super Lawyers of Missouri® and Best Lawyers in America®, including “Lawyer of the Year” in 2015 for Class Action and Mass Tort Litigation in St. Louis. In addition to his law practice, Paul served for four years as an adjunct professor of law at St. Louis University School of Law. Paul has worked in downtown St. Louis for more than 40 years. He is a past member of the Board of Directors of the Partnership for Downtown St. Louis, former co-chair of the Downtown Residents Council, and has served for more than nine years as Chair of Lawyers for City Neighborhoods, a committee of the Bar Association of Metropolitan St. Louis that works on vacant and nuisance property issues. He is a past recipient of the St. Louis Bar Foundation’s “Spirit of Justice Award” and the Bar Association of Metropolitan St. Louis “President’s Award.” In 2013, he was named by the St. Louis Small Business Weekly as one of the “100 People in St. Louis You Need to Know.”
  • Michelle Neals
    Secretary
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    Michelle Neals
    Secretary
    Michelle is registered nurse with a B.S. in Biology and an A.D. in Nursing. She is a Supervisor at People’s Health Center and brings experience in the field of Human Resources to the LPA board. Her son is a student at LPA. Michelle is a member of the school’s Community Outreach & Marketing Committee
  • Michael Miller
    Treasurer
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    Michael Miller
    Treasurer
    Michael Miller is a graduate of Saint Louis University earning a Bachelor’s of Science in Mechanical Engineering and a Master’s in Business Administration. He has worked at Leonardo DRS since 2004 and is currently the Senior Director of Engineering. He and his wife, Hannah, have been involved with LPA since its inception and Michael has previously served on the LPA real-estate committee, and since 2018, has served on the board as treasurer. They have three daughters and currently live in the Shaw neighborhood.
  • Tina Grimes
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    Tina Grimes
    Tina E. Grimes is a servant-leader. She has inspired children and adults in the St. Louis community and internationally for over 20 years as a certified speaker, trainer and consultant for her company, Success Academy, LLC. She also serves as Adjunct Professor at Harris Stowe State University; Co-Pastor of FaithWorks Fellowship Ministries; and is certified at the highest level of The John Maxwell Team. She led the development efforts alongside the former Cardinal Ritter College Prep board to build the new school and has received numerous awards for service such as Inaugural Woman of Distinction Award for Inspiration from Girl Scout Council of Eastern Missouri and Who’s Who in Black St. Louis. She received a BS in Business Administration and Finance from Jackson State University and a Master of Arts in Human Service Agency Management from Lindenwood University. She has been married to Mark for 19 years, enjoys being mom to Mya and Mason, and is a published author. As a proud LPA parent, Tina is honored to serve on the Board of such an amazing school!