Jean Brown - Lifetime Achievement in the Workplace
Jean Brown has her own definition of the word retirement. Her storied career spans over 50 years of social service to non-profit organizations in Saint Joseph – and continues to this day! In December 2018, Jean retired as Executive Director of the YWCA St. Joseph after 23 years of service. One month later, she rejoined the work force part-time in her current role at United Way of Greater St. Joseph as the Director of Leadership St. Joseph.
As a Saint Joseph native, Jean’s future as a leader of the nonprofit world was evident from childhood. For several years, she organized a neighborhood carnival to raise money for muscular dystrophy research which she would promote with a parade through Hyde Park. Her knack for fundraising, promoting, and organizing people continues to bless the Saint Joseph community to this day.
Jean’s journey into the field of social work began in High School when a social studies teacher suggested she consider it as a career path. At the time, she didn’t even know what social workers did. In fact, women typically became one of two things: a nurse or a teacher. Her mother, who was a nurse, set her career aside to care for her children. Jean knew how disappointed her mother was to leave her career behind and felt that women deserved to be empowered with more opportunities.
Jean took her teacher’s advice and attended Missouri Western State University to study social work. The first of her family to go to college, she earned her bachelor’s degree in just three years, graduating in 1973. She would then go on to earn a master’s degree in social work from West Virginia University and become a Licensed Clinical Social Worker.
Jean’s work roles began with Interserv Wesley Center in 1970. It was in February of 1973 that she was hired as a social worker at the Family Guidance Center. Her primary focus revolved around family and children’s mental health. In 1983, she advanced her way into administration and served as the administrator over Family Health and Administrative Services. During her time at Family Guidance, Jean developed and conducted a curriculum of parent-child sex education courses, encouraging healthy family conversations on the matter. She authored two books and, in collaboration with her colleagues, created an educational board game that even captured the attention of ABC News which resulted in appearances on Good Morning, America, 20/20, and Peter Jennings World News Tonight.
Jean began addressing the problem of domestic violence and helped to sponsor seminars on the issue. She witnessed the YWCA open the area’s first domestic abuse shelter in 1981 which steadily brought women’s issues to the forefront. Along with empowering women, YWCA’s mission encompasses the elimination of racism. Jean grew up seeing the integration of schools and immigrant communities. Knowing that there were people being treated differently because of the color of their skin, she realized the importance of racial justice very early.
With Jean’s values cut from the very same cloth as YWCA’s, it was no surprise that she was led to her next journey as YWCA Executive Director in 1995 where she would lead the organization for 23 years. Under her leadership, the YWCA provided the JUMP program for pregnant teens which is known today as Healthy Teen Parents/Healthy Babies, opened Bliss Transitional Housing, and launched several new services for survivors of domestic and sexual violence. Jean also spearheaded the very first Women of Excellence Awards, the very event in which we celebrate her today.
In her current role at United Way of Greater St. Jospeh, Jean educates the next generation of leaders to follow in her footsteps. She facilitates Leadership St. Joseph, the year-long leadership development program for adults who live or work in the St. Joseph area. It made perfect sense that Jean would continue to share her gifts with United Way through retirement, as every organization she worked for in her career was a partner agency supported by United Way.
Through the years, Jean has been an active volunteer with several community organizations such as CASA, Cotillion for Achievement, Downtown Rotary, Junior League, PEO, PTA, Show Me Women Who Care, Voices of Courage, and Youth Alliance. She had 20+ years of volunteer service with Girl Scouts as a troop leader and board member – serving two terms as board president. Through the years, she has also been actively involved with her church serving in the children’s ministry, Sunday School, Vacation Bible School, and music ministry; she currently serves as the church board chair.
A servant leader by nature, Jean Brown doesn’t aspire for any sort of award or recognition. That’s not to say that her impact has gone unnoticed. In 1989, she received the Distinguished Alumni Award from Missouri Western State University. St. Joseph News Press named her one of “20 Who Count” in 2018 for her 23 years of fighting for women and racial justice as Executive Director of YWCA. In 2022, she was one of only two women in the state to receive the DeVerne Lee Calloway Award which is awarded by the Women Legislators of Missouri to recognize outstanding female leaders in the state. Receiving this award is attributed to her lifetime of community work in Saint Joseph.
It’s even easier to give love when it surrounds you. Jean recently celebrated 50 years of loving marriage to her husband, Bill Brown. The were married at the King Hill Christian Church, in St. Joseph, on Aug. 3, 1973 – the very same year that she graduated college and began her social work career! Bill Brown retired as a psychologist from Family Guidance Center after 40 years. Together, Jean and Bill have been able to slow down and enjoy what retirement has to offer. Whether it be travelling, resurrecting old hobbies, volunteering, or spending time with their grandchildren, they are not short on things to do. Their children are Dr. Abigail Brown, PhD, Dr. Adam Brown, PhD, and his wife Dr. Tara Brown, DO. They have three grandchildren: Henry, Margaret, and Miriam Brown.
When reflecting on Jean Brown’s career, it is easy to see why she is being honored for Lifetime Achievement in the Workplace. A career built from decades of service to others is no ordinary feat, but Jean Brown is no ordinary woman. To quote Jean’s favorite motto: “Here’s to good women. May we know them. May we be them. May we raise them.”