Lynette M. Brown-Sow is a lifelong Philadelphian who has dedicated her career to the organization, development, and wellness of communities. She has acted for more than 50 years in the public and private sectors as a strategic consultant, change agent, and connector. Brown-Sow’s definitive approach to her work has three key elements: vision, values, and voice.
In 1980 she founded L.M. Brown Management Group, a strategic consultancy firm which focuses on board governance, organizational development, branding, strategic positioning and crisis communications. She is former Vice President of Marketing and Government Relations at the Community College of Philadelphia. She served there for over 22 years. During that tenure, she was awarded the Communicator of the Year award by the National Council for Marketing and Public Relations (2009).
Brown-Sow has held many political and civic positions. She served as Mayor Ed Rendell’s Deputy Mayor of Administration. She was appointed Chair of the Philadelphia Housing Authority in 2013, a role she still occupies. She has been a member of numerous boards. To name just a few, these currently include the Philadelphia Parking Authority; the Philadelphia Tribune Co. Inc.; NHS Enterprises, Inc.; and the Board of Directors of City Trusts, stewarding Girard College as Chair of the Girard College Committee. She is a convener of the Forum for a Better Pennsylvania and both founded and chairs the Hardy Williams Education Fund for scholarships and support in law and social justice. She is also a founder and Chair of Women of Destiny, a group that develops pipelines of talent to the corporate and non-profit sectors by providing mentorship to professional women of color.
Brown-Sow has received significant recognition throughout her career. Among those honors, she was awarded the Sammy Award for Outstanding Community Service by the Laborers International Union of North America and the Energy for the Community award by PECO. In 2009, Bryn Mawr College honored her among 100 Distinguished Alumni on the 100th anniversary of the school. Her leadership as Chair of the Board of Directors of the Consortium, a nonprofit Community Mental Health Center, was paid tribute when they established their newest service center in 2007, naming it the Lynette M. Brown Center of Hope. Since 2014, she has consistently shown up as one of the Philadelphia Tribune’s ten most Philadelphia’s Most Influential African Americans.
Brown-Sow holds a BS in Administration from Antioch University and a MSS in Policy, Planning and Development from the School of Social Work and Social Research of Bryn Mawr College. She also earned two certificates from Harvard: the Certificate in Governing for Nonprofit Excellence from the Harvard Graduate School of Business and the Certificate for Strategic Perspectives in Nonprofit Management from Harvard’s Graduate School of Administration.