Shawn Brown is the Executive Director for Youth Guidance Boston (BAM and WOW). He has a strong passion for mentoring high-risk youth populations and more than 20 years of experience in the fields of youth development, violence prevention, and nonprofit leadership in the commonwealth. Since being named the founding Executive Director for Youth Guidance Boston – the first national expansion of the program – Brown has successfully launched two evidence-based programs and expanded Becoming A Man and Working On Womanhood to three school districts.

Brown provides strong leadership and management in Boston, overseeing program fidelity, organization strategy, and financial sustainability.

Formerly, Brown served as Executive Director of Diamond Educators Mentoring, an organization dedicated to improving academic performance of low-income and at-risk youth, and has established effective partnerships with Boston Public Schools, My Brothers Keeper organization, the Obama Foundation, government leaders, and community providers. He also held leadership roles at the Justice Resource Institute and the Boston PIC. Brown is also a national leader in gun violence prevention and youth development and has made speaking appearances on events and panels such as the Northwell Health National Forum on Gun Violence Prevention; WGBH Basic Black; and CNN’s United Shades of America with W. Kamau Bell. Brown is the recipient of the Institute for Nonprofit Practice’s Changemaker Award; the Lewis Family Foundation CEO Social Leadership Award; and OrigiNation Arts Center’s Sojourner Truth Award. Brown serves on Boston Mayor Michelle Wu’s Transition Committee and on the Mass General Health Community Advisory Board. Shawn knows the power of a caring adult in a young person’s life as someone who has been positively impacted after an encounter with a strong role model. Today, Brown uses his platform to advocate for the need of culturally competent mental health supports to empower the success of young people across the commonwealth and country. He believes that his legacy will live on through his team as they become mentors and leaders in their own right – and can’t wait for the day that a BAM or WOW Boston alumni becomes the future Executive Director of Youth Guidance Boston.

Brown received a BA in Sociology from Merrimack College and holds a Nonprofit Management and Leadership Certificate from Boston University’s School of Management.

The Fellowship Initiative

DC Program Prepares Young Men of Color for Opportunities

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