About the Founder

 

Warren attended Phineas Banning High School in Wilmington, California, where he met his life-long mentor, Richard Alvarez, a photography teacher and artist. Richard nurtured and loved Warren and instilled in him that the world was his and encouraged him to go after his dreams. The foundation of the Warren J. Brown Foundation would begin at Banning where Warren would often return as a student from Arizona State University, speaking with kids regarding attending college, assisting with the application process and financial aid avenues.

After 23 years of working with young people as a mentor and running community-based programs, Warren decided to start his own foundation for youth and young adult leadership development. Warren has worked for Arizona State University, the state of Arizona, the City of Phoenix, the City of Avondale, and served as the Program Coordinator of the Keeping Excellence in Youth Support (KEYS) program for 17 years. Although very successful in these roles, the ability to create a comprehensive vision and control the longitudinal destiny of that vision was lacking. One of  Warren’s claims to fame is that throughout his entire professional career, he has never compromised a child for the sake of money, notoriety or political pressure. While blazing the trail for the foundation, Warren’s vision of teaching people how to become leaders and helping youth succeed in spite of life’s pitfalls has become a reality.