LifeChanger of the Year Nominee Profile

Elroy Brown Jr. was nominated by Alicia Thomas, a member of the community.

Mr. Brown is a prolific educator and agriculture enthusiast with five years of hands-on working experience in various education sectors. His journey begins with a humble start in Mississippi County, Arkansas, a small, tight-knit community nestled in the fertile Delta Valley region of Northeastern Arkansas. His love for education, youth outreach, and agriculture was cultivated in this region. As a young child, Mr. Brown observed his father, Elroy Brown Sr., create a program by which he was able to develop a sustainable community garden in Blytheville, Arkansas, that fed members of the community free of charge while providing mentorship opportunities for young people in school and during the summer months.

In 2007, Mr. Brown earned a full athletic scholarship to play football at Arkansas State University, where he completed his undergraduate studies and earned Master’s degrees in both Public Administration and Early Childhood Services. In 2015, Mr. Brown became the first-ever African-American Classroom lead teacher at the Arkansas State University Child Development Research Center. During his tenure at Arkansas State University, he became the National Executive Director for the Athletic League of Leaders, a nonprofit organization whose mission was to teach young leaders a range of opportunities centered around sports and sports-related career concepts.

Mr. Brown served as the executive director from May 2016 until November 2019. He relocated to Chicago after interning with One Summer Chicago and the City of Chicago Department of Family Services in 2016. In 2017, Mr. Brown joined the Governor’s State University staff as an Infant-Toddler teacher at the University’s Family Development Center. As a GSU teacher, he utilized Agri-STEM-based teaching strategies to implement developmentally appropriate practices that were attuned to children’s ages, developmental statutes, and individual needs and responsive to the social and cultural contexts in which they live.

In 2019, Mr. Brown had the opportunity to spend six months at Black Oaks Center for Sustainable Living in Pembroke Township, IL, the 40-acre eco-campus of Fred, Dr. Jifunza, and their son Akin Carter. Here, he learned Self-Sustainability, Sustainable Agriculture, Sustainable Building, and Renewable Energy. Mr. Brown now uses the skills he acquired as a Farmer Apprentice. He integrates these skills into his lesson plan and uses data-driven decisions to provide rigorous intervention and grade-level scaffolding in math and science.

Mr. Brown currently teaches 3rd-grade math and serves as the math and science team lead in a PLC model at Blytheville Elementary in Blytheville, AR. He founded Brownstone Farms and utilized his passion for sustainable economics and agriculture. This summer, Coach Brown has developed a pilot program that will provide various after-school and summer programs for youth in North Mississippi County. Mr. Brown is also the Running Backs and Linebackers coach for the Blytheville Chickasaws varsity football team.