User:WhenIwasNew/Chad Brown

Chad Brown is a documentary-style portrait photographer, creative director, adventurer, author, and conservationist. He is a decorated U.S. Navy veteran who received multiple honors after serving in the Gulf War (Operation Desert Storm), and the Unified Task Force (Operation Restore Hope), Somalia. After his struggles with post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD), Chad founded multiple non-profit organizations, such as, Soul River, Inc. which focuses on nature and connecting inner-city youth and veterans to the outdoors, and Love is King which advocates to ensure the Freedom to Roam is unhindered and unlimited on public lands, free-flowing rivers, and backcountry wilderness.

Early life
Chad Brown was born in Cureo, Texas and was raised in Austin, Texas. Brown was the product of a broken home, and as a teenager, joined up with Latino gangs in Austin. This influence triggered several instances of street fights and robberies. A mentor from his childhood, Capt. Freddie Maxwell with the Austin Police Department, picked him up and threw him in jail. This police officer had been his big brother in the Big Brothers Big Sisters program a few years earlier. The time in jail was not an official arrest, but was effective in teaching Brown a lesson. It guided Brown to finish high school and to his enrollment in the Art Institute of Dallas.

U.S. Navy
In 1990, Brown enlisted in the US Navy after experiencing financial hardships while studying at the Art Institute of Dallas. Brown was a member of a Joint Task force Expeditionary Unit, which often shadowed special operations teams around the world. He participated in Desert Storm and Desert Shield, served at Guantanamo Bay, and saw combat during Operation Restore Hope, in Somalia. He also served at a NASA research station in Antarctica where he received the Antarctica Service Medal for surviving more than 30 days on the Antarctic continent.

Veteran
The repercussions of his experiences in combat during his time in the Navy caused Brown to suffer from PTSD. The severity of his mental disorder made it difficult to maintain employment. He found himself homeless for 12 months where he would dumpster dive at MacDonald's while take dozen of medications. His survival was tactical where he would strategically donate blood on Tuesdays and Thursdays for the twenty dollars in compensation it provided. The illness nearly drove him to suicide before he found solace in fly fishing.

Philanthropy
Chad Browns failed suicide led him to the eventual launch of a non-profit organization, called Soul River, inc. Chad Brown founded Soul River, Inc in 2010, and currently serves as the President for the nonprofit 501(c)(3). The focus of Soul River, Inc is to connect inner city youth and US military veterans to the outdoors. Brown believes that engaging U.S veterans as mentors for inner city youth leads to rich, powerful opportunities of healing in the midst of Mother Nature. Brown has led several youth-veteran outings, including a partnership with USFWS that brought 28 participants to the Kenai River and four trips to the Arctic National Refuge. Every year Forty to sixty kids apply for the summer deployment season, and no one is turned away.

In response to the unrest in the US in 2020, Chad Brown founded Love is King. He said, "“Love is King began as recognition, response, and acknowledgement that equality and equity doesn’t exist for people of color. Love is King sees a world where nature’s lessons, beauty, nourishment, healing power, and strength are accessible to all people. Love is King is committed to providing equal opportunity to ensure equitable and safe access to the outdoors for children, families, and communities of people of color as a way to improve the physical, mental, and spiritual health of the most vulnerable among us.”"The mission of Love is King is to inspire, empower and activate a humanitarian movement that will mobilize citizens of all colors. These "guardians" carry out the humanitarian obligation to raise the collective consciousness, educate and help facilitate conflict resolution through love, empathy, respect without discrimination.

Politics
Chad Brown currently serves as a Board member for the National Wildlife Refuge Association. In 2017, Brown collaborated with PEW and met with members of Congress and with Ryan Zinke, Secretary of the Interior, to advocate for funding for the needed repairs of the National Parks. In 2019, Brown was called to testify in front of congress in support of restoring protections for the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge and Passage of H.R. 1146, the Arctic Cultural and Coastal Plain Protection Act.

Education

 * Bachelors of FIne Arts at the American Intercontinental University in Atlanta, Georgia (1996-1998)
 * Masters of Science in Communication Design at Pratt Institute in NYC (1998-2000)

Personal Life
Brown lives in Portland, Oregon, where he runs Soul River Runs Wild.

Awards
Brown has received several awards and honours for his work; Antarctica Service Medal for serving over 30 days in Antarctica.
 * 2015 - Breaking Barriers Award Presented by Orvis
 * Bending Toward Justice Award from Oregon Senator Jeff Merkley
 * 2018 Official Selection, Wild & Scenic Film Festival for "Chandalar"
 * 2019 Official Selection, Wild & Scenic Film Festival for "I am Public Lands"
 * American Association of Advertising Award through the Multicultural Advertising Internship Program