Keynote speakers – Barbara Brown, BrownFlynn
Born and raised in Chicago, Illinois, Barb came to Cleveland by way of her college education at John Carroll University and meeting her husband, Chuck, of 24 years. An internship with the Greater Cleveland Growth Association (Cleveland’s Chamber of Commerce and, a.k.a. the Greater Cleveland Partnership) led to her passion for Northeast Ohio and belief in “doing well by doing good” as Principal and Co-owner of BrownFlynn. Barb believes in bottom-line impact and has been instrumental in designing stakeholder engagement strategies, establishing triple-bottom line goals and creating communications strategies to accomplish objectives for the firm’s clients. She is skilled in uncovering opportunities while finding efficient and effective ways to establish, improve and solidify relationships with key stakeholders.
Before founding BrownFlynn in 1996, Barb spent six years with National City Corporation where she served as co-vice president and manager of the financial service company’s corporate communications department with Margie Flynn. Prior to that, she was a marketing manager for a multi-million dollar real estate developer and an account executive for an advertising firm outside Chicago. Barb and her husband, Chuck, have three children: Tom, Dan, and Katie; they reside in South Euclid, Ohio.
Credentials
- The Conference Board: member, speaker, advisor
Community Engagement
- Leadership Cleveland: member, class of 2009
- JumpStart, Inc.: trustee, executive committee, communications chair
- ParkWorks: trustee, executive committee, committee on trustees chair
- Catholic Diocese of Cleveland Foundation Board of Directors: member
- Global Reporting Initiative: organizational stakeholder; workshop participant for GRI Community Indicators
Honors
- John Carroll University Alumni Medal Recipient (2008)
- Medical Mutual Pillar Award for Community Service (2006)
- Honored as Rainmakers by Northern Ohio Live magazine (2006)
- Smart Business Network and Anthem Blue Cross and Blue Shield’s “Innovation in Business” Visionary Award (2005)
- COSE Top “Ten Under 10” Northeast Ohio Company (2005)
- Three-time Weatherhead 100 “Upstarts” Winner (2005, 2002 & 2001)
- National Association of Women Business Owners “Top Ten Women Business Owners of Northeast Ohio” (2002)