Term on City Council: 2023 - Present
Personal: Tiawana Brown, a proud Charlotte, NC native, has spent her entire life in District 3. She was born in the Southside Homes Housing Projects, now known as Inlivian, where she resided with her hardworking single mother, Artie Brown, and her younger sister, Chunta, until she graduated from Myers Park High School. Tiawana is the mother of two adult daughters, with Antionette living in Atlanta and Tijema residing in Charlotte, NC. She also welcomed her first grandson, Byron B Sadler, Jr., into the world in 2024.
Education: Johnson C. Smith University
Professional Experience: Council Member Brown worked professionally as a Corporate Consultant at several Fortune 500 companies, specializing in Telecommunications Management, Aviation at American Airlines and Character Education Development, and worked as a NC Certified Peer Support Specialist, and Community Health Care Worker-providing supported employment and permanent supported housing to returning citizens and Charlotteans experiencing homelessness.
Civic Engagement: Brown was born and raised in District 3 and strives to make her community a better place. After her experience serving a federal sentence, she founded a nonprofit organization called Beauty after the Bars, which aims to prevent the incarceration of women and girls. She is a proud member and board member of The National Council for Incarcerated and Formerly Incarcerated Women and Girls. She developed a mentoring program for school-age children, Believe Academic Success Belongs to You. Brown is also a North Carolina Certified Peer Support Specialist and Community Health Care Worker.
Key Achievements: Council member Brown has many key achievements, including her community partnership with the Mecklenburg County Detention Center that includes mentoring women from the inside out - including doing programs inside the center to provide workforce development and a safe place to live when the women are released. This partnership is made possible because of Sheriff Garry L. McFadden.
Brown has also completed JLUSA- (NYC) National Leadership Training, Susan Burton’s A New Way of Life Safe Housing Network- to Provide a Safe Home for women returning home from incarceration-National Council Leadership Fellow. As a Nationally Acclaimed Community Activist, Council Member Brown shepherded the passage of critical reform legislation to improve fair sentencing, police accountability, and transparency. These included bills to end the sentencing disparity (which led to the mass incarceration of nonviolent women for low-level drug offenses), advocated for equal treatment for incarcerated women and LGBTQ returning citizens, and fought for passage of the Prison Rape Elimination Act.
During her tenure as a board member of the National Council for Incarcerated and Formerly Incarcerated Women and Girls, she played a key role in securing the release of many women in the FREE HER movement. Council Member Brown also was a featured speaker on Capitol Hill in 2017.
Council Committee Assignments: Budget, Governance and Intergovernmental Relations; Housing, Safety and Community
Platform and Goals: Her key priorities include securing a needed funding for her district, which has endured years of disparity and disinvestment, including investments in jobs, parks, affordable housing, and sanitation services.
Awards and Recognitions: She has received numerous awards and recognition for her work, including the 2018 Who’s Who Charlotte Community Service Award, 2022 KNOW Women Top 50 Women in Charlotte, and 2023 KNOW Women Top 100 in America. Council Member Brown is an active member of the Black Political Caucus, African American Political Caucus, NAACP, and Democratic Women for Meck County. She is also a longstanding board member of Charlotte-based Safeguard Atone Validate Educate.