Keith E. Brown, served a distiguished 29-year career with the U.S. Agency for International Development (USAID) where he held the highest career rank in the Foreign Service as Career Minister and served as the Senior Deputy Assistant Administrator for the Bureau for Africa. Mr. Brown also served as East and Southern Africa Regional Director in Nairobi, Kenya and Mission Director in Ethiopia. He managed multi-billion dollar infrastructure programs in Egypt and the Philippines and his portfolios included regional economic integration, trade and investment promotion, banking and finance, capital market, and enterprise development programs. Over the course of his USAID career, Mr. Brown played vital roles in assisting Egypt, the Philippines and South Africa with their respective post-Soviet, post-revolution and post-apartheid political economy transformations; led a 14-member Interagency team to Nigeria to develop the U.S. Government’s economic assistance framework for the newly democratically elected Government of Nigeria; and spearheaded President Clinton’s Greater Horn of Africa Food Security Initiative, as well as U.S. Government efforts, in concert with the United Nations, to secure more than $700 million in humanitarian and reconstruction assistance for Liberia in 2004. He also served as Head of U.S. Government delegations to innumerable World Bank, IMF and OECD consultative and roundtable meetings regarding East and Southern Africa held around the world. These achievements culminated in his being awarded the USAID Distinguished Career Service Award in 2004.
Mr. Brown joined the Jane Goodall Institute (JGI) in 2004 as Executive Vice-President for Africa Programs, and elevated to President and Chief Executive Officer in 2009. He lead JGI efforts to successfully double its resource base, pioneer the integration of conservation and land-use planning in community-centered landscape-scale conservation initiatives and revitalize the famous Jane Goodall Gombe Research Center in Tanzania. Mr. Brown also served on the JGI – Global Board of Directors.
From Memphis, Tennessee, Mr. Brown holds a Bachelor of Arts Degree from The Lincoln University in Pennsylvania (1973), a Masters in Business Administration with a concentration in Finance from the University of Southern California (1975), and is a graduate of the prestigious Department of State Senior Seminar (1995).
Mr. Brown is a proud member of Kappa Alpha Psi Fraternity and enjoys tennis, swimming, many different genres of music, and watching professional and collegiate team sports.