OhioMBE salutes Damita R. Brown, MPA as an MBE advocate

Damita R. Brown is an accomplished diversity and community relations professional, with more than 15 years of successful leadership and management experience in the field.  Ms. Brown brings a rich and unique history and commitment to diversity and inclusion and her work has been distinguished by an ability to develop collaborative partnerships that transcend racial, economic and governmental lines. She is a graduate of Capital University, where she majored in Political Science and held a concentration in Ethnic Studies.  Ms. Brown is also a graduate of The Ohio State University, where she obtained a Master of Arts degree in Public Administration.

Currently serving as the Economic Development Manager for the City of Columbus Department of Public Utilities, Ms. Brown supports the City’s equal business opportunity objectives in the administration of the Department’s minority/female business enterprise program.  Prior to her appointment with the City of Columbus, Ms. Brown successfully served as the Manager of Business Diversity for The Columbus Regional Airport Authority for nine years.  In this role, Ms. Brown served a vital role in advancing the Authority’s commitment to diversity and inclusion through her leadership of the Authority’s federal DBE program, as well as the Chair of the Authority’s Diversity and Inclusion Council.  Under her leadership, the Authority enjoyed a rich history of success within its’ DBE Program, to include record DBE participation and the expansion of the Authority’s Small Business Enterprise program.  Among Ms. Brown’s accomplishments is the innovative and first-in-its-class global diversity agenda created to support the development of the Rickenbacker Intermodal Terminal and Rickenbacker Global Logistics Park.

Prior to her tenure with the Authority, Ms. Brown served as Program Director for United Way of Central Ohio’s Cultural Competency Training Academy (CcompT). In this role, Ms. Brown was charged with the development,  implementation, and management of an academy for cultural competency, from which providers of health and human services were able to learn how the impact of culture affects access to health care for racial, ethnic, and minority populations, and develop skills to eliminate barriers to equal access. Her work in developing culturally specific programming and initiatives has been utilized at not only a local level, but a state and national level, as well.  The combination of her educational and employment experiences has offered unique and rewarding opportunities for her to work within and on behalf of diverse communities in a variety of areas.

Ms. Brown is the proud wife of Olenthus Brown and mother of a five-year old son, Jordan.