Brown was raised in Welcome, North Carolina.[3] She earned a B.A. from Wake Forest University in 1995 and J.D. from Wake Forest University School of Law in 1997.[4][5]
Brown worked as a staff attorney in Washington, D.C. in corporate legal work after graduating from law school.[3]
In 2001, she returned to North Carolina and joined the staff at Livingstone College as an assistant to its leadership team.[3] She was as the chief of staff at the University of North Texas.[4] Brown then was the vice chancellor and chief of staff at the University of North Carolina at Greensboro [4] before moving to Winston-Salem State University where she served as an assistant attorney for the university.[4] She was later general counsel of the University of North Carolina School of the Arts, also located in Winston-Salem.[6]
Brown also worked in non-profit organization, including a position as the director of the higher education practice at Education Trust in Washington, D.C.[6] She later worked for the nonprofit, Achieving the Dream, as its vice president for network engagement.[6]
Brown joined Northern Kentucky University (NKU) in May 2019 as its vice president and chief strategy officer.[7] Following Ashish Vaidya's departure in 2022, she was selected as the interim president of NKU in January 2023.[6] Cady Short-Thompson succeeded Brown in October 2023.[8]
In late May 2024, Brown was announced as the fourteenth Chancellor of Winston-Salem State University.[9] She is the first woman to lead WSSU and succeeded Elwood Robinson, who retired in June 2023.