Join us in congratulating Karen Brown on her 20th anniversary with Brain Injury Services. As Executive Director she has made a tremendous impact, expanding program services and broadening the organization’s service area to include Northern Virginia communities as far south as the Rappahannock area and as far west as Winchester. During her tenure, Ms. Brown has introduced a number of innovative rehabilitation programs including the Pediatric Case Management program, which was the first of its kind in the Commonwealth of Virginia. Brain Injury Services is revered as a leader among brain injury state-funded organizations, its model for brain injury rehabilitative services has been replicated in communities across the Commonwealth of Virginia and around the world.
The Director of the Brain Injury Unit with the Department of Aging and Rehabilitative Services Patti Goodall had the following to say about working with Karen Brown: “I have enjoyed a long and productive relationship with Brain Injury Services and with Karen Brown in particular. Although DARS has enjoyed a mutually productive relationship with Brain Injury Services since its inception, it was when Karen Brown assumed leadership as Executive Director that we truly came to understand the meaning of ‘working effectively with community partners.’ As a leader, Karen is always seeking new and innovative ways of serving individuals with brain injury. She encourages and supports her staff to be creative, forward-thinking change agents. She often steps outside of her own comfort zone to move Brain Injury Services forward in serving consumers, family members and professionals more effectively. Virginia’s brain injury community has benefited from Karen’s strength, knowledge, expertise, and fearlessness in serving individuals with brain injury and their families.”
With over 40 years dedicated to the rehabilitative field, Karen Brown has worked at the state level and local level to ensure families connect with the services and resources needed. She has hosted multiple regional health conferences and has been involved with more than 20 professional organizations. She serves on George Mason University’s College of Health and Human Services Advisory Board and Ohio Valley Center for Traumatic Brain Injury Advisory Council. She has served as adjunct faculty at George Washington University, teaching several courses as well as supervising practicum and internship students in their master’s level counseling program.
Under Ms. Brown’s leadership, Brain Injury Services has acquired and maintained accreditation through CARF (Commission on the Accreditation of Rehabilitation Facilities). This accreditation is awarded to organizations whose programs focus on results and service delivery. Moreover, in 2014 Brain Injury Services was awarded the Northern Virginia Chamber of Commerce’s ‘Nonprofit of the Year’ award. Ms. Brown’s work at Brain Injury Services has helped to ensure that survivors are given opportunities to build the skills and confidence needed to lead a fulfilling and productive life.