Valerie L. Brown

Valerie L. Brown is an author, Buddhist-Quaker Dharma teacher, facilitator, and executive coach specializing in leadership development and mindfulness practices, with a focus on diversity, social equity, and inclusion. A former lawyer and lobbyist representing educational institutions and nonprofits, she is co-director of Georgetown University’s Institute for Transformational Leadership and founder and Chief Mindfulness Officer of Lead Smart Coaching, LLC, where she integrates mindfulness into leadership coaching and retreat work. She holds a Juris Doctor from Howard University School of Law, a Master of Arts from Miami University (Ohio), and a Bachelor of Arts from the City University of New York.

Brown is an award-winning author whose works include Hope Leans Forward: Braving Your Way toward Simplicity, Awakening, and Peace (Broadleaf, 2022), The Road that Teaches: Lessons in Transformation through Travel, The Mindful School Leader: Practices to Transform Your Leadership and School (Corwin, 2014, with Kirsten Olson), and Healing Our Way Home: Black Buddhist Teachings on Ancestors, Joy, and Liberation (Parallax Press, 2024). She is also a contributor to Cultivating Happiness, Resilience, and Well-Being Through Meditation, Mindfulness, and Movement: A Guide for Educators.[1