Born on Chicago’s West Side and raised on the South Side, Brown has a Bachelor’s degree in Urban Studies from the University of Illinois at Chicago. He spent four years advocating to keep his high school, Walter H. Dyett, open and 2 years to get a Level 1 Trauma Center built at the University of Chicago Hospital. He also spent 1 year to stop Mercy Hospital from closing, and 5 years to win a community benefits agreement ordinance to stop displacement around the Obama Presidential Center.