STAFF

Vivian B. Brown, Ph.D
Founder, Board Member Emeritus

Dr. Vivian B. Brown is the co-founder of PROTOTYPES, Centers for Innovation in Health, Mental Health and Social Services. She founded this non-profit organization in 1986, based on an identified need for services that would be flexible enough to meet the demands of rapidly changing communities. She retired in February 2008 after 44 years of serving communities in need. She remains a consultant and Board Member Emeritus to PROTOTYPES.

Dr. Brown has served as a consultant in the areas of health, substance abuse and mental health to a wide variety of national and international organizations. She has been appointed to federal, state and county funding review committees. In 1995, Dr. Brown was appointed to the Federal Advisory Committee for Women's Services for the Substance Abuse & Mental Health Administration, and she was appointed a member of the Los Angeles County Narcotics and Dangerous Drugs Commission. Dr. Brown also holds the position of Adjunct Associate Professor for the Department of Psychiatry at The University of California, Los Angeles. She has authored more than one hundred works including professional journal articles, book chapters, presentations and professional conferences.

In 1992, she was presented with the McNeill Award, a national honor given by the American Psychological Association in recognition of her pioneering efforts and innovative work in the field of community mental health. In January, 1996 The News Hour with Jim Lehrer featured an interview with Dr. Brown who discussed PROTOTYPES Women's Center as a model substance abuse treatment program. In 1985, Dr. Brown was presented with the Boots Jones Humanitarian Award for Lifetime Services by the Los Angeles Commission on Assaults Against Women. This award honored her work on behalf of women in the areas of sexual assault prevention and drug treatment and prevention.