Our Team
Maynard Brown
Maynard Brown is the founder of the first Entrepreneurship & Financial Literacy Academy in the Los Angeles Unified School District. He is also the co-founder of the Gordon-Brown Fellowship and Education chair on the Board of Junior Achievement, Southern California. Maynard successfully created partnerships, internship opportunities, and educated our Children of Color in the community for over 30 years. His students have gone on to establish successful careers and cultivate deep rooted principles that have brought them back to their communities to lead and serve.
Ronda Brown
Ronda Brown, Founder of Zen Way Foundation, is a Museum Collected Artist and former Lead teacher of the Art Program at Crenshaw High for almost a Decade. She has led her Visual Art students to full scholarships and multiple prestigious awards including the Congressional Art Award that landed her students work displayed in the Whitehouse on multiple occasions. Ronda also chaired the SEL inclusion initiative for Common Core. She has written and provided Art curriculum along with Art advocacy with organization throughout Los Angeles.
Our Partner
Jamal Hasef
In recognizing the brilliant talent of Black students in our community, we have teamed up to present an innovative program to serve and nurture students to become successful citizens that are financially literate, develop entrepreneurial mindsets, creative thinking habits and become community leaders for our future.
Maynard Brown’s award winning program and long list of successful Partnerships coupled with Ronda Brown’s experience in her After School Arts program ALTER in Partnership with Mama Earth has created programs that will bring our students to the next level of preparation as they enter society.
JJamaal Hasef is Los Angeles native and visual artist. earned his B.A. in Sociology & Art California State University, Bakersfield, completed his certification in Art & Marketing from Sotheby’s in London, and continued his studies at Claremont Graduate University where he received his MFA in Studio Art. In addition to working as an artist in Los Angeles, Jamaal Hasef is passionate about educating both young artists and art novices. He has worked as a visiting artist and lecturer at USC and Getty Unshuttered instructor. He continues to spread art through teaching at GET LIT-Words Ignite and offers art services from his Art Studio in South Los Angeles..
In Partnership With
T.H.E.M. PARTNERS: