Soul Brown

Director, Research

Soul Brown was appointed director of research at RISD in July 2020 and is working within the Research and Strategic Partnerships team. She comes to RISD from Massachusetts Bay Community College, where she served as the director of grants development since 2014. During that time, she tripled the college’s grants income, while transforming its ability to meet the needs of constituents by implementing new academic initiatives, providing faculty and students with research opportunities and acquiring funding for facility renovations and new equipment purchases. She also has extensive experience leading grassroots nonprofits and cultural projects that focus on youth development, arts education and social justice organizing. She holds an MPA from Framingham State University and a BA in English from Tufts University, and she is currently pursuing her PhD in Education and Leadership at Pacific University.