We caught up with the brilliant and insightful Adriane M Brown a few weeks ago and have shared our conversation below.
Adriane, so good to have you with us today. We’ve always been impressed with folks who have a very clear sense of purpose and so maybe we can jump right in and talk about how you found your purpose?
I found my purpose by mistake. A number of open doors and unfortunate incidents got me to my purpose. From being an only child growing up in the Mississippi Delta experiencing poverty to making a name for myself in the Mortgage Industry and then losing it all, bouncing back and surviving Domestic Violence. All of these life challenges brought me to my purpose.
Thanks for sharing that. So, before we get any further into our conversation, can you tell our readers a bit about yourself and what you’re working on?
Adriane was born and raised in Vicksburg, Mississippi, which was her home until she moved to Atlanta Georgia and began her career in the mortgage industry. She is best known as a community activist, who has worked with several legislators on unlawful foreclosures in Georgia.
She is a survivor of domestic violence,and worked with a Domestic Violence Organization for several years as their Transitional Housing Coordinator. She previously hosted her Radio Talk show on 1470 WXAG in Athens, Georgia and was the creator and host of her personal network on BlogTalkRadio.
Adriane was the Housing Director for Live Forward/AIDS Athens in Athens Georgia for 9 years and managed their satellite offices in Monroe and Winder Georgia. She has implemented several support groups with success. Her support group “Coffee and Conversations” started in 2015 and is still currently thriving.
Adriane founded Diamond Ministries, a non profit organization that focuses on educating the community about Domestic Violence, HIV/AIDS, and S*x Trafficking. Diamond Ministries mission is to educate, encourage, and empower individuals to reach their goals.
Adriane was elected to the Monroe City Council in November 2023. Her focus is Quality Affordable Housing, Economic Development that generates growth and inclusion and more awareness and solutions for transportation in rural areas.
She has always aspired to have a decisive voice in her community and to fight for justice repeatedly.
Adriane is currently working on projects with Habitat for Humanity in her city to assist with affordable housing and alongside City Council to bring affordable housing to their community.
If you had to pick three qualities that are most important to develop, which three would you say matter most?
Looking back on my career, one major quality I have that sticks out to people is that I am very organized. This helped me with assisting new homebuyers reach their goal of homeownership. Another quality is the ability to ask for help and to search out resources. I get a lot of calls, emails and text messages from people all the time that need assistance, so networking and doing research on several subjects has assisted me with being resourceful. The third quality is being sympathetic to the needs of others. I’ve been through a lot of hardships in my life and I can relate to a lot of circumstances that others are affected by. My favorite quote by Maya Angelou is ” People will forget what you said. People will forget what you did, but people will never forget how you made them feel.”
My advice for others is to learn not to be afraid to lose, read, research, ask questions, we are never to young or old to learn, and don’t take people for granted. We all have experienced something in this journey called life, never make a person feel devalued or insignificant that story can possibly be yours tomorrow.
One of our goals is to help like-minded folks with similar goals connect and so before we go we want to ask if you are looking to partner or collab with others – and if so, what would make the ideal collaborator or partner?
I am currently looking to collaborate with others in City, State, or National Government positions that have successfully implemented housing solutions for those in need and/or have ideas on how to provide affordable housing in our current economy. So, any elected officials, non-profit, for profit, Home Builders, Real Estate professionals that are assisting others with housing.
I can be reached via email at [email protected]
Contact Info:
- Website: https://www.monroega.com/
- Facebook: Adriane Brown- Monroe City Council District 5
- Other: Diamondministriesinc.org
Image Credits
Photos provided by Adriane M Brown
