To Liz Brown, everyone she meets holds a lesson for her. That philosophy guides her in leading 240 employees providing frontline social services while fighting for social justice at YWCA Columbus, where she is president and CEO. “No one’s status gives them a monopoly on wisdom and creativity to solve problems,” Brown says. It was much the same when Brown served as an elected official on Columbus City Council from 2016 to 2022. “I learned that the more you’re out there, the more you’re listening, the smarter you are about the work that seems like it belongs in the ivory tower,” says Brown, Columbus CEO’s 2025 CEO of the Year winner in the Large Nonprofit category.
Plenty of work lies ahead for Brown and the YWCA. Its Family Center providing shelter to some 200 adults and children every night faces “extreme challenges” with funding, like other homeless shelters, Brown says. In response, Columbus shelter providers came together to advocate to the city and Franklin County for a solution.
The Shelter Providers Network includes the YWCA, Lutheran Social Services, YMCA of Central Ohio, Community Development for All People, Southeast Healthcare, Huckleberry House and Maryhaven. (Community Shelter Board is not a member because it is a funder and not a provider, but it works closely with the group, Brown says.)
The group’s timing is right. For the first time in 15 years, the city of Columbus has convened a Funding Review and Advisory Committee to make recommendations to elected officials for how public needs are paid for, including tourism, social services, the arts and cultural institutions. Shelter funding has become a focus for the committee, Brown says.
There has been no shortage of politics in Brown’s new role, something she didn’t quite expect when she transitioned off city council in 2023, but it’s an element that she relishes. “I can’t get away from it,” says the West Wing TV show lover who is the daughter of former Ohio Senator and current candidate Sherrod Brown.
As Brown has fought for the recipients of the YWCA’s services, she’s also fought for its workers. When she joined the YWCA, she learned many of her staff “felt economically insecure to the point that they could have been one of the residents we were serving.”
Brown led the organization to increase its minimum wage from $15 to $20 an hour for full-time employees and $18.50 for part-time workers.
It’s a bright spot in an exceptionally tough year. President Donald Trump’s second administration has targeted nonprofits, the arts, media and educational institutions with racist fearmongering and vitriol unsubstantiated by facts, chilling programs and services that further diversity, equity and inclusion. Not at the YWCA. “Our mission for a long time has been and still is ‘eliminating racism and empowering women.’ There’s no getting rid of [that],” Brown says.
It’s a test of nerves. “Willingness to be bold and keep doing this work is actually more about risk tolerance than anything else,” she says. Brown credits her foremothers for the “crystal clear” mission giving her the ability today to understand the assignment.
By that she means the women who founded the YWCA, former CEO Christie Angel and also her grandmother Emily Brown, who died in 2009. She became involved with the YWCA in Mansfield, where she lived, and helped to found the Ohio Council of YWCAs. In a full-circle moment, Liz Brown recently was elected president of that same council.
“There are a few organizations in town that for various reasons are quasi-public offices, and Liz’s experience in government has been on rich display this year as folks look to the YWCA not just for services, but for hope,” says Michael Corey, executive director of the Human Service Chamber of Franklin County. “They’ve certainly gotten it, which is why Liz is so deserving of the CEO of the Year recognition.”
What is next for her? “I don’t know if I will ever run for elected office again,” she says. “I believe that government can be a force for good. And I don’t want to give up on the [democracy] project—I’m always honored to be near it.”
About Elizabeth Brown
President and CEO, YWCA Columbus
In role since: 2023
Age: 42
Education: Bachelor’s degree in English, Columbia University
Community involvement: Former AmeriCorps member
This story is from the CEO of the Year package in the Winter 2026 issue of Columbus CEO. Subscribe now at subscribe.columbusceo.com.
This article originally appeared on Columbus CEO: CEO of the Year 2025 Winner Elizabeth Brown Leads Boldly at YWCA Columbus
Reporting by Katy Smith, Columbus CEO / Columbus CEO
USA TODAY Network via Reuters Connect
