Our Foundation

Brenda Brown Rever is a lifelong Baltimore resident and is known as one of Baltimore’s most prominent community leaders; she has been a champion and fundraiser for education, the Jewish community and the empowerment of women.

Ms. Rever has served on several prestigious boards including, University of Maryland Foundation, University of Maryland College Park, Kennedy-Kreiger Board, The Park School, Jewish Federation of Sarasota, and the House of Ruth. Ms. Rever was the Chair of the Weaving Women’s Words Advisory Board, and a founding member of The Jewish Women’s Archives in Boston and Harriet’s List in Baltimore, a Trustee of the Democratic Party in Maryland and Chair of the Associated Jewish Charities Women’s Department and National Chair of Council of Jewish Federations Women’s Board.

Most notably, Brenda is the founder of CHANA, a counseling helpline and network for abused women. This program is coordinated by the Associated Jewish Community Federation of Baltimore in conjunction with the House of Ruth. Currently CHANA includes a kosher safe house, 24 hour hotline staffed by volunteers, and a legal clinic.

Maureen G. Colburn has over 13 years experience leading educational organizations dedicated to improving the lives of urban youth, particularly young women. Prior to opening BLSYW, Ms. Colburn was the Director of the National Coalition of Single-Sex Public Schools, a national organization dedicated to increasing the number and quality of single-sex public schools across the United States. In this role Ms. Colburn organized NCSSPS’ first two annual conferences.

Maureen spent seven years as the Executive Director of Young Women’s Leadership Foundation, an educational organization that supports the Network of Young Women’s Leadership Schools and the CollegeBound Initiative. YWL Foundation expanded significantly under her leadership. Ms. Colburn’s most notable professional accomplishments include opening three Young Women’s Leadership Schools in New York City. Ms. Colburn also launched the CollegeBound Initiative, a college counseling program in NYC public schools. She was the lead advocate in the effort that resulted in YWL Foundation obtaining two $400,000 grants from the New York City Council. Ms. Colburn also led YWL Foundation through a strategic planning process that resulted in a 2.8 million dollar grant from the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation to support the opening of four more Young Women’s Leadership Schools in New York City.

Her affiliations include: Board Member, National Coalition of Single-Sex Public Schools, Member, Alliance of Nonprofit Management, Member, Association of Maryland Non-Profits and Member of the Maryland Charter School Network.

Laura L. Green has over 10 years of vast result-oriented experience in creating and implementing comprehensive fundraising programs that are aimed at increasing and diversifying funding sources. She has aggressively raised money to address complex social and community issues through working on political campaigns and for U.S. Government Elected Officials, as well as various corporations and non-profit organizations.

Laura’s diverse work experience includes raising money for and organizing European Extravaganzas (St. Tropez, Ibiza, and Sardinia), US/China business forums (Jinan City, Shandong Province, China), celebrity and political fundraisers, tradeshows, and premier openings. Most recently, she has helped raised funds to increase awareness and broaden program availability for a vital public health initiative, and is now extremely excited to be fundraising for our charter school.

Her affiliations include: National Urban/Rural Fellows, Alpha Kappa Alpha Sorority, Inc., Legacy Council of the Reginald F. Lewis Museum of Maryland Africa American History and Culture, Greater Baltimore Leadership Association, and Board Member of the The Clarence “Du” Burns Memorial Foundation.