Mr. Brownson joined the LA River Revitalization Corporation in January 2011 as its first executive director. He is excited to bring together the human, capital, and natural resources necessary to create and sustain responsible investments along the river corridor. He has dedicated his career to improving urban communities, spanning institutional investment, real estate development, and public policy.
Most recently, Mr. Brownson led the Los Angeles expansion of Seslia & Company, a financial advisory firm focused on structuring and sourcing project financing for public institutions. Prior to that, he served as vice president of acquisitions and development at CityView, an institutional investment firm, and spearheaded numerous other mission-driven and community development initiatives.
He is committed to the betterment of Los Angeles for all. He serves on the Advisory Board of the social enterprise Isidore Electronics Recycling and he is also former chairman of the Liberty Hill Foundation. Mr. Brownson holds a graduate degree in public policy and urban planning from Harvard University, where he also won the Urban Land Institute’s Gerald D. Hines Urban Design Competition. At the University of California, Davis, he earned a dual degree in international relations, and nature and culture. Mr. Brownson was a Coro Fellow and served in Public Allies, an Americorps program.
Mr. Brownson grew up in Los Angeles and is happily married to Kim Pattillo Brownson, a civil rights lawyer. They are the proud parents of two daughters