Alright – so today we’ve got the honor of introducing you to Christi Brown. We think you’ll enjoy our conversation, we’ve shared it below.

Alright, Christi thanks for taking the time to share your stories and insights with us today. If you had a defining moment that you feel really changed the trajectory of your career, we’d love to hear the story and details.

Prior to 2016, I was a special education teacher. I was beginning to plan to go back to school and become a specialist in ABA therapy. Then, in September of 2016, my son drowned and passed away. If was then that I found out that drowning is the number one cause of death for children under 5 years old. It was then that I realized I had to do something to warn other parents. I completely dropped my plans to go back to school and began to learn all I could about drowning and water safety. The loss of my son was the catalyst to completely change what do. After his accident, I felt compelled to honor his life by stopping this from happening to other children.

Christi, love having you share your insights with us. Before we ask you more questions, maybe you can take a moment to introduce yourself to our readers who might have missed our earlier conversations?

I am Judah’s Momma and the Executive Director of Judah Brown Project. I am committed to Judah Brown Project’s mission to break down the barriers that stop children from receiving the training that they need to keep themselves safer around water, raise awareness through educational programs, advocacy initiatives and campaigns that will educate children, parents, professionals and lawmakers and influence them in making necessary changes to society that will create a dramatic decrease in the rate of childhood drowning. I do all I can to make sure no other child has to die from drowning and no other parent has to live the nightmare of losing their child to drowning.

Judah Brown Project provides scholarships for swim lessons to parents who can’t afford them for their kids. We have created out-of-water safety curriculum for schools to use to educate parents and kids of all ages on how to stay safer around water. We provide water safety literature to pool builders, pediatricians, and schools to give to the families they serve. We facilitate CPR classes. We have a bereavement program that supports families who have lost kids to drowning.

How about pivoting – can you share the story of a time you’ve had to pivot?

When COVID hit, we had been doing most of our programs in person. Once everything locked down, we could no longer do that. We had to pivot. We began adjusting our curriculum and recording it on video, so that we could offer it online.

This ended up opening everything up for us. It moved us from a local non-profit into a national one. We currently have our curriculum being used in 13 states and growing.

Sometimes a pivot is a really good thing! Don’t be afraid to do it.

Any stories or insights that might help us understand how you’ve built such a strong reputation?

I think it has been our genuine approach. We are genuine and transparent and people trust and respond to that. When we mess up, we admit it. When we deal with our clients, we do so on a one-on-one basis and we care about each of their situations and needs. We take those things into account and adjust our services to those needs. We are sincere, we care and our clients can see that.

They spread the word about us and what we do, because we put so much care into our work with each family.

Contact Info:

• Website: https://www.judahbrownproject.org
• Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/judahbrownproject/
• Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/judahbrownproject