Journalist.
Researcher.
Changemaker.
Danielle K. Brown, Ph.D., is a strategic leader and executive director specializing in narrative change, community-engaged research, and institutional accountability. As the Founding Director of the LIFT Project (Leaders Invested in Fostering Trust), she builds large-scale, community-driven initiatives that serve undervalued communities, create solutions that directly address disparities, and bridge the gap between media institutions and the public.
An experienced leader, she has a proven track record of managing complex operations, directing academic and research programs, and executing comprehensive landscape analyses—such as leading statewide research initiatives engaging thousands of community stakeholders to drive strategic decision-making. Through establishing honors like the New Wave Award for Excellence in Environmental Journalism and overseeing institutional program development, she excels at resource mobilization, fostering strategic partnerships, and empowering the next generation of storytellers.
She currently holds the 1855 Chair of Community and Urban Journalism Professor and is an associate professor at Michigan State University’s School of Journalism. Her interdisciplinary and community-engaged scholarship and teaching utilizes the cross-sections of journalism, political science, and sociology. Brown has published expansively, in academia and beyond. Her thought leadership also appears in media outlets like the Washington Post, Nieman Lab, Columbia Journalism Review and The Conversation. She has received multiple awards and recognitions for her research and service record as an early-career scholar and her pioneering public engagement work. During her early professional career, she worked in journalism and non-profit public relations.
Quick Credentials
PH.D., UNIVERSITY OF TEXAS
Journalism
Dissertation: Black, White, and Blue: Media and Audience Frames from Visual News Coverage of Police Use of Force and Unrest
Recognition: Association for the Education in Journalism and Mass Communication's Mass Communication and Society Top Dissertation Award.
M.A., BAYLOR UNIVERSITY
B.A., BAYLOR UNIVERSITY
Major: Journalism, Public Relations & New Media
Minor: Sociology
Journalism, Public Relations & New Media
Industry Experience
Danielle has more than a decade of experience in creative and strategic communications for journalism and non-profit and corporate communications. During her time in industry, she specialized in visual communication (photography, web and print design, and magazine editing and production), editorial writing and editing. She continues to write about her research, produce creative work, and provide commentary for various publications around the globe.
