Valerie Brown

Valerie Brown is a subject matter expert on disaster philanthropy and long-term recovery, wildfires, and insurance with Survivor Benefit Plan, where she also serves as the California Resilience Fellow with After the Fire USA and supports the 2025 Eaton and Palisades Fires, as well as other wildfire-impacted communities. She is a seasoned, highly respected leader in disaster recovery with expertise in post-disaster long term recovery, federal and state programs and funding streams, charitable and faith-based resources, and insurance, mortgage and construction matters. 

Brown currently serves as the California Voluntary Organizations Active in Disaster (VOAD) President. Based in San Diego, California, she has been active in disaster since her community burned in 2007, now as the County VOAD Chair, where she has supported the establishment of community-led response/recovery efforts. She also serves on the board of the Disaster Leadership Team and Smart Home America. 

Previously, Brown worked as the Deputy Executive Director of United Policyholders, a national nonprofit whose Roadmap to Recovery Program supports disaster survivors through the complexities of insurance, mortgage, and financial decision-making to rebuild and recover. Prior to that, she served as the Program Director for the 2024 San Diego Floods Federal Emergency Management Agency-funded Disaster Case Management Program, Chief Quality Assurance and Compliance Officer for Interfaith Community Services, and Program Coordinator for one of the five Long-Term Recovery Groups stood up after the 2007 San Diego Wildfires. Brown is a graduate of Duke University.