Damita Brown Joins National Church Residences as Chief Diversity Officer

COLUMBUS, OH – National Church Residences announces the hiring of Damita R. Brown as the new chief diversity officer. In this position, Brown will focus on building a thriving, diverse and inclusive culture. Brown also will be involved with procurement, recruitment and promotion practices, as well as the organization’s servant leadership training.

“I’m excited to join National Church Residences and to advance its mission,” said Brown. “I look forward to putting my experience and passion to work to help deliver on the organization’s diversity and inclusion commitment – to love, respect and value everyone.”

Brown comes to the organization from the City of Columbus, where she served in three positions since 2016. Over the last three years, Brown was the leader and chief architect of the city’s Diversity, Equity and Inclusion (DEI) strategy. She was responsible for setting priorities across city government operations, instituting the city’s first employee engagement survey and citywide racial equity and implicit bias training, and developing DEI performance measures and comprehensive plans to achieve greater accountability and transparency.

Prior to her work with the City of Columbus, Brown advanced diversity and inclusion initiatives at Huntington National Bank and the Columbus Regional Airport Authority. Brown holds a Master of Public Administration degree from The Ohio State University and a bachelor’s in political science from Capital University.

“I am so pleased to welcome Damita to our leadership team,” said President and CEO, Mark Ricketts. “Her ability to shape organizational strategies and build partnerships will foster a shared sense of purpose in being true to our diversity and inclusion philosophy.”

About National Church Residences

Originating from a Christian commitment of service, National Church Residences provides an array of health care services and a variety of housing options to 46,000 seniors. The nonprofit organization is driven by a vision to scale for mission impact by advancing better living for 100,000 seniors by 2030, wherever they call home. With more than 360 communities across the United States, it is the nation’s largest nonprofit  provider of affordable senior housing and the largest manager of service coordinators. The organization also offers home and community-based services, as well as permanent supportive housing for the formerly homeless and disabled. For more information, visit us at NationalChurchResidences.org and follow us on Facebook, Twitter and YouTube.