Major General (Retired) Mark Anthony Brown was recently selected as the Executive Director of the Student Freedom Initiative based in Washington DC. Prior to his current post, General Brown was appointed by the Secretary of Education as the 11th Chief Operating Officer (COO) of the Department of Education Office of Financial Student Aid. The Office of Federal Student Aid services 600,000 students, has a total lending portfolio of $1.7 trillion and 6,000 partner institutions around the country. As the COO, General Brown had statutory authority for all the nation’s Title IV funding. In addition, the lending portfolio of Federal Student Aid is equivalent to that of the nation’s 5 largest consumer lending banks.

Prior to entering civilian life, General Brown served for 32 years as an Active-Duty Air Force Officer retiring in 2018 at the grade of Major General. The General was commissioned through the Air Force ROTC Program, Detachment 015 Tuskegee University, Tuskegee, Alabama. He entered active duty in 1986 as a Financial Management officer. He has served in comptroller, command and staff positions at all levels of the Department of Defense, including two assignments as a congressional liaison to the United States House of Representatives. His global experience includes serving in the Philippines, Spain, England, Turkey and Iraq. He has commanded four times at ascending levels, deployed in support of operation Provide Comfort, served as the Assistant Executive Officer for the 17th Air Force Chief of Staff, was the Financial Management, Senior Military Assistant in the Office of the Secretary of Defense, and Chief Financial Officer for Air Force Materiel Command, responsible for a portfolio greater than $60 billion which at the time was 38 percent of the Air Force budget.