Tony Brown

Tony Brown serves as Heart of Los Angeles (HOLA)’s fearless leader and CEO, leading our organization in the sustainable growth of the organization’s annual operating budget from $2.3 million to more than $8.7 million annually, reaching 74% more underserved young people with free programs and supports that give them opportunities to realize their full potential. Originally working at HOLA from 1993 to 1995, Tony became a teacher, Athletics Director, and had a career in sports business management before returning and becoming the Executive Director of HOLA in 2006. He has received numerous awards including the LA Business Journal Leadership Excellence Award in 2012, Bank of America's Local Hero award, and was included on Town & Country's Top 50 Philanthropists list in 2015. In 2017, he was recognized by the James Irvine Foundation for Leadership Innovation. Most recently, Tony was proudly named a 2022 Durfee Foundation Stanton Fellow.

Tony’s commitment to service and community building extends beyond his HOLA home and into the greater Los Angeles community. Tony served on the Leadership Council for L.A.'s Promise Zone and is an appointed Commissioner of the California Senate Rules Committee as one of twelve Commissioners working at the state level to provide information and advice to the State Superintendent of Public Instruction, the Secretary for Education, and the State Board of Education regarding state and federal policy and funding issues affecting before- and after-school programs. Tony is dedicated to promoting legislative and administrative policies, both state and federal, that enhance the quality and accessibility of after-school programs in California is evident in his work as a CA3 Advocacy Steering Committee member and as the Advisory Board Chair for LA's very first after-school intermediary, Expanded Learning Alliance (Expand LA).