​Rev. Dr. Tasha M. Brown is a minister, entrepreneur, and prophetic strategist dedicated to equipping women to walk boldly in both faith and business. She is the founder and president of ARISE Prayer and Outreach Ministries, Inc., visionary behind the Purple Ladies Group, and an accomplished author and thought leader at the intersection of theology, leadership, and entrepreneurship..

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Ministry & Spiritual Leadership

Ordained in 2002 at First Baptist Congregational Church, Dr. Brown has served faithfully in ministry for over two decades. She became the first African American pastor of both Trinity Community Church (Berwyn, IL) and Galewood Community Church UCC (Chicago, IL), where she shepherded congregations through seasons of transition and growth. Through ARISE Prayer and Outreach Ministries, Dr. Brown has led a daily women’s prayer line for over 13 years, creating a lifeline of faith and intercession for women across the nation.

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Academic & Professional Contributions

Dr. Brown has taught and led in higher education, beginning as an adjunct professor at Northern Seminary in 2012 before serving as Assistant Dean and Program Director for the groundbreaking A New Kind of Preacher program. She later became Director of Urban Relations, expanding the seminary’s reach across Chicago’s South Side.

In the marketplace, she has dedicated more than a decade to championing women-owned and minority-owned businesses through the Women’s Business Development Center (WBDC). She served as Associate Director of the Illinois Small Business Development Center and later as Director of ScaleUp, helping hundreds of entrepreneurs grow sustainable, profitable enterprises.

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Publications & Media

Dr. Brown is the author of Seller of Purple: A Christian Woman’s Guide to Entrepreneurship, a guide to marrying faith with works in the pursuit of business ownership. She is also a contributing author to the Handbook on Poverty and Entrepreneurship (DeGruyter), advancing scholarly discourse on economic empowerment, and has published essays in the African American Lectionary, including her widely cited piece, Why the Non-Acceptance of Female Clergy Is a Violent Act by the Church.  Her thought leadership has been featured in Crain’s Chicago Business, the Chicago Tribune, the Chicago Sun-Times, ABC7 Chicago, and Amazon Prime’s “Wear Whatever...You Want.” She also hosts the Seller of Purple Podcast, where she explores the intersections of faith, entrepreneurship, and identity with women leaders.

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Purple Ladies Group

Through Purple Ladies Group, Dr. Brown equips mid-career women to navigate transition, restore their identity, and step into their God-given assignments. Using signature frameworks like the B.O.L.D. Method™, Exodus Essentials™, and From Stuck to Steeped™, she provides women with practical strategy, biblical grounding, and transformational coaching to move from polished survival to powerful purpose.

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Personal & Advocacy

Dr. Brown is a ten-year breast cancer survivor and founder of The Tasha Brown Foundation, which supports survivors with resources to rebuild their lives and businesses. She is a sought-after speaker on faith-based entrepreneurship, women’s leadership, and small business policy, with a voice that is both pastorally rooted and prophetically clear.

She holds a Doctor of Ministry in Pastoral and Spiritual Care from McCormick Theological Seminary, a Master of Divinity from Northern Seminary, and a Bachelor of Arts in Human Resource Development from Northeastern Illinois University.

Dr. Brown is the wife of Excell Brown, Jr. and proud mother of two children, Christopher and Kai. She believes that when you liberate a woman, a whole community will follow.