About Dr. Terainer Brown
Biography
Dr. Terainer L. Brown is a mentor, educator, author, motivational speaker, educational consultant, and currently serves as a Higher Education Policy Advisor for the US Air Force, Owner of Mathnasium in Hampton Roads, VA, and President and Founder of the Cultured for College Organization. Dr. Brown holds a Bachelor’s Degree in Fine Arts Education (K-12 Dance) with a minor concentration in Sociology from Wayne State University in Detroit, MI, a Master of Arts in Leadership with an emphasis in Higher Education Student Affairs, and a Doctor of Philosophy in Education Leadership, Research, and Policy from the University of Colorado.
With more than 20 years in the field of education, Dr. Brown has served as a college advisor with several student success and college preparation efforts such as GEAR UP, Upward Bound, TRIO Student Support Services, Secondary Math Lab, and Algebra Project at the University of Michigan, and served as a lead community outreach specialist for the US Department of Education’s FIPSE Grant geared toward improving students chances of enrolling in college.
Dr. Brown has also directed the Pre-Collegiate Development and Concurrent Enrollment Program, served as the AVID for Higher Education campus liaison, and Assistant Dean of the College of Education at the University of Colorado Colorado Springs. As a current civil servant, Dr. Brown previously served as Chief Higher Education Officer for the US Pacific Air Forces.
Families, Educators, and Community Leaders are College and Career Mentors, too!
“While all these programs approach removing barriers to higher education from various directions, they are all focused on one goal, and that is to assist students with the tools to matriculate, persist, compete, and complete their post-high school education.”
- Dr. Terainer Brown
My Cultured for College Story
To the credit of many, I have achieved academic and career success, and most of my guidance came from complete strangers. I was the first in my family to pursue and complete a bachelor’s degree, earn a master’s degree, and complete a Ph.D. Although my mother is very loving and supportive, there were many things she was unable to provide as I survived and thrived my way through the university experience.
How It All Started
It truly takes a village to raise a child and certainly to build a scholar. Along the way, my ambition met many adults just like you. I refer to this group as my Cultured for College Mentors. I had drive, ambition, work ethic, and passion for success, but I also needed mentorship and guidance. My Cultured for College Mentors realized I needed to be cultivated for the experiences that were to come and took their role in my life very seriously.
Why I Created the Cultured for College Organization and Foundation
After many years of teaching high school, directing pre-college outreach efforts, managing concurrent-enrollment programs, and advising first-year college students, I have had the privilege of mentoring more than 6000 students, mentors, and educators and realized that more needed to be done to help K-12, student affairs organizations, and youth/young adult-serving organizations strengthen their efforts around mentorship towards the college and career process.
Who I Serve
My work is dedicated to developing and igniting powerful mentorship and student success initiatives that seek to foster connection, community, collaboration, and college and career preparation. I partner with K-12 schools, colleges, universities, and community-serving organizations to help them develop or revisit their learning outcomes, activities, and current execution strategy to determine areas for improvement and create an action plan to take their mentorship and student success efforts to the next level.
In addition, leaders and mentors receive training on how to coach, support, and advise various student populations, including at-risk youth, first-generation students, low-income students, students in the foster care system, and students who are undecided about their college and/or career goals.
How I Deliver
Relationships, relationships, relationships! Every new partnership begins with a needs assessment. This initial consultation helps me learn more about your organization's needs, vision for mentorship and student success, current pain points, and potential barriers to program success.
This touch point also helps me get to know the stakeholders in your organization, conduct additional interviews, provide thought leaders with feedback, and develop pre-and post-assessments to determine program impact.