Ms. Tameka Brown

Ms. Tameka Brown, a North Carolina A&T State University alumnus, is a seasoned Family and Consumer Science educator turned entrepreneur that is making a significant impact on the lives of teenage parents.

Her love for children began as a teenager while she worked after-school as a Group Leader for Little River Elementary School in Durham, N.C. Brown also saw first-hand the challenges that derive from adolescent pregnancy and parenting as a teenager, witnessing close friends and classmates face parenthood throughout high school. 

During her undergraduate years, at the best HBCU, she interned at Regional Child Care Resources & Referrals of Guilford County, where she would soon be employed upon graduation. She began her career as an educator in Winston Salem, N.C. at North Forsyth High School and moved four years later to serve her hometown, Durham, N.C., at Hillside High School. 

Brown was a Home Economics teacher at Hillside High School. During her time there, Brown presented the idea of the H.E.A.R.T.S. organization to the principal of her school, Dr. Logan, and was given his blessing to pursue it. In that moment of approval, the H.E.A.R.T.S. organization was birthed by Ms. Brown, and it has grown to have an exponential impact on the graduation rate among pregnant and parenting teenagers at Hillside High school.   

H.E.A.R.T.S. has continued to grow with grace in its participants and support from the surrounding communities and virtually. Ms. Brown and her team have grown H.E.A.R.T.S. through their tenacity to push through without funding. Whether it be through social media, in-person, and/or virtual meetings, sessions, and events, Ms. Brown always makes sure that her organization is doing the work and having something to show for it. Ms. Brown and H.E.A.R.T.S. have only truly begun their journey and foresee a long road of growth and success. 

Accomplishments