Matt Brown (public servant)

Matt Brown (born November 15, 1969) is Co-Founder, with Bruce G. Blair, of Global Zero a non-profit international initiative for the phased, verified elimination of all nuclear weapons worldwide. He previously served as Secretary of State of Rhode Island and executive director of City Year Rhode Island.

Brown was born in Bethesda, Maryland, the son of Walter Brown and Linda Phillips Brown and was raised in Providence, Rhode Island. He graduated from Moses Brown School in Providence, and from Columbia University in 1993. He received his Juris Doctor from Yale Law School in 2001.

In 1993, Brown helped to start City Year in Rhode Island, the first expansion site of the model national service program that brings together diverse young adults ages 17–24 for a year of full-time community service and leadership development. From 1995-1998, Brown served as Executive Director of City Year Rhode Island.

At age 32, in his first campaign for public office, Brown defeated the incumbent Secretary of State in the Democratic primary, and went on to win the general election with 68.7% of the vote.

Brown was the Secretary of State of Rhode Island from 2003 to 2007. He developed Rhode Island’s first Central Voter Registration System, a computerized voter registration system ensuring accurate voter lists and he launched Motor Voter e-Registration, a first-in-the-nation electronic voter registration system. He established new lobby regulations increasing public disclosure of the links between lobbyists and elected officials and created Lobbytracker, a web-based tool making lobbyist monthly financial reports available to the public online.

In 2005, Brown declared his intention to run for the U.S. Senate in 2006, challenging incumbent Republican Senator Lincoln Chafee, but withdrew from the race and endorsed another Democratic candidate, Sheldon Whitehouse, who went on to win the general election.

Brown is Co-Founder, with Bruce G. Blair, of Global Zero, a non-profit international initiative for the elimination of all nuclear weapons worldwide. Since its launch in Paris in December 2008, Global Zero has grown to 300 leaders, including current and former heads of state, national security officials and military commanders, and 400,000 citizens worldwide; developed a practical step-by-step plan to eliminate nuclear weapons; launched an international student campaign with 75 campus chapters in eight countries; and produced an acclaimed documentary film, Countdown to Zero, in partnership with Lawrence Bender and Participant Media.