Board of Directors

Bren Herrera

Bren Herrera is a celebrated culinary artist, TV host, author, speaker and passionate community advocate known for her work on ‘Culture Kitchen’ and her dedication to cultural representation and inclusion. Bren’s advocacy and awareness of community needs started when she was a child and started honing in while working in corporate law. There she did important pro bono work for the AIDS community in Washington DC, and later producing night events in Atlanta. Her passion for serving under privileged and underrepresented communities started building there. In 2008, after the devastating tornado that crushed Haiti and the tsunami that took millions of lives in Japan, Bren formed and started hosting culinary events and fundraisers to provide aid relief to groups needing assistance.

For almost a decade, Bren supported Share Our Strength and it’s food program, No Kid Hungry, as a volunteer chef and social advocate, developing and offering food instruction and classes to men and women on government assistance.

Bren is a Board of Trustee member of the IDEA fund, an alumni-based non-profit organization, supporting DEI efforts at the University of Virginia.

Ron Taylor

Ron currently serves as the CFO of Athelas Institute, Inc., which provides health and residential services to adults with developmental differences throughout the Washington, DC/Baltimore region. Prior to this current role, Ron spent 20 years consulting with PricewaterhouseCoopers (PwC) and CBRE, providing accounting and advisory services to global Fortune 100 companies in various business sectors.

Additionally, Ron has also served as the Director of Finance and Operations for Erickson Living, managing the accounting, billing & collections, contract management, reporting, and operations functions. Throughout his career, aside from leading day-to-day financial operations activities, Ron has excelled in partnering with organization leaders, advisory boards, and staff members on long-term strategic planning to ensure organization goals are supported. Ron received an MBA from Regis University (Denver, CO) a Masters in Healthcare Administration from the George Washington University’s Milken Institute (Washington, DC) and is currently pursuing a doctoral degree in Business and Health Management.

Mr. Taylor will be leading our financial needs and goals at the foundation, working closely with our partners and partners-to-be to garner the support we need. He is also one of our dedicated long-term volunteers for our annual Bren + Friends Serve DC program.

Aubrey W. Fountain, III. Esq.

Aubrey Woolworth Fountain, III, Esquire began his legal career under the tutelage of prominent civil rights attorney Oliver W. Hill (Brown vs Board of Education) and Senator Henry L. Marsh.

A native of Richmond, Virginia, with a Bachelor of Science in Architecture and Minor in City Planning from the University of Virginia and a dual Master’s Degree in Regional Planning and Juris Doctor of Law from the University of North Carolina – Chapel Hill, Aubrey’s background lends itself greatly to the physical, social, and economic needs of the community, metropolitan areas and housing, real estate and corporate matters.

Mr. Fountain will be lending his legal expertise to the foundation as it relates to our efforts in partnerships with corporations, and ensuring legal compliance.