Senator Brown has accomplished much during her time at the Statehouse. Her idea to bring “no excuse” absentee voting to Ohio was incorporated into a bill that became state law in January 2006. For her efforts, the Ohio Association of Election Officials and the Ohio Secretary of State honoured her with the Jack Wolfe Memorial Award as one of two “Legislators of the Year.” In 2007, Brown first introduced a bill to immunize young women from the human papilloma virus and a bill addressing violence in teen dating relationships. The teen dating violence bill (HB 10) became law in June 2010.

Senator Brown is First Vice President of the Ohio Legislative Black Caucus, and serves on the Executive Committee of the National Black Caucus of State Legislators. She is state director for WILL/WAND, a non-partisan national organization for women legislators. Always very active in her hometown, Senator Brown was a founding member of the Greater Toledo Urban League and still sits on the Board of Directors. She is a past chair of the Administration Board for Braden United Methodist Church and a charter member of the Executive Women’s Golf Association.

These efforts have garnered Senator Brown numerous awards, including an inaugural “ROSA” Award from the Toledo Board of Community Relations for living a life parallel to the example set by civil rights leader Rosa Parks. The Toledo YWCA also honoured Senator Brown as a 2007 Milestone Award recipient and WILL/WAND honoured her with a Pacesetter Award the same year. In 2009, Senator Brown received the Legislative Children's Champion Award from the Children's Defense Fund of Ohio. Action Ohio presented Senator Brown with their Legislative Leadership Award in October of 2011 for her teen dating violence bill. The African American Legacy Project bestowed Senator Brown with the Kente Stole in October, 2012.

Senator Brown is the widow of Willie Brown. She has three daughters, six grandchildren and one great grandchild.