Our Board

Steve is the founder of Steve Brown Apartments, and a graduate of Michigan State University and the University of Wisconsin Law School. Steve earned his way through both programs as a resident assistant in the university residence halls. While in school he worked in Washington, D.C., at separate times as a speechwriter for then-House Minority Leader Gerald R. Ford, the U.S. State Department (Agency for International Development), and then for Ralph Nader. After law school, he worked as the supervising attorney in the Consumer Protection Division of the Wisconsin Department of Agriculture, Trade and Consumer Protection, where he was instrumental in the process of state adoption of landlord tenant regulations, as well as other groundbreaking consumer protection efforts. Steve followed government service with seven years as vice president and general counsel of Hillmark Corporation, a multi-state hotel and apartment company.

Steve is active in his church and in the community, having financially supported or served on many nonprofit boards and advisory committees associated with the housing industry, such as Project Home, Porchlight, The Road Home (formerly Interfaith Hospitality Network), and the Salvation Army. Steve’s company—Steve Brown Apartments—is a recognized community leader and community partner with Downtown Madison, Inc., Smart Growth Madison, the Visitor and Convention Bureau, Collaboration Council, and the Dane County Humane Society.

Steve regularly supports the arts community, particularly the nationally recognized Shakespearean Rep American Players Theatre in Spring Green, Wisconsin, for which he is an emeritus board member. Steve was a founding member of the external steering committee of the Lubar Institute for the Study of Abrahamic Religions (LISAR) at the University of Wisconsin–Madison. He also served on the board of directors of the Wisconsin Higher Education Business Roundtable, and on the board of governors of the Madison Community Foundation. In addition, he served as president of the area’s largest rental housing industry organization, the Apartment Association of South Central Wisconsin. Steve and his wife, Laurel, enjoy reading, traveling, and learning about history and other cultures. Steve and Laurel have two adult children, Maggie practices law in San Antonio, Texas, and Abigail is an administrator and teacher in Manhattan, New York. 

Laurel is co-founder of the Stephen & Laurel Brown Foundation, and currently serves as board chair. In addition to her role with the foundation, Laurel owns Brownhouse Designs, an architectural and interior design firm located in Madison, Wisconsin. Laurel has worked in the field of architecture and design for more than 42 years, serving as head of corporate architecture for two Wisconsin-based firms, as well as owning her own firm for 12 years, McManus Consulting, Inc., located in Atlanta, Georgia. Laurel holds a B.A. in design from the University of Alaska, and an MBA from the University of Wisconsin–Madison. She served on the board of directors for the Wisconsin Executive Residence, the Wisconsin State Capitol, and the nationally recognized Shakespearean Rep American Players Theatre in Spring Green, Wisconsin. Laurel is an avid traveler and collector, and she loves to study design in all forms from around the world. She and her husband, Steve, live in Madison, Wisconsin, with their beloved dogs, Midge and Roxy.

Rich serves as treasurer of the Stephen & Laurel Brown Foundation. Rich is a CPA and was a tax partner at Baker Tilly in Madison, Wisconsin for more than 20 years. Before joining Baker Tilly he was employed by Deloitte for approximately 12 years working in their tax department in both Milwaukee and Chicago. He is a member of the Church in Fitchburg, Wisconsin, and leads its Endowment Fund Committee. He has previously served as the president of that congregation. Rich has also previously served on the board of the Madison East–Monona Rotary Foundation and several of the boards at Oakwood Village. Rich has his BBA in accounting and M.S. in taxation from the University of Wisconsin–Milwaukee. Rich and his wife, Erika, love to travel and spend time with their grandchildren. When time permits, you may find Rich on the golf links or fishing on Lake Kegonsa.

Maggie serves as secretary of the Stephen & Laurel Brown Foundation. The daughter of Steve and Laurel Brown, Maggie currently practices law with the firm Lindow Stephens Schultz LLP in the field of insurance defense in San Antonio, Texas. Prior to this, Maggie attended law school at the University of Oregon, during which she interned with the chief criminal judge at the local circuit court and spent a summer in Washington, D.C. volunteering as a legal policy intern with a community radio advocacy organization. Previously, Maggie worked at the law firm Foley & Lardner LLP and Downtown Madison, Inc., volunteered with the Regional Transit Authority, and interned with community radio station WORT-FM. Maggie received her law degree from the University of Oregon School of Law, along with a B.A. in philosophy from the University of Wisconsin–Madison. She currently resides in San Antonio, where she attends Community Bible Church, and in her free time enjoys biking, jogging, reading, playing guitar, and following the Badgers.

Jon serves as an InterVarsity campus minister at the University of Wisconsin–Madison. He has served graduate students, faculty, and staff at UW–Madison for more than 20 years. Prior to his campus ministry work, Jon worked for the USDA and other units of government as a resource conservationist. Jon has a B.S. in agricultural engineering technology from UW–Platteville and a master’s in theological studies from Regent College at the University of British Columbia. Jon has been a member and leader at Blackhawk Church for more than 20 years. He is married to Julie, a faculty associate at UW–Madison Continuing Studies. They have two sons, Erik and Hans. As part of his campus work, Jon studies UW–Madison as an institution and enjoys researching its history. He likes working on houses, cars, and bicycles, but he enjoys nothing more than folding up in a rocking chair with a good book.

Chris is Pastor Emeritus at Blackhawk Church (Evangelical Free Church of America), where he served as the senior pastor from 1994-2021. Originally from Indiana, he as a B.S. from Indiana State University (Biology) and is a part of their athletic hall of fame (NCAA gymnastics championship team 1977). He has a Th.M. from Dallas Theological Seminary and a D.Min. from Gordon-Conwell Theological Seminary. He also serves on the Advisory Council of BioLogos. Chris and his wife, Becky, have been married since 1978 and have two grown children and two grandchildren. Chris is a fan of the Chicago Cubs, canoeing in the Canadian wilderness, the Wisconsin Badgers, and Culvers—not necessarily in that order.

Scott is a Wealth and Tax Strategist with Stonehaven Wealth & Tax Solutions, LLC. Having achieved success in many different areas of business, Scott considers one of the highlights of his career the opportunity to lead a $30 million capital campaign to rebuild the Catholic church and student center at the University of Wisconsin–Madison. He also served as the building owner’s representative. When not working, Scott volunteers for many nonprofit boards. A graduate of the University of Wisconsin–Madison School of Business and committed father and husband, Scott prioritizes spending time with his wife Gina and their seven children. He takes great joy in their family time and also is committed to staying healthy through exercise.

David is a senior partner with Foley & Lardner LLP and currently serves as the Chair of Foley’s nationwide tax and individual planning practice. He is also a member of the firm’s estates and trusts and taxation practices. Alongside his extensive professional experience and notable memberships, David also served as an adjunct professor of law at the University of Wisconsin Law School for more than ten years and continues to lecture extensively all of over the country. He serves on numerous other boards, for both nonprofit and for-profit entities, including prior service as the chair for the Madison Community Foundation Board of Governors and chair for the St. Mary’s Foundation Board of Directors along with other esteemed positions of service. David is listed in The Best Lawyers in America® and has been named to The Best Estate Planning Attorneys in America® for the last 18 years, among many other notable honors. Mr. Reinecke has a Juris Doctorate degree in Law from the University of Wisconsin Law School. He is married to Kim Reinecke, and has two sons, Jason and Tyler, and a daughter, Jessica. His family lives in the country in the Sugar River Valley outside of Madison, Wisconsin. The family enjoys travel and numerous outdoor activities together, such as golf, skiing, biking, hiking, camping, and fishing.

Scott serves as the chief financial officer of Steve Brown Apartments. He has personally overseen the development of more than 1,200 beds of student housing and several hundred multifamily units, as well as more than $400 million in real estate transactions and structured finance. He joined Steve Brown Apartments in 1988 and has nearly 30 years of experience in student housing operations, multifamily management, and commercial real estate finance and development. Scott, a Minnesota native, has an undergraduate degree from the University of Wisconsin–Madison, and a business degree from Edgewood College in Madison, Wisconsin. Scott holds a Wisconsin Certified Public Accountant license and sits on the board of Downtown Madison, Inc.