Hall of Fame 6.7.26 - Flipbook - Page 35
Hall of Fame | Sunday, June 7, 2026 35
BRENDA BROWN
REVER
To most, fundraising is a thankless job. Not to Brenda Brown Rever.
“I love asking people for money,” the 82-year-old philanthropist said.
When Rever asks, checkbooks open. For half a century, she has solicited donations for worthy causes, from House of Ruth Maryland ($20 million) to the
University of Maryland, College Park, where — as vice chair of a capital campaign in 2002 — she helped raise a staggering $450 million.
Often, Rever’s efforts favor women’s interests. Thirty years ago, in a bid to address domestic violence in Baltimore’s Jewish community, she drummed up
$300,000 in three weeks to found CHANA, a safe house and helpline for abused Jewish women.
In 2009, in an effort to educate and empower
underserved girls in the city, Rever — then 65 —
founded the Baltimore Leadership School for
Young Women, a college-prep academy that
kicked off with a $10 million startup campaign.
The school now serves 400 students from middle
school on.
“Our vision was to graduate every [senior] and
have her go to college,” she said of the program.
Last year, 83% of the graduates advanced.
“It’s about growing up strong,” Rever said.
Her networking abilities are unparalleled, those
who know her say.
“It’s very hard to say ‘no’ to Brenda,” William
“Brit” Kirwan, then-chancellor of the University
System of Maryland, said during that earlier campaign. “She’s selfless and self-deprecating, with a
generous spirit that’s committed to helping others.
She brings so much energy [to fundraising] and is
so relentless that people finally just give up, and
give. She’s a force of nature for good.”
Rever’s skill set and her advocacy for women’s
rights evolved as she matured.
Raised in West Baltimore, she grew up in a
model Jewish home.
The daughter of a real estate developer, she attended Forest Park High, at the same time as Academy Award-winning filmmaker Barry Levinson
and the late Ellen Cohen (aka Mama Cass of the
Mamas and Papas).
Rever herself made the yearbook as president of
the Library Club.
“I was a late developer,” she said. “As a girl [in
the 1950s], I played with those little bake ovens. I
liked to comb my dolls’ hair, which looked good
when I started, but not when I finished. I loved my
growing-up years, but I had no master plan. In
college [at Maryland], I joined a sorority. I wasn’t
Brenda Brown Rever
Age: 82
Hometown: Baltimore
Current residence: Gaithersburg
Education: Forest Park High School;
B.S., University of Maryland, College Park
Career highlights: Founded the Baltimore
Leadership School for Young Women;
founded CHANA, a domestic abuse center
for Jewish women in Baltimore; trustee of House
of Ruth Maryland; founding board member
of the Jewish Women’s Archive
Civic and charitable activities: Trustee of
University of Maryland (1994-2007)
and vice chair of its $450 million capital
campaign; chaired $20 million campaign
for House of Ruth Maryland
Family: Was married to the late
Philip Roy Rever; three children,
seven grandchildren
a party girl, but I wasn’t serious, either.”
At 19, she married and, upon graduation in 1965,
began raising a family in Pikesville. When Rever’s
children entered Park School, restless for something to do, she joined the school’s Parents Association. Soon, she became its chair and, one year
later, led an $800,000 auction drive.
It was, she said, a “eureka” moment.
“I discovered that I loved the business of wheeling and dealing and raising money,” she said. “I
did it not for me, but for something I believed in.
Doing good things gave me purpose in life.”
Word of her savvy spread, and noble causes
came calling. She joined the board of the Kennedy
Krieger Institute — “my first step out of the Jewish community,” she said — and pressed on.
Philanthropist, though a word that vexes her,
defines her.
“I’ve loved working for all of humanity,” she said.
Spurred by the issue of domestic violence, Rever became a trustee of House of Ruth Maryland
and chaired a $20 million campaign for the nonprofit that gives shelter and counseling to victims
of intimate-partner abuse.
In 1995, she founded CHANA, a kosher safe
house for women and their children in the Jewish
community. But colleagues say Rever’s true legacy will be the charter school that she established,
from scratch, at an age when most do-gooders are
retired.
“The school has been life-changing for thousands of young Baltimore women who, otherwise,
would probably have no real chance for a life or career,” Kirwan said. “It’s stunning.”
Professional fundraisers are awed by Rever’s
style.
“On a 1 to 10 scale [of raising money], Brenda is
an 11,” said Robert “Bo” Rice, vice chairman of
Community Counseling Service, of Baltimore,
whose firm helped the school reach its goal. “Her
compassion for others is incredibly genuine. She
doesn’t strong-arm donors; she’ll say, ‘Make the
pledge I request and its impact will be immense.’
“It’s very contagious to want to do what Brenda
wants; she’s a one-of-a-kind visionary.”
Recently, pen in hand, Rever took stock of her
achievements:
“I made a file, for my kids, defending my life —
everything I’ve done that was important to me.
And I thought, ‘How lucky can I be?’ I’d do nothing different in my charitable volunteer life; it all
came together like a puzzle. I feel blessed by God.”
— Mike Klingaman
