Meet Liz

Liz Brown is an effective leader who has served her neighbors through governmental, legal and volunteer roles. As State Senator for Indiana District 15, Liz supports free market principles and believes in a limited government that enables Hoosiers to achieve the American dream through their own hard work. She believes in the sanctity of life and she knows that the freedoms afforded through the Constitution deserve protecting.

Liz works hard for her Northeast Indiana constituents. Liz continually advocates for meaningful reforms that better education and protect taxpayer dollars. She also leads the way on pro-life measures, including passing a bill that brings dignity to the unborn and gets us one step closer to ending abortion. In 2016, Liz passed legislation based on conservative values of smaller and more transparent government and a respect for the sanctity of life. She championed the dignity for the unborn bill, which prohibits abortions on the basis of the child's gender, race or a potential disability, such as Down syndrome. She has authored common sense laws regarding education and schoolchildren. One law allows schools to request their school transportation tax dollars from a tax increment financing district, thus giving schools more money without raising taxes. Another law allows students to possess and use sunscreen without a doctor’s note.

Liz sits on a number of Senate committees. She chairs the Judiciary Committee and also serves on the Senate Committees on Appropriations; Ethics; and Health and Provider Services. Additionally, she serves on the Senate School Funding Subcommittee.

Liz demonstrated her willingness to fight for the taxpayer and to listen to constituents’ needs when she served on the Fort Wayne City Council (at-large). As City Council member, Liz worked on behalf of Fort Wayne residents championing transparency and accountability measures. Liz chaired the Blight Task Force and co-chaired the Health Benefits Task Force and the Public Safety Task Force. She also represented the City of Fort Wayne Governing Board on the Urban Transportation Advisory Board and served on the Fort Wayne City Plan Commission on the Governing Board of the Department of Planning Services. Liz especially valued the times when she could help citizens solve their problems and when citizen suggestions led to a better-functioning city government.

Liz has a long history of community involvement having served on the Boys and Girls Clubs of Fort Wayne Board of Directors, Parkview Hospital Ethics Committee, the Notre Dame Club of Fort Wayne and Allen County Law Library Foundation Board. She has been a volunteer den mother for Cub Scouts, soccer coach and assistant basketball coach at St. Jude’s Catholic School. Liz’s interest in quality education led her to serve on the St. Jude School Board, the Diocese of Fort Wayne-South Bend School Board, the National Catholic Education Association School Board and the Dwenger Saints Alive Committee. Liz has been a regular substitute teacher at St. Jude Catholic School and an adjunct professor at University of Saint Francis, teaching business courses. She is and has been a strong supporter of Allen County Right to Life for many years. In 2006, Liz graduated from the Lugar Series for Excellence in Public Service. She is also a proud member of the National Rifle Association.

As a registered Civil and Domestic Mediator with her own mediation business, Liz maintains a number of associations in the legal field. She is a member of the Saint Thomas More Society of Fort Wayne, Allen County Bar Association and the Republican National Lawyers Association. Liz has been certified to practice law in Iowa, Ohio and Indiana, and is currently licensed in both Indiana and Ohio. As a small business owner, Liz is a member of the National Federation of Independent Business, the nation’s leading small business association. Liz earned her law degree in 1983 from the University of Iowa College of Law.

Born into a hard-working Pennsylvania family with six siblings, Liz moved to Indiana to attend the University of Notre Dame. While at Notre Dame, Liz excelled at fencing and met her husband of nearly four decades, Steve, a cardiologist with Parkview. Liz maintains several ties to the University community including memberships with the Notre Dame Monogram Club, the Notre Dame Alumni Association and the Notre Dame Club of Fort Wayne.

After Liz finished law school and Steve finished medical training, they chose to settle in Fort Wayne for career opportunities and because of Fort Wayne’s reputation as a great place to raise a family. Together they have seven children, Patrick, Daniel, Elizabeth, Michael, Matthew, Stephen and Kathleen, all of whom graduated from St. Jude School and Bishop Dwenger High School. Members of St. Jude Catholic Church, Liz and Steve reside in Fort Wayne with their pets.