Founder and President, Chad Brown, decorated US Navy veteran who served in Desert Storm/Shield Gulf War and Operation Restore Hope, Somalia, struggles today with PTSD. Brown is an accomplished documentary style portrait photographer, creative director, adventurer, conservationist, and founder/president of Soul River Inc., a non-profit organization. He has a strong vein when it comes to outdoor adventure travel and documenting threatened wild spaces, as well as connecting the public to endangered areas by capturing and showing the true spirit of the people of these lands. He also produces intense, raw images of stylized dramatic documentary portraits by creatively using a bold approach, unique angles, and dramatic lighting. He is deeply interested in capturing moments of passion and the human spirit. Through his striking documentary portraits and photographic exhibitions, he showcases and advocates for social and environmental justice.

He studied communication design and photography at American Intercontinental University. He then attended Pratt Institute in NYC, where he earned Masters of Science in Communication Design. He has managed interdisciplinary teams as a creative director, art director and photographer for design firms and agencies as well as a freelance artist. His work has crossed into underground hip hop, fashion, and pop culture, photographing the streets of NYC and successfully presenting to one of the nation’s leading hip-hop culture business moguls, Russell Simmons and his business partner Rev Run and VP of Run Athletics developing creative campaigns and executing photoshoots for the New York Times magazine. His photography adventure assignments have lead him touring Japan, Hong Kong, Vietnam, and Bangladesh. He is also part of the less than 1% of world population who had been to Antartica. In fact, he has received the Antartica Service Medal for surviving more than 30 days on the Antarctic continent while he was serving in the Navy.

After leaving the hustle of New York City, he is now residing in Portland, Oregon. His career paths and his life have expanded beyond the realm of the traditional creative world. Mother Nature has played a significant role in his healing from war traumas he experienced as a Navy service member. His failed suicide attempt eventually led him to the launching of a non-profit organization unlike any other, called Soul River Inc. Soul River specializes in outdoors education and cultural expeditions Brown calls deployments. It brings together at-risk youth and Veterans as mentors and takes them into threatened wild spaces, providing mission-driven experiences where advocacy and outdoor education meet. His work has lead him to Capitol Hill, advocating for our public lands and wild places, bringing youth leaders of tomorrow and giving them an opportunity to interface with Congressional members.

Brown is a Board member of the National Wildlife Refuge Association. He has been featured on BBC, CBS, as well as in national publications such as Outside Magazine and The Drake, and in various Pacific Northwest publications. Additionally, Brown was the first recipient of the Breaking Barriers Award Presented by Orvis, as well as the Bending Toward Justice Award from Oregon Senator Jeff Merkley.