Fairfield County Auditor
Carri L. Brown, PhD, MBA, CGFM
After 35+ years of leadership experience in human services, financial management, and county administration, Carri L. Brown was appointed to the position of County Auditor in October 2021. She was elected the following year. She has stated it is humbling and rewarding to serve as County Auditor in the office where she began her career in public service and drafted the first annual comprehensive financial report for the county. Her experiences as the Chief Deputy – Finance inspired her to become a Certified Government Financial Manager. She has earned multiple financial reporting achievement awards from the Government Finance Officers Association of the United States and Canada.
She holds a Bachelor of Business Administration and Master of Business Administration from Ohio University and was named Outstanding Alumna of the Year in 2022. She has a Doctor of Philosophy degree in Organizational Management, and her dissertation was a correlational study on the effect of organizational citizenship behavior on job satisfaction, a topic that she has presented upon multiple times, including in international conferences for professional social workers and governmental finance officers. Carri also holds a certificate of Business Sustainability Strategy from Harvard University. She is a recognized thought leader who ensures quality, innovation, and service commitment across business and government entities.
In Fairfield County, she was the first woman to serve as Child Support Director and was honored as the State’s Director of the Year in 2005. She served as a Deputy Director for the Ohio Department of Job and Family Services, leading policy development within an organization of more than 2,000 employees. Under her direction, the agency received Ohio’s first-ever child support demonstration grants. Over the span of her career, she has managed grants of more than $160 million.
As the first woman to serve as County Administrator, Carri supervised county department heads of multiple government functions, including Job and Family Services, Economic and Workforce Development, Human Resources, Emergency Management, Visitation Center, Dog Adoption & Shelter, Facilities, and Utilities. She managed a county budget of more than $220 million, increasing the carry-over for the $50 M+ general fund budget. Under her leadership, the county completed five major construction projects, all on time and under budget, including a complex $34M construction project for a county jail and Sheriff’s offices. She developed the county’s first strategic plan by surveying 900 county employees, defining themes, creating transformations, gathering input from citizens, and prioritizing each strategic plan element. On two occasions, she simultaneously served as the Job and Family Services Director. She was instrumental in the creation of the county’s first workforce development center.
Fairfield County has been awarded more than 60 state and national awards for programs under her leadership, including programs for county administration, customer service, workforce development, communications, technology, public safety, and civic education. She has served on multiple state and national committees focusing on concepts grounded in servant leadership and stakeholder theory.
In 2019, Carri was honored with the Athena Award for leadership by the Lancaster-Fairfield Chamber of Commerce. She is engaged in multiple civic groups and boards, including the Visitation Advisory Council, Special Improvement District Board, and Destination Downtown District Board. She is past president of United Way of Fairfield County and has served on Ohio’s Fatherhood Commission, a Multi-County Juvenile Detention Board, the Fairfield County Regional Planning Commission, Ohio University Community Council, and more.
In 2020, Carri led the County and state in projects to communicate about and deal with the pandemic. She managed more than $8M of local CARES Act funds and supported multiple community groups dealing with the economic effects of the pandemic, including the county’s largest employer, a local hospital.
She was appointed by the Ohio Supreme Court to serve on the Commission on Continuing Legal Education through 2026. She was honored with the Jane Johnsen Women of Vision Award, an AGA Excellence in Government Leadership Award, & the Floyd Wolfe Community Service Award in 2024. That same year, she received Recognition of Distinction from Ohio University & Recognition as a Distinguished County Auditor from the County Auditors’ Association of Ohio, and the County Auditor’s Office received the Community’s Choice Award for being the Best Place to Work.
Carri lives in Lancaster, with her husband, Stephen (Cork), an attorney. They are blessed with two adult children (Corbin and Catherine) and four grandchildren: Ava (11), Simon (10), Mia (3), and Ella (1)
She holds a Bachelor of Business Administration and Master of Business Administration from Ohio University and was named Outstanding Alumna of the Year in 2022. She has a Doctor of Philosophy degree in Organizational Management, and her dissertation was a correlational study on the effect of organizational citizenship behavior on job satisfaction, a topic that she has presented upon multiple times, including in international conferences for professional social workers and governmental finance officers. Carri also holds a certificate of Business Sustainability Strategy from Harvard University. She is a recognized thought leader who ensures quality, innovation, and service commitment across business and government entities.
In Fairfield County, she was the first woman to serve as Child Support Director and was honored as the State’s Director of the Year in 2005. She served as a Deputy Director for the Ohio Department of Job and Family Services, leading policy development within an organization of more than 2,000 employees. Under her direction, the agency received Ohio’s first-ever child support demonstration grants. Over the span of her career, she has managed grants of more than $160 million.
As the first woman to serve as County Administrator, Carri supervised county department heads of multiple government functions, including Job and Family Services, Economic and Workforce Development, Human Resources, Emergency Management, Visitation Center, Dog Adoption & Shelter, Facilities, and Utilities. She managed a county budget of more than $220 million, increasing the carry-over for the $50 M+ general fund budget. Under her leadership, the county completed five major construction projects, all on time and under budget, including a complex $34M construction project for a county jail and Sheriff’s offices. She developed the county’s first strategic plan by surveying 900 county employees, defining themes, creating transformations, gathering input from citizens, and prioritizing each strategic plan element. On two occasions, she simultaneously served as the Job and Family Services Director. She was instrumental in the creation of the county’s first workforce development center.
Fairfield County has been awarded more than 60 state and national awards for programs under her leadership, including programs for county administration, customer service, workforce development, communications, technology, public safety, and civic education. She has served on multiple state and national committees focusing on concepts grounded in servant leadership and stakeholder theory.
In 2019, Carri was honored with the Athena Award for leadership by the Lancaster-Fairfield Chamber of Commerce. She is engaged in multiple civic groups and boards, including the Visitation Advisory Council, Special Improvement District Board, and Destination Downtown District Board. She is past president of United Way of Fairfield County and has served on Ohio’s Fatherhood Commission, a Multi-County Juvenile Detention Board, the Fairfield County Regional Planning Commission, Ohio University Community Council, and more.
In 2020, Carri led the County and state in projects to communicate about and deal with the pandemic. She managed more than $8M of local CARES Act funds and supported multiple community groups dealing with the economic effects of the pandemic, including the county’s largest employer, a local hospital.
She was appointed by the Ohio Supreme Court to serve on the Commission on Continuing Legal Education through 2026. She was honored with the Jane Johnsen Women of Vision Award, an AGA Excellence in Government Leadership Award, & the Floyd Wolfe Community Service Award in 2024. That same year, she received Recognition of Distinction from Ohio University & Recognition as a Distinguished County Auditor from the County Auditors’ Association of Ohio, and the County Auditor’s Office received the Community’s Choice Award for being the Best Place to Work.
Carri lives in Lancaster, with her husband, Stephen (Cork), an attorney. They are blessed with two adult children (Corbin and Catherine) and four grandchildren: Ava (11), Simon (10), Mia (3), and Ella (1)