NAILS is saddened to note the passing of nail technician Brenda L. Roberts- Brown who championed the causes of licensing in the state of Illinois and continuing education for nail technicians. As Paul Dykstra, executive director of the Chicago Cosmetologists Association (CCA), writes in the association’s March/April ‘97 newsletter:

“Brenda was a major proponent in effecting legislation for nail licensure. She, along with Patricia Johnson-Rambo, Joanna Nykiel, Maggie Boyd, and others worked diligently to ensure Illinois’ nail technicians were guaranteed their rightful place as true professionals alongside their other salon practitioner colleagues.”

Says Johnson-Rambo, who started CCA Nail Chicago, an educational division of the CCA with Roberts-Brown, “She was one of the pioneers, instrumental in getting continuing education programs started first locally, then statewide, and finally on a national level. Our goal was to create functional ed­ucational committees that would make the latest techniques available to other nail technicians.” In addition to her work in cosmetology, Roberts-Brown taught school in the Chicago area.

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