Briaunna Boyd

Briaunna, a native of Winston-Salem, graduated from the University of North Carolina at Charlotte, earning a Bachelor of Arts in Architecture degree, as well as a Masters of Architecture degree. She minored in Religious Studies and got involved in AIAS. Her passion for architecture lead her to serve as a student ambassador for the School of Architecture’s advising department. With duties including mentoring and speaking to prospective architecture students and their families, she was a person of leadership and growth for the campus’s architecture community.

Briaunna aspires to become a licensed architect. She is interested in starting a firm of her own one day which will seek to provide minority students with the chance to gain professional experience.

If I weren’t an intern architect at Neighboring Concepts, I’d be…. A Krispy Kreme doughnut taster (I am dangerously addicted to those things 🤭)

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“I attended a couple of lectures at my school where Darrel had talked, afterwards I had a coffee date with my mentor and she mentioned the firm. Given my passion for design that is thoroughly impacted by community, she thought it would be the perfect fit for me; I will forever be grateful for her.

I try my best to insert myself wherever I can, to support my team and the work that we do. Outside of work, I am an avid art supply collector (especially sketchbooks), crocheter, and artist who can tell you everything that is in stock at Dollar Tree. Also, I love almost anything orange.

I would say that my greatest achievement is pursuing a college education. I grew up in a very rough area; statistics say that it would be almost impossible to expect that I would make out of that area. Almost. My mom hammered in us how important having an education was while we were growing up. Without a single clue as to how I would pay for it, going to college opened up so many other great opportunities that I would never have been able to pursue otherwise.

While I was in college earning my Bachelor of Arts in Architecture degree, I was a member of the American Institute of Architecture Students (AIAS), as well as the National Society of Leadership and Success (NSLS). I also enjoyed serving as a student ambassador for the School of Architecture’s advising department, which involved me mentoring and speaking to prospective students and their families. Outside of that, I am currently a new mentor for the Charlotte chapter of ACE, and a featured designer for North Carolina’s Say It Loud: Beyond the Built Environment exhibition.

Architecture has the ability to make or break the foundation of spaces, whether they be figurative or physical. I believe that everyone should have access to quality design; my passion is to help those that don’t have the resources to help themselves. I’ve seen what architecture can do, and it is my belief that it can do so much more. As someone who was raised in a very poor and underdeveloped area of Winston-Salem, I aim to use what I’ve learned to help struggling communities.”