A'mara S. Braynen (they/she) graduated Magna Cum Laude from Mount Holyoke College in Spring 2022, completing a B.A. in Africana Studies and Psychology with a concentration in Black Feminisms. They're currently a research specialist for the NIH-funded Environmental Influences on Childhood Outcomes Study (ECHO) Pittsburgh Girls Study cohort, as well as the Resilience In Stressful Environments (RISE) sub-study. Her current research interests center narratives of emotional and identity development in late adolescence and emerging adulthood of Queer Black, Indigenous, and People of Color. Specifically, themes around identity, coping, resilience, and experiences of major life stress during developmental transition periods. They're invested in being a part of a future of innovative and restorative change in the world through narrative and phenomenological qualitative research, community outreach and engagement, and the creation of equal opportunity for marginalized communities.

Ultimately, A'mara would love to apply to art history master's programs abroad to deepen her historical and artistic understanding of the experiences of trans-Atlantic blackness. Resisting historic amnesia by using art as a medium for collective acts of remembrance is the work they’d like to continue to do, as an art historian.