Gensler Honors Students as Recipients of the 2025 Gensler Brinkmann Scholarship & Opportunity Scholarship

WASHINGTON, D.C. — Gensler, an award-winning global architecture and design firm, is proud to announce two emerging designers have been selected as recipients of the 2025 Gensler Brinkmann Scholarship and 15 architecture students have been awarded the 2025 Gensler Opportunity Scholarship.

The Brinkmann Scholarship was established in 1999 as a memorial to Donald G. Brinkmann, an inspirational interior designer and former Gensler principal who personified the essence of design, vision, and leadership. This year marks the 26th anniversary of the establishment of the scholarship.

Robin Klehr Avia, Chair Emeritus of Gensler’s New York office brought together an esteemed jury of Gensler team members to select this year’s Gensler Brinkmann Scholarship Winners. This year’s jury was chaired by Robin Klehr Avia and included Arielle Levy, Helen Cowin, Alexia Beghi, Jonas Gabbai, Jeremy Jonet, Sebastian Hernandez, and Geoffrey Diamond.

This year’s top prizes went to Ella Beth, fourth year interior architecture student at Kansas State University, and Alvin You, an undergraduate interior designer at Pratt Institute. The two outstanding students will be awarded $5,000 each in scholarships.

2025 Brinkmann Scholarship Recipients

Pursuing a Master of Interior Architecture at Kansas State University, Ella Beth has found that design is a powerful form of communication that tells the stories of people, places, and communities. She approaches each project with empathy and a drive to ask deeper questions, always seeking purposeful, human-centered solutions. She believes great design is about balancing functionality with emotional impact. Whether working on academic projects or collaborating with peers, she brings an intentional mindset and a genuine desire to shape spaces that uplift and inspire.

Winning this Scholarship is a true honor for Ella. She is deeply grateful for the support this scholarship provides in advancing her education and career. Being selected by such a respected firm motivates Ella to push herself further in her design endeavors and serves as reinforcement for her journey so far.

Alvin You, an Interior Design student at Pratt Institute, has always been fascinated by how the built environment shapes how we feel and move through the world. Growing up between Vancouver and New York, and spending summers in China, he became sensitive to the quiet ways design influences our everyday experiences. A space can offer comfort, spark curiosity, or bring people together without saying a word, but it can also create discomfort or exclusion.

It is an incredible honor and a meaningful milestone in Alvin’s design journey to win this scholarship. This recognition from a firm he's long admired inspires him to keep moving forward, stay curious, and continue embracing who he is as a designer.

“The Brinkmann scholarship is emblematic of Gensler’s commitment to and investment in the next generation of design professionals and we are thrilled to support the development of this year’s winners. Every year we honor Don Brinkmann’s legacy and celebrate his influence on our profession by recognizing the talents of these students,” says Robin Klehr Avia.

Annually, the fund celebrates Brinkmann’s career-long commitment to nurturing emerging design talent. Applications for the scholarship launch in January each year and close in March. Candidates are evaluated based on their analysis and problem-solving skills, design development, graphic presentation, communication skills, and passion.

2025 Opportunity Scholarship

Gensler is additionally proud to announce 15 emerging designers as the recipients of the 2025 Opportunity Scholarship, awarding them over $60,000 in scholarships from this year’s program.

Opportunity Scholarship + Design Challenge (U.S.)

In 2025, Gensler launched the Opportunity Scholarship + Design Challenge to work to break down the barriers of entering the architectural profession and provide opportunities for all students. These scholarships award students enrolled in U.S. not-for-profit architecture programs with academic tuition scholarships, micro-scholarships for books and materials, and opportunities for summer internships.

2025 Tuition Scholarship Recipients

This year’s prizes were awarded to five talented individuals: Na Rye Han, a graduate student at Yale University; Stephany Altruda, a graduate student at Boston Architectural College; Hai Truong, a rising fourth year student at Illinois Institute Technology; Joseph Appiah, a graduate student at Harvard University; and Zahabiya Sakarwala, a rising fourth year at the California College of the Arts in San Francisco.

“Design has the power to change lives and strengthen communities — and that starts with opening doors for the next generation of talent,” said Jordan Goldstein, Co-CEO of Gensler. “We are proud to champion students from all backgrounds who are stepping into our industry with bold ideas and a drive to make a real impact today and for the future.”

This year, the tuition scholarship applicants were asked to respond to one of four prompts that addressed current challenges in society: providing engaging and quality design for communities that have been historically neglected, preserving and celebrating culture and community through sustainability, reimagining ways for designers to make a difference, and designing for inclusiveness in our practice, communities, and cities.

Yale University’s Na Rye Han has a design philosophy that is grounded in the exploration of boundaries and movement as catalysts for human-centered spatial experience. Growing up in South Korea and later studying internationally, she became deeply aware of how cities evolve as layered palimpsests of history, culture, and infrastructure. Winning this scholarship is a recognition of Na Rye’s journey and an investment in her aspirations as a designer. It provides vital support that enables Na Rye to fully pursue her studies and professional development, while alleviating financial burdens that often limit creative exploration.

Stephany Altruda, a Brazilian-born architectural designer, is currently pursuing her Master of Architecture at the Boston Architectural College. Her design process lives at the intersection of community, technology, and sustainability, and she is passionate about creating spaces that are responsive, inclusive, and forward-thinking. Looking ahead, Stephany hopes to contribute to projects that regenerate not only the environment but also the social fabric of our communities. Whether through academic research, public space design, or practice, she believes architecture is a powerful tool to support equity, cultural identity, and climate-conscious innovation. Winning this scholarship is a deeply affirming moment in her journey, not only as an emerging architect, but as someone who left home, language, and familiarity behind to pursue a vision.

A fourth year architecture student at Illinois Institute of Technology, Hai Truong was attracted to the profession after pursuing his curiosity about the process of how a building comes to life from just a mere sketch on paper, or on the back of a napkin as Frank Gehry did. As a young and emerging designer, Hai holds a firm belief in his responsibility to contribute values and efforts in positively changing the world. Winning this scholarship is a solid statement that helps him acknowledge his design perspective and intuition, and confidently convey his voice and ideas.

Joseph Appiah is a current graduate student at Harvard University with roots in Ghana and his home in the U.S., which has shaped different stages of his life and continues to influence his goals in design. He has always been intrigued by history, art, and culture, and has grown to appreciate the nuances of the differences and similarities of both places. Winning this scholarship is a great vote of confidence to keep pursuing this path. Joseph sees this investment in his education as something that he hopes to pay forward in his career and is grateful to know organizations like Gensler are creating the opportunities for people of different backgrounds and perspectives to be able to thrive in the architecture profession.

Zahabiya Sakarwala, a rising fourth year student at the California College of the Arts in San Francisco, grew up in Mumbai and once dreamed of creating structures that would last forever. Over time, she came to understand that impact does not always mean permanence — it can also mean adaptability. This realization continues to shape her design ethos, reminding her that architecture, like life, is rooted in resilience, flexibility, and care. This scholarship affirms the value of the questions she has been asking and the paths she is exploring, while giving her the confidence to imagine the future with greater clarity and courage. It is a reminder that Zahabiya’s design vision, guided by empathy and flexibility, has the power to shape lives in meaningful ways.

2025 Micro-Scholarship Recipients

In addition to the tuition scholarship, ten students were awarded micro-scholarships, smaller awards intended to supplement the added expense of studio materials and books. The following students were recipients of this year’s Opportunity Micro Scholarship:

• Ali Ahmed, University of Washington Seattle
• Zahraa Krayim, Lawrence Technological University
• Samuel Boakye, Yale University
• Felipe Cruz, University of Washington
• Monet DeFreece, University of Kansas
• Dana Goodridge, Howard University
• Arturo Hernandez, Mississippi State University
• Ahmed Shaker, Kennesaw State University
• Kraig Sims, University of Michigan Ann Arbor
• Sofia Solianyk, University of Detroit Mercy

The Opportunity Scholarship + Design Challenge reflects Gensler’s commitment to fostering design talent. Applicants must be enrolled in architecture programs within the U.S. Gensler’s breadth of practice area expertise and inclusive professional environment provide selected students with an opportunity to expand their core competencies and broaden their understanding of the power that design holds to effect transformative change.

Applications for the 2026 Brinkmann Scholarship and the Opportunity Scholarship will launch in the fall of 2026. To be considered, students must have a letter of recommendation from the dean, chair, or faculty member of their school and submit the respective submissions required for each scholarship.

Learn more about the Gensler scholarships and bursary programs and email with any questions.

Meet our 2025 Gensler Scholarship recipients — watch the winners’ video submissions.