Meet Briaunna
This is your About Page. It's a great opportunity to give a full background on who you are, Briaunna Embrey-Banks is the CEO & Founder of Owning My Blackness (OMB) and Owning My Blackness Consulting. Embrey-Banks is a double regional award winner, being recognized as the 2023 Mid-Atlantic Association of College & University Housing Officers Annual Conference Best Presentation by a New Professional award winner and the 2021 Mid-Atlantic Association of College & University Housing Officers Commitment to Social Justice award recipient. Embrey-Banks also volunteers with the local branch of the National Association for the Advancement of Colored People (NAACP). She is currently getting her Masters Degree at the University of Maryland Baltimore in Diversity,Equity, Inclusion, and Leadership. She recently just received a Bachelor's Degree at York College of Pennsylvania with a major in Criminal Justice and a double minor in Creative Writing and African American Studies. you do, and what your website has to offer. Double click on the text box to start editing your content and make sure to add all the relevant details you want to share with site visitors.
My Story
In the first semester back on campus after the Covid-19 lockdown, Briaunna Embrey-Banks served as a Resident Assistant (RA) at her college institution. Tasked with planning events, she inspired by the national response to the Black Lives Matter Movement, created an original event called Black Out 4 Black Lives. This event provided a safe space for students and staff to explore the movement, its controversies, and its historical context, while also allowing participants to share personal stories, poetry, and music. Throughout the process, Embrey-Banks faced unique challenges related to systemic racism in education, including rumors that she was organizing a protest rather than an RA event. Nevertheless, she successfully hosted Black Out 4 Black Lives, the only in-person event on campus that semester. Following this impactful event, Embrey-Banks' awareness of systemic racism in education deepened, leading her to establish Owning My Blackness, a multi-institutional organization dedicated to educating, advocating, and uplifting Black students, along with a consulting branch aimed at combating systemic racism in education.