UNC Charlotte alumni Benjamin Collins, Laura Clark, Ryan Doherty and Julie Harris were honored recently by the Charlotte Business Journal as members of its “Forty Under 40.” The listing recognizes “young professionals who are making major strides in their careers and having a positive impact on their communities.”
Executive director of the Renaissance West Community Initiative, Clark previously worked for the Council for Children’s Rights as the director of research and planning and the United Way of Central Carolinas as the director of evaluation and community impact. She earned a master’s degree in clinical/community psychology from UNC Charlotte in 2002.
Collins, who completed an M.B.A. from the Belk College of Business in 2007, is senior vice president for the Mid-Atlantic region at Crescent Communities. Prior to Crescent, he was responsible for leading a regional multifamily office for Colonial Properties Trust and has served in development and acquisition roles for Grubb Properties and the Community Builders. A founding member of the UNC Charlotte Real Estate Alumni Association, Collins is former president and chairman of the North Carolina Housing Coalition.
Associate principal of ai Design Group, Doherty is a licensed architect and LEED-accredited professional in building design and construction. He is considered an expert in the specialized market sector of automotive service and retail design. Doherty became an owner of ai Design Group and was named an associate principal in 2014, making him the first partner added to the firm’s ownership since the company’s founding. He graduated from UNC Charlotte in 2005 with a Bachelor of Science in Architecture.
Harris is Bank of America’s CFO of global commercial banking. When she graduated from the Belk College of Business with a degree in finance and a concentration in accounting as part of the Business Honors Program, she entered the Finance Management Associate Program with Bank of America. Harris serves on the Belk College of Business Board of Advisors; she completed her bachelor’s degree in 2000.
Devin Collins, assistant director business and entrepreneurial development, Charlotte Research Institute, also was named to the list.