Alum Nancy R. Twine to Name McIntire’s Atrium with a Gift Reflecting the Power of Education, Representation, and an Inspirational Future

When visitors step into McIntire’s Shumway Hall and enter the soaring space that will bear her name, they may initially notice the light, the movement, the hum of conversation. The “living room” of the Commerce Complex, the atrium fosters gathering in groups to review projects. What may be less immediately visible is how closely the space reflects the journey of the alumna it honors. Through a $4 million commitment to the Commerce School’s Next Century Building Fund, Nancy R. Twine (McIntire ’07) will name one of McIntire’s most visible and welcoming gathering places. But the gift is less about recognition than reflection: It tells a story of education as a launchpad; of representation as a catalyst; and of a career built by curiosity, discipline, and the courage to create something new.

Twine’s path from McIntire classrooms to Wall Street, from kitchen-formulated hair care products to founding and scaling the mainstream clean beauty brand Briogeo, and now to her next unwritten entrepreneurial chapter captures the very essence of what McIntire strives to offer its students: preparation, possibility, and perspective.

Education as the Foundation for Confidence and Capability

For Twine, the decision to give back began with values passed on to her from her parents long before she was college age. “The importance of education was instilled within me from a very young age,” she says.

At McIntire, that learning foundation became practical and personal. After arriving at UVA without a clear sense of what she wanted to do after college, she was excited to align her burgeoning passion for entrepreneurship with the undergraduate business program. She credits the School with helping her develop skills she still relies on today, often through experiences she was navigating for the first time. “McIntire was the first place where I learned how to give a presentation in front of a group,” she says. “It was the first time that I had worked with a group to complete a really complex project and had to come up with creative solutions to business problems.”

Those moments were formative not just for her first job at Goldman Sachs, where she would rise in the ranks to Commodities, Sales & Trading Vice President, but for everything that followed. “Ultimately, I became an entrepreneur, but I wouldn’t have been able to become such a strong entrepreneur had I not had a career that really helped to build so many skills that empowered that journey,” she says. “And what prepared me for that career was my education at McIntire.”

Her belief that education compounds over time drives her philanthropy today. She credits her time at McIntire for its formative power and is compelled to pay that forward for the benefit of future Commerce students. “I feel called to help others on a similar education journey reap as much as possible from that experience,” she says.

Role Models and the Power of Shared Spaces

The naming of the Shumway Hall atrium held particular meaning for Twine, not only because of its prominence, but because of what it symbolizes. “The truth of the matter is there aren’t a lot of people who look like me who have these kinds of spaces named after them,” she says.

Seeing possibility reflected back at her has always mattered. “I’ve always felt that the more that I saw people who looked like me doing different things, the more I got curious about doing them myself and the more that I believed that I could actually do it,” she says. Twine hopes that visibility will resonate with students who pass through the space daily as they imagine what their own futures might look like.

Those early influences started close to home for her. “My mom was a big inspiration to me,” Twine says. “She was a Black woman running her own family medical practice, and it always seemed like she was doing the impossible, but doing it with such confidence.” At home, her mom, also a chemist, taught her how to gather extracts, butters, oils, and salts at the local health food store and blend them into bespoke beauty products for family and friends. Later, she found inspiration in entrepreneurs like beauty product innovator Lisa Price, Founder of Carol’s Daughter. “Seeing [Lisa] create this incredible empire was validation for me that I, too, could do this.”

That’s why Twine continues to share her own story through speaking engagements and her Makers Mindset podcast: “The more I feel like I can broadcast my journey and what I’ve done and accomplished, the more people can see it, and the more people can dream.”

That belief in limitless possibility extends to physical spaces. Twine says she has always gravitated toward places where people come together and thrive off each other’s energy: “Those spaces are special because they create the opportunity for a lot of connectivity, community, and a way to step outside of yourself and expose yourself to new ideas and opportunities.”

Building, Branding, and Being “Super Scrappy”

As her own career advanced, Twine learned about the importance of passion paired with patience. “You may be given an excellent opportunity, or maybe you’re in a career that isn’t necessarily the right fit,” she says, “but every opportunity gives you something that you can learn to grow from.”

As she moved from Goldman Sachs to strike out on her own as the Founder of Briogeo, she discovered where she thrives most. “What excites me the most is that building phase: being super scrappy, having a lean team, thinking outside of the box, and taking risks,” she shares. Twine’s love for consumer packaged goods, brand building, and product innovation continues to shape what will come next for her.

She remains energized by efficiency, creativity, the possibility of bypassing roadblocks through technology like AI, and the future of brand strategy. “There’s so much more to brand than just the product and the visuals and the packaging, but the heart and soul of what drives a brand and how you articulate that in creative ways.”

Additionally, her ongoing engagement with founders and leaders, such as those featured in McIntire’s Connaughton Speaker Series and conversations on her podcast, reflects that same curiosity and commitment to sharing insights.

Performance, Wellness, and Sustaining the Journey

As much as Twine values ambition, she’s equally candid about its costs, especially for young people. “One of the things that I was challenged with in college is that I wanted to do well, get the best internships, and the best grades,” she says. “Sometimes it’s easy to get lost in performance and pouring yourself into meeting these high expectations of yourself.”

Her advocacy for wellness comes from lived experience, and she encourages others to take it seriously, as a building block for success. “You need to prioritize your well-being and self-care, whatever that means for you.” That perspective is especially relevant for today’s students.

In many ways, the naming of the atrium brings Twine’s story full circle. As a space for learning, gathering, and collaboration—marked by both energy and pause—the atrium reflects a belief in visibility and connection, strong foundations, and the power of environments that invite ideas to be exchanged. And fittingly, it’s a space meant not just to be passed through, but to be lived in, much like the career and values that inspired it.

As Twine puts it, “While all those things are important and you should strive to be your highest self, I think the only way to accomplish that and to feel the joy of that is to invest in your own self-care at the same time.”