Profile

Personal Greeting Ken Brogno, AIA

Ken Brogno Person
Bronze Member
1000 points

Contact Details

Ken Brogno Person
San Francisco, CA

Bio

Ken grew up in the rust belt states of Pennsylvania, Ohio, and Michigan. He followed his father's footsteps by attending the University of Cincinnati. Ken majored in architecture.

"As a young adult straight out of high school I was surprised that an architectural education was so much fun. I was taken that architecture was considered artistic. While I also excelled at the more technical aspects of the program, I was hooked by design, theory, and history."

A key component of the six-year professional degree at Cincinnati is an eight quarter professional experience program. Ken worked in various New York City architectural firms.

"Working in NYC as a student was invaluable experience on many levels. I had to find places to live and jobs in very short time frames. It was old-school networking. The firms that I worked for bought into the value of gaining experience while still being a student. I was tasked with a lot of opportunities that recent graduates from other programs were just beginning to undertake themselves. Many of the firms that I worked for were so pleased with my efforts that they requested additional students to fill my positions when I returned to school. And NYC! So much can be learned about its history, and almost every culture and ethnicity just by walking through its neighborhoods. My eyes were wide open the whole time."

Upon graduation while visiting friends in San Francisco, Ken realized the freedom to access the natural beauty of the Bay Area and decided to relocate. After completing the licensing procedure to practice architecture while working in various architectural firms, Ken decided to pursue an MBA degree from the University of San Francisco.

"Challenging myself to go back to school in disciplines that I previously had very little exposure to was immensely gratifying. While enjoying the camaraderie with other mid-career professionals looking to better themselves, I excelled at presentations. Although the content was always very different, having an architectural background helped build upon my confidence in speaking to groups since as an architect I was familiar with that practice. In addition to furthering my public speaking and listening skills, I was able to also further develop my writing skills. Business school was all about critical thinking and communicating in clear ways. Writing well is vitally important in communicating."

While completing the MBA program, Ken continued to work as an architectural project manager on a variety of projects. Such projects included custom residential houses, multi-family housing, retail venues, restaurants, commercial offices, and mixed-use parking structures. Some of the more notable clients that Ken has serviced include Callaway Golf, John Muir Medical Center, and the City of San Francisco Departments of Public Health and Probation.

"My work experience has taken many directions. I find value in enjoying both familiar territory and new challenges. There is nothing like the gratification of working with teams that know that they can trust me to perform under the most difficult circumstances. Besides establishing a quality in the finished product that exceeds expectations, I am most pleased if everyone involved is also satisfied with the process."

Ken resides in San Francisco with his wife and daughter. He enjoys carpentry, music and photography in his spare time.