Joshua Abbey is originally from Iowa and graduated with a Bachelor of Architecture from Iowa State University. Upon graduation, he participated in the UDREAM Urban Design program at Carnegie Mellon University.

He was involved with a design-build missionary trip in Ecuador, South America where he worked with families and a local architect in a small village to construct a small school house. He has also studied architecture in Rome for a semester and has traveled to numerous countries in Western Europe. In his travels, he explored ways in which to immerse himself in the culture and develop a social and environmental awareness for design. He still maintains a passion for community focused design with a strong interest in sustainability.