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Creative Direction · Design Management · Volunteerism

Non-Profit & Volunteer Work

Creative direction and team leadership across years of pro-bono work in Central Texas — leading volunteer designers, and teaching design thinking to the next generation.

A lot of how I lead today was shaped by volunteer work. It taught me that a shared sense of purpose can be the greatest way to unify and motivate individuals.

CreateAthon

A collage of CreateAthon pro-bono work — event posters for the Free Range Art and Fusebox film festivals, the Samaritan Center and Circle of Health International websites, the Protos Festival identity, and a brand sketch
My role
Principal Creative Director, 2011 to 2016 — setting the creative bar and running the floor through the all-nighter.
The team
A rotating crew of volunteer designers and writers, all donating a sleepless 24 hours.
The reach
Pro-bono work for more than 30 Central Texas non-profits across those six years.
Why it mattered
No org chart and a brutal clock — the work got done because people cared, not because anyone made them.

Round Rock High School After-school Design Program

Students clustered around whiteboards and glass walls covered in sticky notes during a design-thinking workshop, beside a set of hand-drawn storyboard sketches
My role
Program lead — shaping the curriculum with the school district and coaching students through it.
The team
AIGA peers and volunteer designers, high school faculty, plus the students we taught.
The reach
After-school design thinking for high-schoolers, built around a print shop they actually ran.
Why it mattered
Watching teenagers pick up affinitizing, user stories, and prototyping on a real system instead of a worksheet.

AIGA Creative Space

AIGA Creative Space branding and workshop photos — bold Explore/Build/Expand posters in magenta, yellow, and blue, a series of 'Build Your Creative Space' flyers, and students working through sticky-note exercises
My role
Helped brand and stand up the Creative Space — an offshoot of the after-school program.
The team
My AIGA chapter peers, working alongside the school.
The reach
A sign-up that drew more interest than we expected, which led to a large, ongoing curriculum based on real world design challenges from the industry. This project was also a great example of how good documentation could help continue the work you are doing after you leave the project.
Why it mattered
It showed a small group of volunteers’ ideas could be used to feed larger, up-scaled nationwide projects.
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