The Donovan's Venom 501(c)(3)
Chief Creative Officer | 2025 – Present
The Donovan's Venom 501(c)(3) is a growing nonprofit dedicated to making music education and the arts accessible to underserved communities. In September 2025 I was interviewing for a UX Lead position when the Founder offered me the Chief Creative Officer role instead. I said yes — and built the position from the ground up.
Methods & Skills
Creative Direction · Creative Critique · Team Leadership · Volunteer Team Management · Talent Acquisition · Roadmapping · Editorial Direction · Cross-functional Facilitation · Onboarding & Training Development · Project Management · Brand Strategy · Accessibility · UX Strategy · Mentorship
My Role
This wasn't a standard creative role. I stepped in as the organization's first CCO, taking full ownership of the creative function and freeing the Founder/CEO to focus on broader organizational goals. Depending on what the team needs I function as UX Manager, Project Manager, or Creative Director — often all three in the same week. I also serve as a consistent creative and strategic thought partner to the Founder, regularly translating his vision into next steps across departments.
Every team is made up of volunteers, which means leadership here looks different than it does in a traditional org. It requires more relationship-building, more trust, and more intentionality about how you motivate and support people.
The Scope
I lead 6 cross-functional volunteer teams totaling 15+ contributors across UX Website, UX SaaS Product, Video Game Art Direction and Narrative Writing, Accessibility, Google Analytics, and Merchandise Development. I serve as the final creative checkpoint for all wireframes and design work before anything reaches the Founder/CEO, and I mentor early-career designers and writers across all teams, giving feedback, clearing blockers, and building confidence in the work.
What I built
One of my first priorities was accessibility. I raised concerns early, made it a consistent thread across the work, and founded a dedicated Accessibility team from scratch that has grown to 5 people and expanded into both web and in-person community outreach.
I also played a key role in shifting the organization's work into 4 new verticals, helping define the structure and direction needed to scale the creative output across a growing volunteer base.
And since joining I've been working toward one of the organization's biggest milestones — getting the flagship SaaS product ready for public launch.
What's Coming
The organization's flagship SaaS product is approaching public launch. Leading a product from concept through to launch — across volunteer teams, in a nonprofit environment — is the most expansive creative challenge I've taken on. And I show up for it fully every day.