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Clients

The following is a select list from the 200+ people and organizations I’ve worked with in the past 15 years:

Non-profit Organizations

American Civil Liberties Union

American Friends Service Committee

Bread & Roses Community Fund

Center for Campus Free Speech

Clean Air Council

Clark Park Music and Arts Community

Climate Protection Campaign

Common Cause

Delaware River Waterfront Corp.

Environment America

Environmental Action

Fair Share Alliance

The Frontier Group

The Fund for the Public Interest

Grassroots Campaigns, Inc.

Green Century Funds

Intentional Endowments Network

Juvenile Diabetes Research Foundation

Margaret S. Mahler Psychiatric Research Foundation

Massachusetts Clean Energy Center

MidAtlantic Environmental Law Center

MoveOn.org

Northern Liberties Business Improvement District

Natural Resources Defense Council

New Jersey Citizen Action

Partners for Health

Philadelphia Community Access Coalition

The Public Interest Network

Progressive Future

Queen Village Neighbors Association

Renfrew Center Foundation

Snowriders International

Toxics Action Center

U.S. PIRG and the Federation of State PIRGs

Women Against Abuse

Work for Progress

Educational

Temple University

University of Pennsylvania

Arts and Cultural

2nd Street Festival

Asian Arts Initiative

Buckeye Recording Studio

Clef Club of Jazz & Performing Arts

Courtyard Dancers

CultureTrust Greater Philadelphia

Greater Philadelphia Cultural Alliance

Philadelphia Independent Film and Video Association

Philly Songwriters Project

Spiral Q Puppet Theater

Surreal Studios

Turtle Recording Studio

Weathervane Music Organization

 

This summer, I’ll be wrapping up work on a rather long-term project. (Long-term at least by the standards of a freelancer.) Though the bulk of my assignments are fairly brief in scope, ranging from three to six months, this job has been well over a year in the making.

In a 2-phase implementation, I’ve launched the WordPress-based website of Work for Progress, a employment firm for non-profit organizations. My role included all phases of deployment, including custom UI/UX design, front- and back-end development, and the creation of a complex job board and job application system that interfaces with the client’s remote database.

Sure I’ve built plenty of websites in the past, but with its unique requirements, this assignment gave me the opportunity to learn a lot. A chance to learn new skills, of course, but also to learn about myself.

In my 15 years of freelancing, I’ve worked on nearly one thousand projects with more than a hundred clients. Nearly all of this work arrived at my desk via word of mouth referral (and plenty of repeat business).

So I know that I must be doing something right.

Yet despite—and while I’m humbly grateful for the success of my career thus far—this latest website project made me realize I want more: More challenges, more collaboration, more opportunities for my work to have a bigger impact.

Sustainable growth and professional development is something I routinely struggle with as a freelancer. I find as my experience and skills mature, it’s increasingly difficult to find projects that suit my abilities or satisfy my career pursuits. Understandably, the more substantial projects end up at more fully staffed agencies, better equipped to handle the multiple roles involved in web development. I realized that I will need to discover novel approaches to achieve my goals.

While I’m busy researching new opportunities, a colleague posted on LinkedIn about a relatively new platform called Toptal. Toptal appears to specialize in matching heavily vetted web developers, designers and related professionals with qualified clients working on industrial-scale projects via their Web Engineers Network. This sounded like a potentially good match to me!

So, I signed up with Toptal, filled out a questionnaire, and am now on to the next steps. Those steps include interviews and what appears to be a robust skills assessment. We’ll see if I have what it takes to join their network. And I’m equally excited to discover whether they can connect me to the sort of challenging projects, collaborations and impactful work that I seek.