Guide Creative

Creative on Purpose

Meet Guide Creative

Creative on Purpose

We help nonprofits achieve their mission through creative design


We Are Guide Creative

At Guide Creative, our passion is helping nonprofits succeed, not only through design but in consistent branding, clear messaging, and audience-focused strategy and planning. With over 20 years of experience in the industry, we understand nonprofits better than anyone and we’re able to leverage this expertise to help you meet your organization’s goals through our uniquely tailored creative services.

Get more acquainted with us:

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Our profile would say “In a Relationship” on Facebook

The Blackbaud Family

Guide Creative is Blackbaud's design agency, directly employing all of our nonprofit-focused creative strategists, designers and developers. While our purpose, people, and processes are shared, our focused structure allows us to be nimble and progressive, expanding our design expertise to serve our customers as true leaders in nonprofit design. All Guide employees are proud Blackbaudians – most with tenure of 6 or more years. A customer of Guide Creative is a customer of Blackbaud, and we'll treat you just as well. We are like Universal Pictures to NBC or YouTube to Google. Get it? Get it? Yeah, you do!
Learn More How Blackbaud & Guide Creative Work Together

Our Philosophy and Mission

We are Here for You.

We eat, sleep and breathe nonprofit strategy, brand and design. Good thing there's no shortage of coffee.

Our Mission

At Guide Creative, our passion is making nonprofits look good.  And looking good is not all about design – it’s about consistency in branding, clarity in messaging, engaging through interactive design, listening to feedback and creating and adjusting a clear, focused strategy.

Our Philosophy

We promise to:
  • Design for your mission
  • Design for your audiences
  • Design for impact and user experience
  • Solve challenges through design
  • Create lasting impressions
  • Inspire action through design
The Team

Meet Our Team

We've collected the best and the brightest to better serve nonprofits.

Our culture, processes, ideas and environment are a direct product of our people. We pride ourselves on hiring and retaining the best, most passionate creatives and strategists to better serve the nonprofit community through design.

‹ Back to Main

Courtney Sakre

Snortney Courtney

Director

Florida girl, wine enthusiast, conflict resolver, Zappos lover, professional restaurant goer, music junkie, mom of two, fearless leader, visionary

Without Courtney, there would be no Guide Creative. Seeing the potential of the team and the need in the marketplace, Courtney was able to make the case that the best way for Blackbaud to serve client’s design needs was through a dedicated agency that had enough independence to try radical new ideas.

Survival Tactic for the Zombie Apocalypse

Resolve conflicts. Tempers can easily flair between survivors due to the stresses of always having to be at alert. A background in psychology can thus prove invaluable in keeping a group focused on killing zombies and not each other.

Kenna Schuman

Cheerleader

Design Services Manager

Office mama, operations wiz, “Behind the Music “alumni, bleeder of Tarheel-blue blood, lover of black dresses, tactical planner, wine aficionado, raiser of rascals

Kenna grew up on a farm in a one-stoplight town. Deciding to make her dreams come true, she drove to LA and hasn’t stopped since. After 16 years in broadcast production, nine years in marketing and advertising for broadcast, and five years in operations management, she landed at Guide Creative in her favorite place, Charleston, SC.

Survival Tactic for the Zombie Apocalypse

Rationing. Resources are in short supply after the Zombie Apocalypse. Making sure there is enough ammunition and food to ride out the waves of the undead and knowing who to disperse them to is an indispensable skill.

Kelley Jarrett

Marketeer

Market Manager

Urban farmer, marketing master, live-music lover, family-focused, creative leader, fashion rule bender, guitar-playing wannabe, beach bum.

When Guide Creative started coming together, it needed people with big ideas and even bigger ambitions to create the leading design agency for nonprofits; thankfully, Kelley was there to help provide those ideas and fuel that ambition.

SURVIVAL TACTIC FOR ZOMBIE APOCALYPSE

Herbology. Grocery stores were the first to be raided after the dead rose from their graves, so those with knowledge of agriculture hold a unique advantage over those that do not. Being able to subsist on the land is vital when the cities are swarming with ravenous corpses.

Brooke Hansel

So Hot Right Now

Business Development Manager

Professional listener, problem solver, oven queen, nature's her thing, beach bum, namaste, relax, chill, best-friend forever, happily married, baby on board, must love dogs

Brooke means business, and you can count on her to make things happen. As a bartender and waitress in her college days, she knows how to listen while providing top-notch service. Heading up the Guide sales team, she makes customer satisfaction a priority from the beginning. Her team is not only the first people you talk to; they will take the time to meet your needs and ensure your success. One of her greatest joys comes from participating in the incredible impact nonprofits have on people and their communities.

Survival Tactic for the Zombie Apocalypse

Find your center. It’s a chaotic world out there, and everything is out to get you. If you aren’t taking the time to balance your world, how can you stay alert when the night crawlers are on the prowl?

Andrew Fort

‘ey Blinkin!

Interactive Development Manager

Gamer, UI Nerd, Beer Snob, Fitness Guru, Ninja Turtle, Comic Sans Fan

Hailing from the frozen north in a land known as “Mi-chi-gan”, Andrew headed south seeking his fortune. Landing at Guide Creative after working with Blackbaud Design Services for five years, Andrew brings experience working with hundreds of nonprofit clients over the years to bear in Guide Creative, developing new service offerings and technology to support the growth of the agency.

Survival Tactic for the Zombie Apocalypse

Desensitization due to protracted gaming. Modern video games have successfully approximated the results of a Zombie Apocalypse several times over, resulting in the desensitized gamer being ready to face the real thing with a grim resolve and determination for a high score.


Liz Hiers

Lizzy Lou

Account Executive

Mother of twins, soccer player, Do-gooder, coffee addict, professional crossworder, shopaholic, proud ginger, New  Orleans native, jazz aficionado

Born and raised in New Orleans, Liz only expected to live in Charleston for a couple years after college. Meeting her husband and having twin boys changed those plans slightly and allowed Guide Creative to benefit from her sales expertise.

SURVIVAL TACTIC FOR ZOMBIE APOCOLYPSE

Patience. Surviving a Zombie Apocalypse is largely a waiting game. Eventually, the undead will decompose to the point that they are no longer a threat. Raising twin boys helps build the sort of boundless patience needed to wait out the risen dead.

Rachel Rzepkowski

Sounds Good

Account Manager

Uptown girl, socialite, runs for fun, shops with a fist, secret Martha Stewart fan, princess, pumpkin spice latte aficionado, marketing Barbie, the Z is silent

There is never a shortage of fun around here with Rachel as the social glue of the marketing team. She's also a phone calling machine. Not only does she live on the phone speaking to our prospects, she takes the time to understand the needs of each person she talks to in order to offer them the very best service. Meanwhile, she's happy to help anyone who needs it, whether it's getting coffee for a friend or running for a cause.

Survival Tactic for the Zombie Apocalypse

Accessorize. Every situation calls for a different tactic. Wearing powerful weaponry as a fashion statement will guarantee your safety, so long as your belt holds plenty of ammo.

Sean Markey

Sparky

Account Manager

Fast and furious, Michigander, beer me, world traveler, dances a mean Irish jig, bleacher bum, crazy cool cold-caller

He's the guy you enjoy a beer with, grab some grub with, and watch a game with… but he does it all with style. A purveyor of the finest foods and the tastiest brews, Sean looks for the finest quality in all that he enjoys. That's also his philosophy with our clients, as he seeks to find the best solutions and provide a quality experience throughout the entire sales process. Although he was raised in the great white North, he got his schooling in the South, and he takes every opportunity to see his alma mater USC Gamecocks shake down the SEC.

Survival Tactic for the Zombie Apocalypse

Negotiating. Every zombie wants a better life, and so they have agreed to unionize and march against the machine. As their leader, they will think he’s one of them, but who do you think he’ll bat for when the mob takes to the streets?


Aga Siuda

Lady Aga

Interactive Designer

Branding Jedi Master, Polish princess, caffeine addict, fresh fruit lover, logo artist, proud mama bear, flamenco dancer, hair-color changer

Hailing from Poland, Aga is a website and graphic designer specializing in branding with a focus on maintaining consistency with her client's brand whether designing websites or print materials.

SURVIVAL TACTIC FOR ZOMBIE APOCOLYPSE

Stay Caffeinated. By avoiding sleep and staying alert at all times, the hordes of deadites won’t have a chance to sneak up on you.

Allison Flanary

Smarty Pants

Creative Principle & Art Director

Creative, fashionista, cat lover, yoga enthusiast, wine aficionado, color theorist, typography junkie, world traveler, bocce player, pasta addict, Tarheel born and bred

Working on Blackbaud NetCommunity before it was cool, Allison has seen every style and type of Design Service at Blackbaud before moving to Guide Creative. Allison is passionate about clean, open designs with lots of texture and details and pays special attention to making sure that the colors and typography of her designs play off each other.

Survival Tactic for the Zombie Apocalypse

Take the Lead. Even the most skilled survivor groups fall apart if there isn’t someone there to take the reins and call the shots.

Amanda DeLong

Mands

Senior Design Coordinator

The scheduling enforcer and master of operations

Amanda has been with Blackbaud since 2007. During this time Amanda has scheduled all types of projects/products offered at Blackbaud. She started as a Resource Coordinator and coordinated all Raiser’s Edge, Financial Edge and Technical services. She then moved to a Project Coordinator to assist clients with all types of implementation. In August 2011 she moved to the design team to help coordinate all design related work. Amanda works very closely with our design team, sales, clients and the Project Coordinators to ensure projects are scheduled properly and in a timely manner.

Survival Tactic for the Zombie Apocalypse

Laugh it off. Sometimes a situation can be so absurd all you can do it laugh. Trouble is, are you laughing because you’ve finally cracked, or do you actually find the dead devouring the living hilarious?

Amy McIntyre

Amy Mac

Interactive Designer

Instagram groupie, customer satisfication all-star, DIY queen, wine lover, dual talent designer, concert-going regular, flip-flop enthusiast, amatuer chef

Amy is a Customer Satisfaction Award winning designer who has explored several unique career tracks before landing at Guide Creative. Starting out doing graphic design, then moving to advertising, then driving a promotional truck around the country, and finally heading back to her hometown in Charleston, Amy has kept the customer experience at the heart of her work and it shows here at Guide.

Survival Tactic for the Zombie Apocalypse

What you don’t have, make. Only the craftiest will survive the Apocalypse, and the craftier the better. Raiding an abandoned Michael’s over a sporting goods store may not seem like it makes much sense, but think of the camouflage that could be constructed.

Anthony Harris

Butterfingers

Interactive Designer

Southern robot, panhandler, web nerd, old-school artist, outdoorsman, on the down low, on the move, party of six, short and sweet, ladies man

With almost a decade of web development experience, Anthony combines his love for fine arts with his ability to make stuff work. He understands that a good web experience brings out the best in design and functionality. Before joining the Guide Creative team, he ran his own design business where he picked up a myriad of skills that allow him to exercise his creativity while helping nonprofits make a difference at the same time.

Survival Tactic for the Zombie Apocalypse

Endurance. The same skills needed to survive in the woods for days at a time are the same skills that will help you go the distance while navigating the crazy landscape.

Ben German

Skater Boy

Interactive Designer

Carnivore, native Brit, kilt wearer, CSS guru, roller blading ninja, proud dad, curry connoisseur, glitter hater, beach bum, HTML5 master, nail biter, shameless

Ben has a love for the design of good user experiences. He has been lucky enough to pursue this love directly after graduating from university with a design degree, then working his way up in some impressive interactive agencies such as NuOrbit Media Inc., Digital Paint Ltd and Quantum Solutions Ltd, gaining over 12 years of experience in the process.

Survival Tactic for the Zombie Apocalypse

Inline Skates. Zombies can’t eat what they can’t catch.

Brent Hackman

Hacky

Senior Interactive Designer

Horse-and-buggy racer, developer Jedi, minivan maestro, video game ninja, Steeler fan, breakfast devotee, website-tricker-outer, toddler whisperer

Representing the Pennsylvania office of Guide Creative, Brent can be found knee deep in code at home while not dodging Amish buggies on the roads. A versatile creative architect, Brent enjoys the design of a new site just as much as he does the development of said site.

Survival Tactic for the Zombie Apocalypse

See the value in refuse and antiques. Cast off and forgotten “trash” is everywhere following the fall of civilization. It takes a keen eye to recognize the treasure that could save lives in something that anyone else would consider worthless.

Caleb Copper

The Tall Guy

Interactive Designer

Urban cowboy, coffee maker, coffee drinker, neat-freak, jazz hands, stage junkie, analog gamer, feed me, friend me, love me, Mr. Reliable, a really nice guy

Everybody likes Caleb, and how could you not? He exudes positivity while making great contributions through his work. His passion is to help organizations reach their online goals and then seeing how the result of his work extends beyond the digital space. As an iGen member of the team, he specializes in creating a crazy, awesome user experience on mobile devices. Off the clock, you'll find Caleb at the closest theatre enjoying a show, or showing off his own mad acting/dancing/singing skills.

Survival Tactic for the Zombie Apocalypse

Element of surprise. You can’t touch this. While moving at a slow, linear pace, the undead have a hard time responding to the movements of a well-trained stage dancer. Plus, who isn’t easily distracted by jazz hands?

Chris Wolf

Boom City

Interactive Design & Marketing Principal

Barbecue sauce innovator, JavaScript Jedi, proud coffee addict, closet sound engineer, coding nerd, father of one, Magnum P.I. fan, shady, Epic Winner

A man who needs no introduction, but still wants one, Chris comes here from the other side of tracks to combine a mix of street smarts with a solid understanding of how things work. His maverick attitude and disdain for conventional wisdom bring a fresh perspective to Guide Creative, while always looking at ways to crush the proverbial box instead of thinking outside of it. On the other hand, you'll find Chris embracing corporate America while working on his Macbook at the local Starbucks.

Survival Tactic for Zombie Apocalypse

Wit. While the horde of undead are closing in, little do they know they are marching to their doom. That tasty human flesh on the ground has been pre-loaded with enough disease to wipe out an entire civilization.

Katherine Foreman

Kitty

Interactive Designer

Homebrewer, spelunker, CSS ninja, mother of none, chef wannabe, live music maniac

Katherine has many leatherbound books and navigates through deep maze-like caves with ease, but her true talents are found in her professional work. Clients are often amazed by her ability to build anything from emails to website designs, always using the most current standards and best practices.

Survival Tactic for the Zombie Apocalypse

Sail away. The undead ate their swim instructors’ brains before learning to freestyle.

Katherine Till

Soop

Interactive Designer

Theater nut, bubble blower, master designer, creative left-brainer, mom-to-be, puppy parent, logo queen, fitness junkie, friend-to-all

While Guide Creative serves nonprofit clients in a professional sense, our team members are also encouraged to serve nonprofits in a personal sense as well. Katherine epitomizes this desire that Guide Creative has to better its community through her work volunteering at the Charleston Unified theater program and also as a volunteer youth director at her local church.

Survival Tactic for the Zombie Apocalypse

Trust in friends. Strong relationships prior to the dead rising will persist as bonds between friends that can help a survivor group stand strong against adversity.

Lucas Cobb

Skywalker

QA Analyst

Trucker-hat collector, cross-browser jedi, detail lover, Beverly Hills hillbilly, guitartist, amateur photographer, popcorn enthusiast , movie buff

As the Quality Assurance Gatekeeper for Guide projects, Lucas makes the call whether a project is ready to go, or needs a bit more polishing. The analytical need of QA suits Lucas perfectly, as his background in graphic design and engineering provide the unique combination of skills that allow him to see how a design has come together and how it should properly function.

Survival Tactic for the Zombie Apocalypse

Mr. Fix-it. In a wasteland filled with the cast-off remnants of a now fallen world, a proper engineer can cobble together the right pieces of broken down cars and trucks to assemble the perfect zombie-crushing machine.

Mary Shockley

Jersey

Interactive Designer

Greek goddess, 3D master, coding queen, professional bargain hunter, purse collector, New Jersey native, new mom, bubble gum hater

One look at Mary’s desk will tell you exactly what her passion is for. Her love for 3D Art and Design is represented by Pixar figurines standing vigil over her workspace, from the Incredibles guarding her Macbook from the schemes of Syndrome, to Sulley and Mike Wazowski ready to scare away anyone that would come near her Magic Mouse.

Survival Tactic for the Zombie Apocalypse

Disguise and blend in. Those with a theatric background can put their talents to use by blending in with the hordes of undead, though the steps to mimic the smell of the dead may a bit more than most can handle.

Meredith McCreight

twenty-two

Interactive Designer

Dog lover, sketch artist, reality-TV-junkie, coffee snob, runner (ahem, moderate jogger), book worm, outdoor gal, left and right-brainer, coding ninja, compulsive shopper

Refining her digital and print design skills while working with a humane society in Arizona, Meredith brings a talent set to Guide Creative that not only includes an art, marketing and SEO background, but also firsthand knowledge of working within several nonprofit organizations.

Survival Tactic for the Zombie Apocalypse

“Nom, nom, nom, BRAINS!” Whoops. Guess ya can’t win ‘em all.

Pendleton Rouse

Rouse like House

Interactive Designer

Pendleton abides. As one of the newest team members at Guide Creative, Pendleton brings a multi-faceted background built up from years freelancing in branding and identity, SEO, and analytics. She loves all visual aspects of the web, and has a passion for helping her clients refine their mission and vision into a coherent digital message.

Survival Tactic for the Zombie Apocalypse

Live fire practice. Those that enjoyed the sport of Paintball prior to the Zombie Apocalypse have the distinct advance of knowing some basic squad mechanics.

Randee Campbell

Annie

Interactive Designer

Southern belle, designer extradionaire, dog park regular, Ikea shopper, Picasso lover, marketing guru, artist

At home either on the computer developing a new site or seated in front of a canvas painting, Randee has never wanted to do anything else other than design. Pior to working with Guide Creative, Randee gained experience working for several graphic design firms developing print materials and product marketing materials.

Survival Tactic for the Zombie Apocalypse

Camouflage. Artists can find a calling after the Zombie Apocalypse by turning human beings into their new canvases, creating camouflage that allows survivors to evade the Undead.

Sally Hsieh

Sensible Sally

Senior Interactive Designer

Design enthusiast, salsa dancer, kitchen ace

Sally has been making magic on the web since 1999. In addition to her design expertise, she has extensive experience with the Blackbaud Sphere Platform. She's been designing and building sites on Sphere since 2003.

Survival Tactic for the Zombie Apocalypse

Join them. Frontal lobes are overrated.

Steve Brush

Skinny Boy

Design & Marketing Principal

Steve sees the markup and scripting of a web site as a game of sorts, in which writing the most efficient, semantic code attains a high score. This works well for him, considering that when he is not working, he can usually be found gaming. Steve’s specialty is in user interface design through custom solutions developed within a variety of content management systems.

Survival Tactic for the Zombie Apocalypse

Necessity is the Mother of all Inventions. Gaming can be inspiring when it comes to surviving a Zombie Horde. Where else would you get the idea that a lawnmower can be used for more than yard work?

Want to work at Guide Creative and design for a purpose?
We’re hiring! Check out our job openings.

Get a Job with Guide Creative

Culture and Careers

Cultural Matters

Wanna know what it's like to work at Guide Creative?

When meetings, calls and deadlines abound, finding time for fun can be challenging. And don't get us wrong, we work hard, but we also aim to strike a balance between work and life, even when we're in the office.

Outside of work, we spend our free time volunteering at our favorite local nonprofit organizations, meeting up for baseball games or grabbing a bite after a long day. (And yes, we like each other so much that 40-plus hours a week simply isn't enough QT together.)

Since spending time in the office is unavoidable, we try to spend our work hours focusing on challenging the status quo, keeping up on the latest technology trends, dreaming up new ideas, and passionately delivering design that inspires action. And we are pretty nerdy, so we kind of... well, we love it.


Pieces of Flair
  • 4 Exotic Imports (Our Beloved Foreign Transplants)
  • 7 Beer Snobs
  • 3 of marathoners and/or triathletes
  • 19 Average # of sneezes per day in the studio
  • 4 buns in the oven

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