Work Experience

UX Operations Manager at Indeed
Remote, April 2022 to present

Fostered cross-functional collaboration by successfully building bridges between groups and functions, leading initiatives to deliver programs, systems, and standards that empowered up to 600 UX professionals to enhance user experiences.

• Strategic partnership and coaching: Collaborated with and mentored individual contributors, managers, and senior UX leadership to align needs, facilitate connections between teams, and promote organizational synergy.

• Cross-functional collaboration: Worked seamlessly with departments such as Learning and Development, HR, Legal, AI, and Data Science to integrate UX strategies and drive holistic solutions.

• Vision and planning: Developed and executed the UX Ops team’s strategy by leveraging data and feedback to identify and prioritize initiatives that support the UX community and align with broader business objectives.

• Operational excellence: Led projects to enhance communication, refine rubrics, support UX career development, analyze community data, advocate for AI integration, and build a stronger community.

• Proactive process improvement: Identified and documented best practices, created templates and resources, and developed tools to improve the quality of user experiences and facilitate job attainment.

Design Director and Deputy VP of Design at Forum One
Arlington, Virginia, January 2019 to April 2022

Oversaw the creative direction and voice of design, shaping the vision for how design was conceptualized, executed, and marketed within the company. Led end-to-end design processes—from discovery to UX and visual design—across diverse deliverables, with a primary focus on large-scale responsive websites.

• As Design Director:

  • Led a team of six graphic and UX designers: Managed a team, oversaw the hiring, development, and management of design interns, and fostered a creative and productive work environment.

  • Enhanced design quality: Implemented rigorous standards and best practices, ensuring client satisfaction and driving brand consistency.

  • Led DesignOps initiatives: Streamlined processes and operations within the design team to boost efficiency, reduce bottlenecks, and improve project delivery timelines.

  • Business development collaboration: Contributed design expertise in sales pitches and client presentations, playing a key role in securing new business opportunities.

  • Senior leadership partnership: to provide strategic insights and guidance, directly advising the CEO and VP team on design strategy and operational improvements.

• Served as Deputy VP of Design while VP was on parental leave, a total of nine months:

  • Led a team of 13 graphic and UX designers: Directed and supported a diverse team, including managers, through the challenges of the first two years of the COVID-19 pandemic, ensuring continuity and performance.

  • Strategic planning and budgeting: Formulated the team’s vision for the upcoming year, developed and managed budgets, and provided strategic input for company-wide annual planning. Presented insights and updates at executive team meetings.

  • Recruiting and resource alignment: Recruited and onboarded multiple designers, collaborating with project delivery teams to effectively allocate resources and align staff with project needs.

• Notable clients: Arkansas Museum of Fine Arts, Smithsonian Museum of the American Indian, Grange Insurance.

Art Director at Taoti Creative
Washington, D.C., January 2017 to December 2018

Directed discovery, UX, and visual design processes for diverse online and offline projects, with an emphasis on large-scale responsive websites. Led client-facing meetings and discovery activities, including interviews, to ensure design solutions met client needs and expectations.

• Discovery and design: Transformed research into impactful user experiences and polished visual designs that resonated with target audiences.

• End-to-end collaboration: Partnered with engineers and project teams to conduct rigorous QA on final deliverables, proactively resolving design challenges.

• Business development and marketing: Provided strategic design input, contributing to the success of client pitches and campaigns.

• Notable clients: The Washington Center, Farm Credit Counsel, Cornell University

Senior Designer at Forum One
Arlington, Virginia, September 2015 to January 2017

Directed visual design for a diverse array of online and offline projects, with a primary focus on large-scale responsive websites, ensuring designs aligned with client brands and upheld high usability standards.

• Facilitation and leadership: Worked closely with project teams and clients to collaboratively solve design challenges through presentations and workshops.

• Proactive process improvement: Contributed to the development and refinement of workflows, fostering greater efficiency and collaboration.

• Business development and marketing: Provided strategic design input, contributing to the success of client pitches and campaigns.

• Notable clients: Peace Corps, Robert Wood Johnson Foundation.

Senior Designer at Blue State Digital
Washington, D.C., June 2012 to July 2015.

Led the visual design of a wide range of online and offline deliverables including: large-scale responsive websites, graphics supporting communications and social media campaigns, rapid response/rebuttal designs and other time-sensitive deliverables, identity design, online advertising campaigns, and new business pitches.

• Led a team of graphic designers: Managed a team, oversaw the hiring, development, and management of design interns, and fostered a creative and productive work environment. Provided mentorship, design oversight/direction, and strategic guidance.

• Championed design excellence: Responsible for all the design deliverables coming out of the team through critiques of the work in order to maintain consistent creative quality and foster professional development.

• Notable clients: Doctors Without Borders, Ford Motor Company, Georgetown University, High Museum of Art, United Way Worldwide.

Graphic Designer at National Trust for Historic Preservation
Washington, D.C., November 2009 to May 2012

Designed print and digital materials, including the quarterly Forum Journal, Preservation Books series, marketing emails, conference materials, and advertising. Regularly collaborated with local printers to estimate and perform quality assurance of printed materials.

Election Design Fellow at AIGA
Salem, Oregon, September 2008 to September 2009

Awarded a one-year Fellowship to assist the Oregon Elections Division in improving election accuracy and citizen experience. Designed public materials including ballots, forms, websites, registration cards, and voters’ pamphlets.

Designer, Project Manager at Sol Design Co.
Atlanta, Georgia, June 2006 to August 2008.

Assisted design team with project management, brand design, HTML and CSS web design, research, publication design, advertising design, identity design, and production.

Education + Training

Savannah College of Art and Design, Atlanta, Georgia
Master of Fine Arts in Graphic Design, March 2008

Emory University, Atlanta, Georgia
Bachelor of Arts in Art History and Human and Natural Ecology, May 2003

Speaking Engagements, Interviews, and Publications

• "Design Systems Insights from Forum One: Courtney Clark & Amy Vainieri", Studio by UXPin, 2017.

• “Design systems: Accounting for quantity and scalability”, O’Reilly Design Conference (2017), DrupalCon Baltimore (2017), Big Design Dallas (2017), UX at Scale: Virtual Summit (2017).

• “What We’re Talking About”, weekly series on Forum One's blog.

• “Beauty & Experience: How to Have Your UX Cake and Design It, Too”, Forum One’s Creative + Series, 2016.

• “Corporate Branding Techniques and Principles of Neutrality in the 2008 United States Presidential Election”, Savannah College of Art and Design, Master of Fine Arts Thesis, 2008.

• “In the Bush of South Africa”, The Women’s Spirituality Newsletter, Volume 3, No. 9, September 2003, a publication from the Women’s Spirituality Departments of New College of California and California Institute of Integral Studies.

• “Reasons for purchasing environmental license plates in the United States”, Emory University, Honors research with Dr. Tracy Yandle, Professor of Environmental Science, 2003.
   

Awards + Exhibitions

• Communicator Award for Distinction, General Digital - Art (Arkansas Museum of Fine Arts, arkmfa.org), 2022.

• Davey Awards, Arts for Websites, Silver (Arkansas Museum of Fine Arts, arkmfa.org), 2021.

• Hermes Creative Awards, Gold (The Washington Center, twc.edu), 2018.

• WebAward for Government Standard of Excellence (PeaceCorps.gov), 2017.

• W³ Award, Silver (PeaceCorps.gov), 2017.

• 28th Annual Sickle Cell Foundation of Georgia Road Race Logo Design Contest Winner, 2007.

• SCADDY Finalist, 2006.

• “Dynamic Relationships”, Orlando, Florida, Terrace Gallery at Orlando City Hall, 2006.

• “Cities? What Cities?”, Florence, Italy, La Corte Contemporanea Gallery, 2005.

• “20@22”, Florence, Italy, Studio Art Centers International Graduate Center, 2005.

• “Design Student Show”, Florence, Italy, Studio Art Centers International Design Center, 2005.

• “No. 7”, Florence, Italy, Dolce Zucchero, 2005.

• “Digital Dreams”, Florence, Italy, La Corte Contemporanea Gallery, 2004.

• “Mixed Media”, Slidell, Louisiana, Slidell Cultural Center, 2003.

• “The Emory Chairs Project”, Atlanta, Georgia, Emory University Campus, 2003.