About — Square Lightning

Why Work With Us?

We’ll Make You Look Good. Your design needs are unique. Our network of creatives is ready to support any project you can dream up.

Digital artwork - web, social media
Photography - portraits, products, events
Print collateral - advertising, publications, packaging
Video production - tutorials, interviews, courses

We’ll Make You Sound Good. Whether you have ten words to get your message across or ten thousand, our producers, writers, and editors can help you communicate clearly and powerfully.

Audio production - audiograms, podcasting
Communications - press releases, editorials, campaign assets, social media
Writing - web copy, blog posts, bios, curriculum, interviews, reports
Editing - development editing, line editing, copy editing

We’ll Help You Do Good. We work with big thinkers committed to solving big problems. By employing design thinking, we can help you and your team amplify words and visuals to tell a compelling story that matters.

Design thinking is our superpower.

Square Lightning is a full-service communications and design agency providing branding for nonprofits, graphic design for nonprofits, and website design for nonprofits.

Our approach balances the urgency of critical projects with the humanity of collaborating with passionate, creative people. We feel urgency because our clients tackle some of the world’s most pressing problems, often on short timelines and with limited resources. But for our work to be effective and values-driven, we must also cultivate human connection and joy. We feel both of these things deeply and make them priorities in all of our client relationships.

Russell Estes

PRINCIPAL / CREATIVE DIRECTOR
Russell is a native Southerner and a veteran of the creative industry. Prior to co-founding Square Lightning, he led the in-house design team at the Southern Poverty Law Center, a national civil rights organization. From magazine production to interior design, digital campaigns to demonstrative evidence, Russell formulated and drove all aspects of the organization’s visual messaging, winning top honors from Communication Arts, PRINT magazine, the American Advertising Federation, the Society of Professional Journalists, GDUSA, and HOW. His specialties include multichannel design, branding and identity, video production, and typography. His design philosophy is, “Let’s work together and do something cool!”
Adrienne van der Valk

PRINCIPAL / EDITORIAL DIRECTOR
Adrienne hails from Iowa and lived in Oregon, Colorado, Alabama, and New York before settling in Southern California. Prior to co-founding Square Lightning, her career included leadership roles in social work, journalism, and education; at every stop on her journey, writing and storytelling were central to her success. Now, after running the editorial and communications departments at two national nonprofits, she consults with individuals and organizations who want to level up their storytelling impact. Adrienne specializes in mining content for SEO-friendly gems and using them to entice readers to want more. As an avid podcaster, she also loves helping clients experiment with using audio to spice up their digital presence.
Leanne Naramore

SPECIAL PROJECTS COORDINATOR
Leanne has over 13 years of experience building social and digital audiences for national nonprofit organizations, including the Natural Resources Defense Council, Media Matters for America, and the Southern Poverty Law Center. In addition to her social strategy experience, she is also an editor, video producer, digital storyteller, and website, ad, and SEO manager. She specializes in working with mission-driven groups to tell powerful and authentic stories that engage existing and new target audiences. She lives in Asheville, North Carolina.

Collaborators

Val Brown, Ed.D.

EQUITY ADVISOR
Val is a career educator specializing in antiracism and professional learning grounded in equity principles. She’s the co-author of the CARE Antiracist Framework, a guide for educators on their antiracist journey, and the founder of #ClearTheAir, an online community of educators engaging in conversations about race, racism, and school. In her role with Square Lightning, Val provides thought partnership to help center equity and justice in all education projects. She previously served as the professional development manager for Learning for Justice (Teaching Tolerance) and traveled the country facilitating antiracist and anti-bias professional learning for educators. Over the course of her career, Val has also served as a middle school teacher, instructional coach, and district administrator. She lives in Charlotte, North Carolina, with her family.
Claudia Elyse

GRAPHIC DESIGN
Claudia is an experienced graphic designer with a background in print and digital design. Her skill set ranges from designing for web and social media to creating event collateral and direct mail. She has a thoughtful approach to design, and her work has been acknowledged by GDUSA and the AAF. In her free time, Claudia enjoys gaming, playing the guitar, and studying languages.
Kindred Motes

CAMPAIGNS & DIGITAL STRATEGY
Kindred is the founder and managing director of KM Strategies Group, where he leverages his communications, social impact, philanthropic, and digital strategy experience to support his clients' marketing and campaign goals. He has helped organizations acquire more than 1.1M followers, and his portfolio of consulting, advocacy, media, and marketing work spans eighteen countries and coverage in eight languages. Kindred serves on the board of directors for the ACLU of Alabama and as a Senior Advisor at Global Citizen. He’s an Alabama native, a first-generation college and graduate student, the proud son of a retired assembly line worker and US Postal Service employee, and identifies as LGBTQ+. He lives in Washington, D.C. with his husband.
Marc Redmond

WORDPRESS DEVELOPER
Marc is the founder of KNOWN, a digital agency specializing in custom WordPress theme development for nonprofits and businesses. With ten years of WordPress-specific experience, Marc brings the cutting edge in WordPress capability and customizations to each project while always ensuring secure, stream-lined, SEO-friendly, and standards-compliant code. Marc frequently partners with Square Lightning to develop polished designs into unique, modern, user-friendly sites. His clients include Jeremiah Program, The Internet Society, Health Warrior, Virginia Commonwealth University, and the Virginia Foundation for Community College Education. He lives in Richmond, Virginia.
Joanna Williams

EDITORIAL & CONTENT STRATEGY
Joanna brings over eight years of editorial and digital media experience to her work with Square Lightning. A veteran of the Southern Poverty Law Center, the Institute for Policy Studies, Story District, and other progressive organizations, she’s passionate about removing systemic barriers to equity and justice and committed to building a world where all people can thrive. Joanna specializes in writing punchy content, planning and executing powerful digital strategies, and collaborating with designers to create far-reaching campaigns with maximum impact. She’s also an avid basketball fan, so be sure to ask her who she has going to the Finals this year. Joanna lives in Chicago, Illinois.
Cierra Brinson

PUBLICATIONS & DIGITAL ARTWORK

Cierra is a photographer, hand lettering artist, and award-winning graphic designer with deep experience in print layout, event collateral, social media design, and branding. In addition to graphic design, she shoots photography with an emphasis on portraiture and works on perfecting her signature hand-lettering style. When Cierra’s not designing, she’s either picking up a new hobby or listening to music. She’s an Alabama native currently living in Montgomery.
Jacob Saylor

VIDEO PRODUCTION

Jacob is a seasoned videographer and producer with over 200 titles in his portfolio. His approach to video offers his subjects a unique perspective that combines narrative strategy with professional-level production. Jacob has won awards from GDUSA and led trend-setting affiliate news projects that influenced the parent company’s national video strategy across their 52-site network. He is skilled at designing powerful video projects from the ground up and bringing client visions to life, both solo and in collaboration with other creatives.
Shannon Anderson

GRAPHIC DESIGN
Shannon is an award-winning graphic designer with a deep background in education and a decade of experience supporting social justice organizations. In addition to her work with Square Lightning, she is the graphic designer for Define American, a nonprofit that uses the power of storytelling to humanize conversations about immigrants. Shannon is also an illustrator and hand-drawn type expert who creates colorful stickers to promote messages of equity and justice. She is based in New Orleans, LA.
Dan Chung

PHOTOGRAPHY / VIDEOGRAPHY
Dan is a photographer and videographer who brings decades of experience working in editorial, commercial, and nonprofit settings. He enjoys collaborating with creatives on projects that speak directly to their mission and goals. Dan has extensive experience working with historical foundations (Mount Vernon Estates), associations (ASAE), and social justice organizations (Southern Poverty Law Center), and brings deep expertise and knowledge to every shoot. He is based in Northern Virginia, where he enjoys backpacking in the mountains.