Professionals often develop skills throughout their careers that can make a meaningful difference beyond their workplaces. For Kristian Dunn, skilled volunteering is an opportunity to put his experience in commercial software and public-sector digital services to work for organizations making a difference in the community.
Currently exploring his next professional opportunity, Kristian brings experience in product strategy, user research, digital services, and helping teams establish priorities. Through Jericho Road Pasadena, he hopes to share this expertise with local nonprofits and help them address challenges that may be difficult to tackle with limited staff time and resources.
Turning Complex Challenges into Practical Solutions
Kristian’s professional experience includes several areas that can help nonprofits strengthen their operations and services:
- Planning and prioritization: Helping organizations turn a long list of needs into a realistic roadmap and focus on the work that matters most.
- User research and service improvement: Gathering feedback, understanding people’s experiences, and identifying ways to improve online information, applications, and other services.
- Digital tools and workflows: Evaluating websites, systems, and internal processes to identify practical improvements that reduce friction for staff and the people they serve.
- Facilitation and delivery: Helping teams with different perspectives agree on priorities and turn ideas into manageable steps.
- Measurement: Defining what success looks like and identifying useful ways to measure progress.
These skills can help nonprofits make informed decisions, improve how they deliver services, and make better use of their limited resources.
Making a Difference Close to Home
Based in Pasadena, Kristian was drawn to Jericho Road’s mission because he wanted to use his professional experience to support organizations in his own community. He is particularly interested in learning where local nonprofits need support most and understanding how their teams balance immediate demands with longer-term improvements.
For Kristian, a successful volunteer project means helping an organization solve a problem it considers important and leaving it with something useful and sustainable. That could mean a clearer plan, a more accessible digital service, or a process that saves staff time.
Advice for Future Skilled Volunteers
Kristian encourages professionals who are considering skilled volunteering to recognize that their everyday expertise may be exactly what a nonprofit needs.
“You may have skills that feel routine to you but would be valuable to an organization that doesn’t have that expertise in-house,” he explains. His advice is to start by listening, be realistic about the time you can offer, and work with the organization to define a manageable piece of work.
We are excited to welcome Kristian to the Jericho Road Pasadena volunteer community and look forward to seeing how his skills can support local nonprofits.
Learn more about Jericho Road Pasadena’s skilled volunteer opportunities and discover how your professional experience can help local nonprofits thrive.