Devan leads strategic communications at FEEST, crafting blogs, newsletters, social media, and other content to amplify the voices of FEEST's youth leaders. Committed to making FEEST's communications youth-led and centered, Devan fosters a supportive and welcoming environment. They play a crucial role in FEEST's growth by organizing resources, managing grants, coordinating fundraising efforts, and building lasting relationships with donors. Devan also supports the execution of community events and galas, bringing people together to sustain FEEST's mission.In addition, Devan manages an arts and storytelling summer program for young people, overseeing everything from curriculum building and recruitment to reserving space, gathering materials, budgeting, and providing food from local businesses. This program emphasizes the power of youth organizing and creative expression. Since joining FEEST, Devan has increased FEEST's social media engagement by over 40% and helped raise over $100,000 in funding. By collaborating with local organizations and mentoring youth leaders, Devan ensures that FEEST's programs are impactful and sustainable, always keeping the community at the heart of their work.

Devan serves as a co-facilitator for the United Way of King County's Youth Council, a role deeply rooted in community power. The Youth Council emerged from the voices of youth of color who identified best practices for youth development in King County through a research project. Devan feels honored to support and guide these young leaders as they translate their insights into action. Together, they make decisions on funding collectives aligned with their research findings, ensuring that the voices of youth are heard and respected.Since 2022, Devan and the Youth Council have played a pivotal role in redistributing over $200,000 to youth-led community-based organizations, making tangible strides towards equity and collaboration. By fostering collaboration and trust, Devan ensures that every decision reflects the needs and aspirations of our community's youth. This role is not just about funding; it's about investing in the future, amplifying young voices, and building a stronger, more inclusive community.

As the Youth Voice Organizing Manager, Devan led Soar’s Opportunity Youth United (OYU) movement, transitioning it from base-building to active organizing and mobilization. Devan supervised part-time contractors and a team of over 25 youth leaders across 4-5 programs, providing professional development, managing timesheets and reimbursements, and ensuring they were paid for their organizing work.Key responsibilities included overseeing the Auburn Mutual Aid program, which provided food and essential resources to a growing number of families, over 2,000 by the time Devan transitioned from this role, many of whom were immigrants and people of color. Devan also supervised Soar’s Youth Advisory Council (YAC) and Community Action Teams (CATs), supporting young leaders in regional organizing efforts and implementing program structures for community empowerment.Devan inherited and ran the Social Media Ambassadors project for its second year. This youth participatory action cohort focused on creating messaging around COVID-19 safety, in collaboration with partners like King County DCHS, Best Starts for Kids, and Seattle-King County Public Health. Additionally, Devan led the YOMHE project (Youth Organizers for Mental Health Education), providing suicide prevention workshops for young men of color in King County schools.Devan represented Soar on several committees, planned projects to build healthy communication between immigrant youth and their families, and developed curricula to support young leaders in areas like gender equity, voter education, digital organizing, and digital accessibility. Their leadership sustained Soar through transitions, positioning the organization for long-term impact.

As the Youth Voice Outreach Coordinator at Soar in 2021, Devan worked with a small team to manage multiple youth programs, including the King County Youth Advisory Council, Soar's Social Media Ambassador's Program, and the Seattle chapter of Opportunity Youth United (OYU). In this role, Devan led meetings with community action teams across King County, each working on different initiatives.A key highlight of Devan's work was supporting OYU Seattle’s COVID-19 mutual aid program, which later evolved into Auburn Mutual Aid. Through their administrative and logistical management, the program was able to feed over 1,000 families, providing essential items like food and diapers at no cost to mostly immigrant communities. Devan's ability to manage the backend allowed the team to effectively meet the needs of the community, ensuring resources reached those in need.In addition to mutual aid efforts, Devan played a crucial role in leading a voter and civic engagement program for youth. This initiative educated students about the voting process and empowered them to create engaging content that emphasized the importance of participating in local and national elections.Throughout their time at Soar, Devan developed and honed a range of skills, including project management, youth development, voter engagement, civic engagement, community organizing, partnership development, program coordination, facilitation, cultural competency, and social media strategy.

As the in-house graphic designer at Nubian Productions, a Black woman-owned and led production company, Devan played a key role in shaping the company’s social media presence. They consistently produced high-quality graphic content, including three major weekly posts: Matriarch Monday, highlighting historical Black women in the diaspora; Phenomenal Woman Wednesday, celebrating living Black women; and Community Spotlights, honoring local Black community members in Seattle. Each post required both a strong visual aesthetic and in-depth research to ensure an accurate representation of these notable figures.In this unpaid role, Devan demonstrated exceptional time management by balancing their design and social media responsibilities with a full-time job. Despite these demands, they successfully met tight deadlines each week, delivering engaging and thoughtful content consistently.One of Devan's major accomplishments was the development of Nubian Productions’ Branding Package offerings. Devan created this service to support small businesses by providing logos, social media strategies, business cards, brochures, and other branding tools. Before transitioning out of Nubian Productions, they completed a full rebrand for a local cooking business.Additionally, Devan gained valuable experience in social media strategy and digital marketing while working closely with the leadership team at Nubian Productions. Their contributions helped establish a cohesive and impactful digital presence that resonated with the community and elevated the brand’s engagement.

As a Program Assistant for the American Friends Service Committee’s (AFSC) Community Justice program, Youth Undoing Institutional Racism (YUIR), Devan played a critical role in supporting youth-led organizing against institutional racism. They coordinated logistics for events, including feeding youth at meetings, creating graphics to advertise events, and supporting youth interns in developing curriculum and related projects.Devan was a major contributor to Freedom Schools and YUIR Weekends, helping youth organizers deepen their understanding of racial justice. They also co-coordinated the Freedom Ride to New Orleans, managing hotels, meals, and transportation for 10-15 youth over a two-week period.Their primary objective was to produce a zine that captured the group's work over the year, especially the impact of the 2019 Freedom Ride from Seattle to NOLA. Through this role, Devan helped amplify youth voices, organize meaningful projects, and foster leadership development within the community.

As the African-American Student Commissioner at South Seattle College, Devan managed a variety of administrative tasks, including sending emails, making phone calls, and greeting and supporting students. A key responsibility was overseeing the free Textbook Lending Program, which provided students with no-cost access to essential academic materials. Devan handled textbook data entry, maintained accurate inventory records, and coordinated textbook distribution and returns, ensuring students could easily access the resources they needed to succeed.In addition to the Textbook Lending Program, Devan organized and facilitated campus-wide programming that supported the Black student community. This included planning cultural events, leading discussions, and collaborating with other student organizations to create an inclusive and supportive campus environment. Devan’s attention to detail and commitment to student success were central to their role, helping to enhance student life and promote academic achievement.

As a BOLD Summer Fellow at 21 Progress, Devan successfully raised $5,000 by planning and producing a sold-out Paint & Sip fundraising event, coordinating wine donations, a teaching artist, and engaging activities. They also supported fellow interns with their fundraising events and participated in community outreach, door-knocking to raise awareness about Seattle's $15 minimum wage increase, particularly targeting underpaid and exploited communities.