Meet the PICnetters
Ryan Belisle
Lead Designer
Ryan (or "RB" as he's called around here) is PICnet's man-of-many-talents: lead creative web designer & front end developer. You'll find him listening to Trance or Progressive House music while jamming on the creative look and feel of your websites as well as cutting up and coding your site using the latest CSS and HTML techniques. When Ryan is out of the office, you can find him DJ'n a party, at the movies, or practicing Martial Arts.
Michael Chisari
Web Developer
Michael first started writing code in 1993, and has been working with the web since 1998. After his start at PICnet in 2007, he has lead a variety of Web development projects at PICnet. He is also very active in the open source world, and initiated an open source project that grew to over 60,000 lines of code.
Outside of work, his interests include music, martial arts, and advocating tech tools for solving environmental and social issues, such as vertical farming, solar power, and nano-materials.
Julie Dennis
Office Manager, Intake Specialist
Julie is our Office Manager and Intake Specialist, acting as a liaison between potential clients and the CEO, and organizer and facilitator of pretty much everything that happens at PICnet.
She graduated with a degree in English and History from St. Joseph’s University in Philadelphia. After graduation, she moved to the D.C. area to pursue a career in arts administration where she was employed at Arena Stage and Round House Theatre while also working toward her MFA in Creative Writing from Wilkes University.
Even though she has a fondness for arts organizations, she loves helping all non-profits achieve their communication and fundraising goals. When Julie’s not at her desk, she loves seeing theatre in the D.C. area (it gives her inspiration for her own playwriting), volunteering with Community Bridges (an organization to promote healthy living for 8th grade girls), and attending her salsa step dance class.
Kevin Devine
Senior Web Developer
While following a winding career path which took him from working rides at an amusement park, to teaching English in Thailand, to owning a used bookstore, Kevin somehow parlayed his English Degree into a web development career when he began studying the nonprofit sector and working with nonprofit technology at Johns Hopkins University.
Kevin has since blossomed, after five years of training, into the true Web nerd he is today, joining PICnet as a Web Developer where he performs daily magic.
Kevin lives in Havre de Grace with his lovely daughter, son, and wife. He masquerades as a photographer taking full advantage of Photoshop and dreams of one day becoming a novelist so he can put that English Degree to proper use.
Derek Ferguson
Project Manager
Derek is the newest addition to the PICnet team. He is yet another accidental techie at PICnet, having been exposed to client services and CMS while working with a non-profit during his AmeriCorps VISTA service term in Philadelphia last year. Prior to his VISTA year, Derek completed his BBA in Economics at Villanova University.
In his free time, Derek enjoys learning the guitar and exploring the outdoors – surfing (when at home in California), snowboarding, or simply hiking in the local mountains. He is also very passionate about community building and working to create a more resilient future with an emphasis on community.
Tim Forbes
Vice President of Products and Marketing
Twitter: @timothyforbes
Tim orchestrates the ongoing development of PICnet's web solutions and gets the word out on how they can make nonprofits more efficient and effective. These duties are informed and inspired by more than a decade of work at non-profits in the U.S. and overseas where his experience has included project management, strategic planning, marketing, and fundraising as well as website development.
Tim can describe the taste of kumys for you, a mildly alcoholic drink made from fermented mare's milk, having sampled it during his time as an NGO Development Peace Corps Volunteer in the Central Asian country of Kyrgyzstan. A Seattle native, he often daydreams of Mt. Rainier, the Puget Sound, and the smell of freshly-roasted coffee. He is fantasizing about the 2014 World Cup in Brazil and growing a photography obsession.
Tim has a B.A. in Communication and Masters in Public Administration with an emphasis on NGO Management from the Daniel J. Evans School of Public Affairs at the University of Washington.
Brad Grochowski
Support Developer
Brad spends his days hunting bugs, shooting trouble, and solving those nagging little problems that inevitably creep into even the most thoughtfully designed web sites. He would like you to think of him as the PICnet version of the greasy mechanic - always excited to pop the hood of another car to see what's making that odd knocking sound.
As the great poet said, "If you have a problem, yo, I'll solve it..."
Brad is also an actor, writer, web entrepreneur, husband and daddy. He has somehow parlayed a degree in theater, and many years working with Baltimore inner-city youth into a career as a web geek. He is not sure how this happened.
Amber Manning
Director of Project Management
Amber has been managing web projects for clients primarily in the non-profit sector for nearly 5 years now. She is excited to be taking on more strategic and leadership role as the Director of Project Management. In her new role, she will work with the other Project Managers to improve and standardize PICnet's project processes. She also wants to focus on making sure that client feedback is collected throughout the project so that we can continue to improve our products and the way that we work with our clients.
Amber loves going to the Smithsonian and seeing shows with co-PICnetter, Julie. Before coming to DC, she lived in the City of Brotherly love where she got her BBA from Temple University. In her free time, Amber enjoys doing craft projects including sewing, making jewelry, scrapbooking and mosaicing.
Ryan W. Ozimek
Chief Executive Officer, Co-founder
Twitter: @cozimek
Ryan has managed PICnet's growth since the beginning, either on the ground in PICnet's DC or SF office, or sitting on a plane criss-crossing the country. In the eight years since starting PICnet, Ryan has taken on strong roles in PICnet's community, including an officer position on the board of directors for Open Source Matters (the non-profit behind Joomla!), a steering committee member on the Non-Profit Open Source Initiative, and co-organizer of many a Penguin Day.
In his former life in sunny Southern California, Ryan spent much of his spare time catching waves on Sunset Beach. However, now residing half-time in Washington, DC, surfing has reluctantly been replaced by such pastimes as avoiding frostbite and complaining about poor East Coast surfing conditions. Ryan has a B.A. in Communications and a Masters of Public Policy from University of California at Los Angeles.
Melanie Soules
Senior Project Manager & Salesforce Integration Specialist
Melanie started her nonprofit techie journey at a membership association back in 2006, using the very same tools she works with today - Joomla! and Salesforce. She joined PICnet as a project manager in early 2009 and is now fulfilling a 6-year+ dream of connecting her favorite CRM and CMS as the team's Salesforce Integration Specialist.
Melanie graduated from the University of California at Davis with a B.S. in Ecology, Evolution & Biodiversity and is currently pursuing a Masters of Tourism Administration from the George Washington University. When not geeking out at a computer, you'll find her out exploring the beautiful Bay Area.
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