About Us

Big Duck is a worker-owned cooperative that has been developing nonprofit brands, campaigns, and teams for decades. We are values-driven, and we challenge ourselves to advance diversity, equity, inclusion, and antiracism in our client work and as a team. 

We’ve honed our process to make communications projects easier for our clients while delivering exceptional results. We’re big enough to have deep expertise on our staff—but not so big that you’ll get lost in the fold. When you work with us, you’ll collaborate with a team of strategists, writers, designers, and account managers who are skilled facilitators and creative problem solvers.

We build relationships and inspire action through:

100% worker-owned

Big Duck is a worker-owned cooperative, which means that employees guide how the business operates and receive an equal share in the company’s profits regardless of their role, seniority, or tenure. We’re proud to be part of a global cooperative community working to create more equitable business structures and practices.

Are we the right partner for you? We’d love to learn more! Tell us about your project here.

Clients

Our clients change the world, and we love being a part of that. Since 1994, we’ve helped hundreds of nonprofits improve their branding, campaigns, and fundraising efforts. Here’s a list of some of our recent and current clients.

  • Apollo Theater
  • Dancing Classrooms
  • The Green-Wood Historic Fund
  • Manhattan Theatre Club
  • Newark Museum of Art
  • Project for Public Spaces
  • The Public Theater
  • Queens Botanical Garden
  • Sundance Institute
  • Thomas S. Kenan Institute for the Arts
  • VH1 Save the Music Foundation
  • Astraea Lesbian Foundation For Justice
  • CFLeads: Community Foundations Leading Change
  • Charles Stewart Mott Foundation
  • Community Foundation of Collier County
  • Ms. Foundation for Women
  • National Council of Nonprofits
  • NeighborWorks America
  • The New York Women's Foundation
  • Robin Hood
  • Virginia G. Piper Charitable Trust
  • Barnard College
  • Blue Engine
  • Internationals Network for Public Schools
  • The Jewish Theological Seminary
  • The KIPP Foundation
  • Launch Expeditionary Learning Charter School
  • Lycée Français de New York
  • MƒA (Math for America)
  • New York School of Interior Design
  • NYC FIRST
  • Parsons School for Design
  • Per Scholas
  • Bat Conservation International
  • Brooklyn Botanic Garden
  • Climate Central
  • Conservation International
  • GRID Alternatives
  • New York-New Jersey Trail Conference
  • Pasa Sustainable Agriculture
  • Prospect Park Alliance
  • WCS (Wildlife Conservation Society)
  • Urban Green Council
  • American Friends Service Committee (AFSC)
  • Auburn Seminary
  • Covenant House
  • Episcopal Diocese of Los Angeles
  • Good Shepherd Services
  • The Jewish Board
  • National Council of Jewish Women
  • Reconstructing Judaism
  • Access Justice Brooklyn
  • Atlanta Community Food Bank
  • Change Machine (formerly The Financial Clinic)
  • Chinese-American Planning Council (CPC)
  • Commonpoint Queens (formerly Samuel Field Y and the Central Queens Y)
  • Community Voices Heard
  • FAMILYConnections
  • NYC Department of Youth and Community Development
  • NYC Family Policy Project
  • Pet Partners
  • Radiant Futures
  • Breast Cancer Research Foundation
  • Burke Neurological Institute
  • CaringBridge
  • Fountain House
  • Lupus Research Alliance
  • Multiple Myeloma Research Foundation
  • Open Door Family Medical Center
  • Parent Project Muscular Dystrophy
  • Primary Care Development Corporation
  • RWJ University Hospital Foundation
  • TSC Alliance
  • American Jewish World Service
  • Corporate Accountability
  • Health Equity International (formerly St. Boniface Haiti Foundation)
  • HIAS
  • Humanity & Inclusion-US
  • International Planned Parenthood Federation/Western Hemisphere Region
  • International Rescue Committee
  • Ipas
  • RefugePoint
  • American Civil Liberties Union
  • Community Change
  • Center for Constitutional Rights
  • Center for Justice Innovation
  • John Jay College Institute for Justice and Opportunity (formerly Prisoner Reentry Institute)
  • Keshet: For LGBTQ Equality in Jewish Life
  • Muslim Advocates
  • National Latina Institute for Reproductive Justice
  • National Employment Law Project
  • Race Forward
  • Shriver Center on Poverty Law

Values

Big Duck is part of a larger worker-owned cooperative movement that’s guided by a set of principles from the International Cooperative Alliance. In addition, our team operates with the following values in all that we do:

  • We balance “me” and “we”

    To steward this worker-owned organization, we act responsibly and with empathy so each person, and the cooperative as a whole, can thrive.

  • We learn for the better

    Long and difficult work does not deter us. We make mistakes, and we have the grace and accountability to reflect, improve, and grow.

  • We experiment

    Curiosity sparks our creativity. We venture beyond conventional boundaries and explore new ideas with an open, forward-thinking mindset.

  • We succeed together

    Collaboration, trust, and respect are the foundation of our work. Through candor—especially when it's most difficult—we grow as a collective and achieve more.

  • We ignite joy

    Through playfulness and connection, we find fulfillment in our work and elevate each other and our communities.

Equity commitment

At Big Duck, we challenge ourselves to advance diversity, equity, inclusion, and antiracism in how we work together as a team and with clients and partners. We devote resources to continuously build our knowledge and collective capacity, then apply these critical lenses to our client work and to how we run our cooperative. Our in-house equity committee supports our team as we advance the commitments in our plan and leads team-wide educational efforts. We also partner with consultants who help us infuse inclusion and equity more deeply into Big Duck’s culture and practices.

We do this to cultivate a sustainable and equitable workplace that is inclusive of BIPOC, queer and trans folks, people from varying socioeconomic backgrounds, people with disabilities, and people who hold other historically marginalized identities; to share power internally and make decisions democratically and effectively; and to help build and support a healthy, powerful nonprofit sector.

Team

Michelle Behar

Senior Strategist

Menaka Chandurkar

Director of Strategy, Worker-Owner

Ally Dommu

Director of Service Development, Worker-Owner

Olivia Freire

Director of Operations, Worker-Owner

Ryan Gerhardt

Copy Director, Worker-Owner

Randi Gibson

Graphic Designer

Sarita Joseph

Director of Accounts, Worker-Owner

Josh Kelley

Account Manager

Brenda Perez

Account Manager, Worker-Owner

Jen Petersen

Marketing Manager, Worker-Owner

Claire Taylor Hansen

Co-Director, Worker-Owner

Farra Trompeter

Co-Director, Worker-Owner

Nicole Tufts

Copywriter, Worker-Owner

Sandy Zimmerman

Design Director, Worker-Owner

Board

Our board of directors, who are mostly worker-owners, makes decisions and approves policies that benefit the cooperative and all of our team. Our current board:

  • Ally Dommu
  • Sarah Durham
  • Olivia Freire
  • Brenda Perez, Secretary
  • Jennifer Petersen, Vice Chair
  • Claire Taylor Hansen
  • Sandy Zimmerman, Chair

Jobs

In search of the satisfaction that comes from helping great nonprofits improve communications? You might have what it takes to join our team.

Big Duck collaborates with talented writers, designers, and strategists at all stages of their careers. Experience with and a passion for working with nonprofit organizations is a plus.

Copywriting:
We’re looking for writers with experience in naming, short-form, and long-form writing.

Design:
We’re looking for designers with experience in logo design, branding & identity systems, art direction, design production, front-end digital design, print layout, and illustration.

Strategists:
We’re looking for researchers and planners with with experience in conducting interviews, developing and analyzing surveys, conducting landscape scans, creating communications plans, and more.

Sounds great. How do I apply?

Please follow the instructions and fill out this form. We will be in touch if we think you’re a good fit. No direct phone calls, please. Thank you for your interest.

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