Welcome

I am Stephen Boudreau, a man in pursuit of goodness as a way of life. This journal is a collection of observations and commentary related to that pursuit.

I am regrettably sarcastic, perpetually optimistic, and (allegedly) willing to change my mind.

Fair warning: I am a recovering know-it-all. Please forgive me when I lapse into old habits.

A short professional history

I’m a designer at heart—primarily focused on digital products and services. (Well, really primarily focussed on clarity in all areas of life.)
My greatest passion is growing people and teams around clarity of purpose, trust in each other, and—what I like to call—the magic of collaboration (1+1=11).
I’m currently VP of Brand + Community at Virtuous Software.
In 2003, I co-founded a web design agency named Ascendio, with my delightfully grumpy friend Chris. We operated Ascendio for nearly 20 years—helping large-scale nonprofits leverage the digital space to grow their impact. During that time, we cultivated a beautiful team, invested in meaningful relationships, created significant value for our clients, and (I like to think) made a little dent for good in the world.
In 2014, Chris and I introduced RaiseDonors to the world. RaiseDonors is an online fundraising platform that took our decades of experience with Ascendio as a service provider and provided a turnkey SaaS product solution.
In 2020, we sold RaiseDonors to Virtuous Software and joined the Virtuous team full-time—to continue our mission to help nonprofits increase generosity in the world.
The move to Virtuous prompted us to conclude our 20-year iteration of what Ascendio was. But what the future holds for Ascendio, remains to be seen. ⚡

About

Away from work, you’ll find me basking in the glow of family and friends. Almost everything in my life is made better by my wife. And almost everything in my life is made inefficient by my beautiful sons. Between them all, my heart bursts with love.

Likes

Friday nights, Telecasters, Shelley’s spaghetti, audiobooks, Everton, Alaska, sweaters, Dumbledore, old buildings, technology, magic, Irish Whiskey, lists.

Dislikes

Being late, regret, me monsters, half-assing, dogmatism, toe-shoes, pranks, strip malls, ricotta, noisy eating, typos, captcha forms, the texas longhorns.

Elsewhere