Austin Hodges Pierce

A native of the (not so) farm town of Des Moines, Iowa, I transplanted myself to the sub-Saharan streets of Phoenix to pursue a degree in Marketing at W.P. Carey. Throughout high school and college I worked on staff at multiple non-profit organizations as a graphic artist and project manager. As a result of a classic, college-induced existential crisis, I changed my focus from design to marketing, as I just couldn't bear the idea of living a life of nothing but Photoshop and coffee. Here, I've found that my passion is for people. Whether it's a client, an employee, a congregation member, or a volunteer; my number one care is that they find mission and fulfillment in the life they lead.

Still with special interest in non-profit organizations, I serve as the Development Officer for Gompers, an organization that seeks to empower individuals with disabilities. Put simply, I help Gompers promote its cause and help attain the funds that allow it to do more great work in Phoenix.

I work on a blogging project called Between Communities. Here I get to examine the tensions of being a gay man in the Christian Church. I'm trying to understand what it looks like to be gay in the Christian world and Christian in the gay world. Instead of engaging seductive apathy, I've chosen to walk in a bit more closely into each of these communities to see how they can connect.