I started at the help desk, taught myself to code, and now set up practical AI and automation for small businesses and teams. I teach it too, on YouTube and in rooms across Detroit. Organizer with AI Collective Detroit.
Every step taught me something about the people on the other side of the screen.
Hewlett Packard, then Henry Ford OptimEyes, then Detroit Medical Center. Learned to fix the problem and explain it without making anyone feel small.
freeCodeCamp, Grand Circus, and a lot of late nights. Shipped client sites, a progressive web app, and an iOS app. Developer at Detroit Labs, then UI developer at CQL.
Lead instructor with JOURNi. Speaker at Black Tech Saturdays and Per Scholas. Founded Code Connect Mentoring in 2024 for career-changers.
Setting up Claude, Cowork, and automation workflows for small businesses. Building AI applications with production instincts. Teaching it all on AI And Tech With Donovan and with AI Collective Detroit.
Real projects for real people. Anything still in progress says so.
A retrieval-augmented assistant that answers questions from a set of documents and cites where each answer came from. Built on public data, with an evaluation section and a plain note on what it will and will not answer.
An intake and ticket-triage flow built in Microsoft Power Platform on sample data. Shows how a routine task gets automated and then handed back to the people who run it.
A custom GPT that interviews a small business about its goals, audience, and platforms, then generates a tailored social media strategy. Purpose-built to work within the resource constraints most small businesses actually face, rather than assuming an agency-sized budget.
Hermes Agent — AI & Tech News Scouter Designed and deployed a self-hosted AI agent on a Raspberry Pi 5 that autonomously researches AI and technology news around the clock. Built on Claude models via OpenRouter, it writes structured findings to a Notion database and delivers automated morning briefings straight to Telegram — with weekly self-backups to GitHub.
Rebuilt a single-page site into a multi-page site with a team of seven. People in need can look up information, sign up to volunteer, follow the pantry's Facebook feed, and switch the site to Spanish.
A website for an organization supporting Congolese women and children through education and community empowerment.
A mobile app for tabletop dice rolling with modifiers and a roll log. Published on the App Store.
A fictional storefront with a BotPress chatbot that answers questions about returns, deliveries, and warranties.
An installable playlist app of mostly instrumental music for focus, built with React and the H5 audio player.
I learned to code because people were generous with what they knew. Passing that on is part of the job, not a side project.
I teach adults and young people, from first lines of code to building with LLMs, and help organize AI Collective Detroit.
If you're trying to get into tech and don't know where to start, reach out. I answer.
Claude Chat, Cowork, and Projects setup for businesses. Prompt engineering, LLM API integration, retrieval-augmented generation, chatbots. Working toward the Microsoft Azure AI credentials.
JavaScript, TypeScript, React, React Native, Next.js, Angular, Node, REST APIs, progressive web apps, accessibility.
Microsoft Power Platform, workflow automation, Firebase, Supabase.
Accessibility, error handling, evaluation, documentation, and privacy-safe data practices.
Curriculum design, workshop facilitation, explaining technical work to non-technical teams.
CompTIA A+, help desk and field service, Windows administration, systems support.
Any time that we've had a special event he's volunteered to step in and lead sessions on web development. We're honored and grateful that Donovan continues to support Journi in this very important way.
Richard Grundy, CEO, JOURNi
There has not been a time or reason that he is not willing to help someone. Even if it was not his job, he will go above and beyond. Always a smile.
Colleague, Henry Ford OptimEyes
Donovan always has a no-problem, can-do attitude and he never makes fun of my lack of computer knowledge. He is an asset.
Colleague, Henry Ford OptimEyes
Donovan gave an excellent presentation that revitalized my desire to work on my personal projects along with a framework to get it done.
Alexander Molex, Digital Empowerment Summit 2025
I mostly got zero feedback from most of them. I eventually reached out to Donovan Brown. He reviewed my CV and cover letter, gave me tips and tools, and keeps telling me to always come back when I hit any roadblock.
Francis Xavier Blankson, mentee
He is always there when I have a question and he works hard to make certain that I understand all aspects of his methods.
Anthony Scales II, mentee
I reached out to Donovan in 2017 for advice on how to get started in web development. He has given me great advice over the years ever since.
Ergys Llojaj, mentee
Very easy to work with, very professional, engaging to drive results, and can quickly adapt to change.
Russell Balow, 4 Pints Production
Donovan demonstrates good client communication by keeping me updated during the redesign and development process and has the ability to deliver results.
Terrance R. Campbell, client
I'm open to consulting and full-time roles where I can set up AI and automation, build what's missing, and help a team get good at both. If you run a small business, build in Detroit, or are trying to break into tech, I'd like to hear from you.