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Scaling an MVP from 0->500,000 users

I joined Edquity (now Beam) in 2017 as the third employee and first product hire. Over four years, I built the design and product functions from the ground up.

Company

Beam (formerly Edquity)

Timeline

2017-2021

Role

Founding Designer → Lead Designer

Background

Beam is a platform that helps governments higher education institutions, nonprofits, and philanthropic organizations administer a wide range of programs, from rental relief and public utility benefits to emergency cash assistance, with software that streamlines applications, aids decisioning and processing, facilitates payments, and streamlines compliance, reporting, and case management into a single system.

Outcomes

Delivering real financial impact at scale

What began as a 0→1 product grew the default platform for cash assistance programs across the U.S.

Today, most major cities and partners delivering cash assistance and social programs rely on Beam to reach people faster, more transparently, and at scale.

Individuals supported

Partners

10M

Funds delivered since 2020

How is Beam transforming the social safety net?

"Beam is integral to supporting Southern New Hampshire University students, easing their financial anxiety, and allowing them to focus on their education. In less than two years, Beam has helped the University quickly process over 80,000 applications and distribute over $80 million in emergency aid to our students, which helped increase the retention rate for those who received aid."
Timothy Lehmann
Vice President Student Experience Innovation & Operational Integrity
“Creating more equitable access to our most vital resource is a top priority for the City of Baltimore. Using Beam to power the Water4All program has allowed us to better execute on our goal to ensure that every resident has access to safe, clean water. In just five months, we have granted over 385 subsidies worth over $450,000. We’ve seen a real change in how quickly and effectively we’ve been able to serve our local community.
Milton Cox
Baltimore City Water4All

"Beam is integral to supporting Southern New Hampshire University students, easing their financial anxiety, and allowing them to focus on their education. In less than two years, Beam has helped the University quickly process over 80,000 applications and distribute over $80 million in emergency aid to our students, which helped increase the retention rate for those who received aid."
Timothy Lehmann
Vice President Student Experience Innovation & Operational Integrity
"Beam is building innovative and equity-centered technology to create a more robust social safety net. Finally, local and state governments have a partner that deeply understands the pain points many of our communities are experiencing, and can help address structural gaps to administer programs quickly and effectively."
Michael D. Tubbs
Senior Advisor to Beam and Founder of Mayors for a Guaranteed Income

“Creating more equitable access to our most vital resource is a top priority for the City of Baltimore. Using Beam to power the Water4All program has allowed us to better execute on our goal to ensure that every resident has access to safe, clean water. In just five months, we have granted over 385 subsidies worth over $450,000. We’ve seen a real change in how quickly and effectively we’ve been able to serve our local community.
Milton Cox
Baltimore City Water4All

How is Beam transforming the social safety net?

"Beam is integral to supporting Southern New Hampshire University students, easing their financial anxiety, and allowing them to focus on their education. In less than two years, Beam has helped the University quickly process over 80,000 applications and distribute over $80 million in emergency aid to our students, which helped increase the retention rate for those who received aid."
Timothy Lehmann
Vice President Student Experience Innovation & Operational Integrity
“Creating more equitable access to our most vital resource is a top priority for the City of Baltimore. Using Beam to power the Water4All program has allowed us to better execute on our goal to ensure that every resident has access to safe, clean water. In just five months, we have granted over 385 subsidies worth over $450,000. We’ve seen a real change in how quickly and effectively we’ve been able to serve our local community.
Milton Cox
Baltimore City Water4All

"Beam is integral to supporting Southern New Hampshire University students, easing their financial anxiety, and allowing them to focus on their education. In less than two years, Beam has helped the University quickly process over 80,000 applications and distribute over $80 million in emergency aid to our students, which helped increase the retention rate for those who received aid."
Timothy Lehmann
Vice President Student Experience Innovation & Operational Integrity
"Beam is building innovative and equity-centered technology to create a more robust social safety net. Finally, local and state governments have a partner that deeply understands the pain points many of our communities are experiencing, and can help address structural gaps to administer programs quickly and effectively."
Michael D. Tubbs
Senior Advisor to Beam and Founder of Mayors for a Guaranteed Income

How is Beam transforming the social safety net?

"Beam is integral to supporting Southern New Hampshire University students, easing their financial anxiety, and allowing them to focus on their education. In less than two years, Beam has helped the University quickly process over 80,000 applications and distribute over $80 million in emergency aid to our students, which helped increase the retention rate for those who received aid."
Timothy Lehmann
Vice President Student Experience Innovation & Operational Integrity
“Creating more equitable access to our most vital resource is a top priority for the City of Baltimore. Using Beam to power the Water4All program has allowed us to better execute on our goal to ensure that every resident has access to safe, clean water. In just five months, we have granted over 385 subsidies worth over $450,000. We’ve seen a real change in how quickly and effectively we’ve been able to serve our local community.
Milton Cox
Baltimore City Water4All

"Beam is integral to supporting Southern New Hampshire University students, easing their financial anxiety, and allowing them to focus on their education. In less than two years, Beam has helped the University quickly process over 80,000 applications and distribute over $80 million in emergency aid to our students, which helped increase the retention rate for those who received aid."
Timothy Lehmann
Vice President Student Experience Innovation & Operational Integrity
"Beam is building innovative and equity-centered technology to create a more robust social safety net. Finally, local and state governments have a partner that deeply understands the pain points many of our communities are experiencing, and can help address structural gaps to administer programs quickly and effectively."
Michael D. Tubbs
Senior Advisor to Beam and Founder of Mayors for a Guaranteed Income

2018: MVP Launch

As the sole designer, I led research and end-to-end design for our first mobile app, launched November 2018. The app gave students fast access to cash grants, food pantries, medical care, and more. Our promise: Help is just a tap away.

Impact: Established Beam as a best-in-class emergency aid product and secured initial adoption across partner colleges.

2018: MVP Launch

Impact: Established Beam as a best-in-class emergency aid product and secured initial adoption across partner colleges.

2018: MVP Launch

Impact: Established Beam as a best-in-class emergency aid product and secured initial adoption across partner colleges.

2019: Brand Redesign

With the product gaining traction, the lack of a cohesive visual identity became a liability. I led a full company rebrand, unifying our app, website, and partner materials under one system.

Highlights:

Defined brand essence and voice through cross-team workshops
Established visual guidelines and component libraries
Aligned product UI and marketing touchpoints under a single identity

Impact: Enabled Beam to present as one credible, trusted partner to institutions and students alike.

2020: Operationalizing Design

As the team grew from 1 → 4 designers, I spearheaded Uplift, Beam’s first design system.

Highlights:

Standardized components, interactions, and accessibility patterns
Reduced design debt and sped up iteration cycles
Ensured consistency across multiple products and platforms

Impact: Increased design velocity and enabled new designers to onboard and contribute quickly while maintaining quality and brand integrity.

2021 — Today: Platform Expansion

By 2021, Beam evolved from a single app into a broader public benefits delivery platform. I led design efforts to expand from student aid into full-stack government workflows.

Highlights:

Designed intake-to-impact workflows for large-scale public programs
Applied AI-powered automation while preserving compliance and trust
Extended our design system to support enterprise needs

Government

Increase accuracy and efficiency in service delivery, so staff can focus on people, not paperwork.

Government

Increase accuracy and efficiency in service delivery, so staff can focus on people, not paperwork.

Government

Increase accuracy and efficiency in service delivery, so staff can focus on people, not paperwork.

Nonprofit & Community Organizations

Focus on what matters with tools to easily scale and track impact

Nonprofit & Community Organizations

Focus on what matters with tools to easily scale and track impact

Nonprofit & Community Organizations

Focus on what matters with tools to easily scale and track impact

Higher Education

Deliver fast, flexible aid so students can focus on their education

Higher Education

Deliver fast, flexible aid so students can focus on their education

Higher Education

Deliver fast, flexible aid so students can focus on their education

Next project

Athena Advisory, 0->1 Design

Automating portfolio management for everyday investors

Led end-to-end design for suite of automated portfolio management tools resulting in $12M AUM growth

Athena Advisory, 0->1 Design

Automating portfolio management for everyday investors

Led end-to-end design for suite of automated portfolio management tools resulting in $12M AUM growth

Athena Advisory, 0->1 Design

Automating portfolio management for everyday investors

Led end-to-end design for suite of automated portfolio management tools resulting in $12M AUM growth

Back

Back

Back

Scaling an MVP from 0->500,000 users

Background

Delivering real financial impact at scale

How is Beam transforming the social safety net?

How is Beam transforming the social safety net?

How is Beam transforming the social safety net?

2018: MVP Launch

2018: MVP Launch

2018: MVP Launch

2019: Brand Redesign

2020: Operationalizing Design

2021 — Today: Platform Expansion

Government

Government

Government

Nonprofit & Community Organizations

Nonprofit & Community Organizations

Nonprofit & Community Organizations

Higher Education

Higher Education

Higher Education

Next project

Athena Advisory, 0->1 Design

Automating portfolio management for everyday investors

Athena Advisory, 0->1 Design

Automating portfolio management for everyday investors

Athena Advisory, 0->1 Design

Automating portfolio management for everyday investors

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