Interview with the Founder of Clear Team

“Our goal is not solely to increase productivity or efficiency within a particular work category; rather, it is to create a more enriching work experience, amplify voices, and embolden decision-making at lower levels.¨

Jovian Browne

Clear Team Founder & System Architect

Maverick: Why did you create Clear Team?

Jovian: I created Clear Team for myself and other highly empathic individuals as a vehicle for us to transform organizations for the better on the level of their infrastructure. Organizational infrastructure is a super high-leverage area where accessibility, inclusion, and safety can be tackled head-on.

Maverick: Have you always been an activist?

Jovian: I used to be much more of a social activist in Web3, standing on stages in hi-tech spaces discussing the gender wage gap, inaccessible tooling, and the predominance of harassment against women and queer folks. I desperately wanted to see improvements, so I researched and advised, and while I know I made an impact through advisory and speaking, I wasn’t satisfied with the direct results of my efforts.

Maverick: What personal experiences or qualities have shaped your ability to empathize with diverse perspectives?

Jovian: I have a superpower for empathizing with multiple perspectives simultaneously. It’s hyper-empathy plus a systems brain rolled into one. I believe it stems from experiencing an above-average level of transition in early life. By age 17, I had attended 13 different schools in 7 cities. While some label this constant movement as detrimental to development, I see it as a gift that enhanced my superpower. Who else can claim to understand, firsthand, what it feels like to be both an insider and an outsider, a leader and a newbie, a privileged individual and a member of a marginalized minority? My social-cultural awareness has been enriched through repeated immersion in diverse environments. Each move recast me in a new societal role that I learned to embody. I came to understand that these positions are rather arbitrary; social status does not reflect innate value but rather success within a specific structure. What truly matters is that the environment fosters multiple paths to self-actualization, allowing many people to find success within that system.

Maverick: How is your approach to building systems architecture different?

Jovian: Believe it or not, we are guided by a deep understanding and appreciation for human nature, harmony, and balance. Our goal is not solely to increase productivity or efficiency; rather, it is to create a more enriching work experience, amplify voices, and embolden decision-making. For this reason, we do not let the tools we use define our projects. We would never limit ourselves to constructing just a knowledge management system or setting up a customer relationship management (CRM) system. Through ethnographic research and emotional intelligence, we visualize organizations holistically—the whole system in all its layers. We thoroughly examine all aspects of the problem and opportunity space to determine where to best leverage our expertise.

Maverick: How have you been influenced by building communities in Web3?

Jovian: The open-source and experimental ethos of Web3 opened my eyes to a broader spectrum of organizational structures than ever before. You could rightly say that Web3 ignited my imagination with new conceptions of governance, economies, collaboration, ownership, culture, and creativity. I am just one of many talented community stewards who became passionate about exploring the potential of virtual collaboration. I have built systems that empowered groups of creatives, traders, builders, researchers, and investors to pursue their collective dreams. However, I also encountered many human-unfriendly conditions in decentralized organizations, experiencing loss and conflict alongside others. Web3 has disparities in representation and access for marginalized groups, which can exacerbate inequities. Without legal systems, human resources departments, or institutions to turn to for support, I was driven to conduct socially conscious research about the impacts of community dynamics and work structures on contributors.

Maverick: What kind of organizations do you want to work with in the future?

Jovian: I am very excited at this stage of Clear Team’s operations to collaborate with organizations that extend beyond traditional tech centers. I would love to partner with volunteer-powered and mission-driven organizations that have a clear need for virtual systems designed to facilitate lighter collaboration and improve engagement. Traditional bureaucratic systems often stifle creativity due to the numerous obstacles authority can impose on progress.

I enjoy connecting workers through peer-to-peer information systems, which naturally engender empowerment. By the time these workers present an idea to leadership, they have garnered significant support for their proposals, making the approval process smoother and less complicated.

At the core of our focus are the resources we aim to amplify: energy, creativity, intelligence, and clarity. When an organization possesses these qualities abundantly, it can be much more effective in allocating funds to projects that are already taking shape from the grassroots level.

Thanks for reading!