Our team is guided by a set of principles that shape everything we do. These principles define what it means to build websites that work for clients who matter.
Our Guiding Principles
Websites that work
- User-Centered Design – We design intuitive websites that map users’ needs to your organizational goals.
- Performance & Reliability – Fast, stable websites keep users engaged and prevent lost opportunities.
- Scalability & Flexibility – Your website grows with you, avoiding costly rebuilds.
- Accessibility & Compliance – We ensure your site meets accessibility standards to reach everyone and avoid legal risks.
- Security & Data Protection – We protect your site with secure coding, updates, and strong data safeguards.
For clients who matter
- Mission-Driven Organizations – We specialize in websites for government, higher ed, and civic-minded institutions, helping them better serve their communities.
- Trust & Long-Term Partnerships – Our clients stay with us for years because we build relationships built on trust and partnership, becoming valued members of their extended team.
- Empowering Clients – We build websites that put you in control, with intuitive content management tools and training that allow you to manage and maintain your site after it’s launched.
Built with expertise and experience
- Unmatched Expertise – With 25+ years of experience, we understand the unique challenges of multifaceted organizations that serve diverse audiences.
- Strategic Mindset – Your website is more than a digital brochure—we help you craft a strategy that drives engagement and achieves your goals.
- Open-Source Leadership – We use Drupal, WordPress, and other open-source technology solutions to build cost-effective, customizable, and scalable solutions that don’t lock you in to proprietary technologies.
Our Company Name
Why Rolling Orange?
The name Rolling Orange is our homage to the Milan streetcars that glide up and down Market Street and the Embarcadero waterfront in San Francisco, CA—just blocks away from our original South-of-Market district headquarters. They’re classically designed, elegantly functional, and delightfully fun—all the things we wanted our new company and our work to stand for when we launched in August of 2000.
More than two decades later, we’re still rooted in the San Francisco Bay Area—the world’s nerve center for creativity and technical innovation. From our headquarters in Campbell, CA—and remote offices throughout the U.S.—we continue to build authentic digital experiences, blending creativity and functionality just like the iconic streetcars that inspired our name.
Highly skilled professionals who have worked together for years.
Meet the oranges
As co-founder and managing partner of Strategy and Client Services at Rolling Orange, Jake McGowan has built a reputation as a leading expert in web strategy for higher education, government, and the performing arts. Over the years he has partnered with an amazing list of clients, including Cal Poly San Luis Obispo, Stanford, Princeton, UCLA, the County of Santa Clara, the City of Berkeley, the New York Philharmonic, and Carnegie Hall.
Before RO, Jake co-founded Pantheon Interactive, a pioneering San Francisco Bay Area web agency, where he built key client relationships with Cisco, Hewlett-Packard, and Microsoft. After Pantheon’s acquisition by Razorfish in 1998, he became VP of Online Learning. Previously, as Creative Director at SGI, he helped manage the award-winning Silicon Surf website.
Outside of work, Jake keeps his competitive spirit alive on the basketball courts, still holding out hope for an NBA draft call-up as he battles it out in recreational leagues and weekend pickup games.
Also a co-founder and managing partner, Derek leads the charge in Technical Solutions, heading up the company’s engineering brain trust. Working closely with the creative and business teams, he architects elegant and scalable technical solutions that bring client visions to life—then oversees the development that makes it all happen.
Derek has been instrumental in delivering robust and reliable technology for top-tier clients like the County of Santa Clara, the City of Berkeley, the San Francisco Symphony, the New York Philharmonic, Stanford University, and the University of Chicago’s Alumni Community.
Beyond his technical prowess, Derek is also a classically trained musician who once marched with the legendary Cal Berkeley Marching Band as a clarinetist. These days, he still takes the stage, delighting audiences with his woodwind wizardry in community bands that play at local events and music festivals.
As Director of User Experience at Rolling Orange, Jason Fountain brings a powerhouse combination of strategic design expertise and advanced front-end development skills. Our clients love Jason’s ability to quickly translate their organizational goals into meticulous designs that not only look great, but also emphasize user engagement.
At Rolling Orange, Jason has spearheaded creative efforts for major clients, including Cal Poly San Luis Obispo, UCLA, UCSF, the City of Berkeley, and the City of San Francisco, among many others. Before joining RO, he led web design and development for a top East Coast digital brand agency, crafting digital experiences for high-tech, consumer-product, and higher education clients like Nikon, Mattel, Covidien, Oracle, and Valparaiso University.
Outside the digital realm, Jason is a self-proclaimed foodie who loves whipping up gourmet dishes—often featuring organic ingredients straight from his own garden.
Brian blends a sharp eye for design with a deep expertise in user experience and front-end development. With nearly two decades in interactive design, he’s fluent in a range of coding techniques, ensuring every project is as functional as it is visually compelling. He also leads RO’s efforts to ensure our client sites meet the most demanding accessibility standards.
At Rolling Orange, Brian has played a key role in projects for the San Francisco Public Utilities Commission, San Joaquin County, Cal Poly San Luis Obispo, UC Santa Cruz, UCSF, and more. Before joining RO, he created interactive designs for major brands like Fidelity Investments, New Balance, Michelin, Royal Caribbean, and Toshiba—helping them make a lasting impact online.
Outside of work, Brian is an avid golfer and is often found out on the course. He is a loving and devoted father to his two grade-school kids. Every Halloween, he takes his creativity to the next level, crafting the most whimsical and elaborate costumes that turn trick-or-treating into a magical adventure.
Lisa McGowan is the master of keeping all the moving parts of a project in sync—on time, on budget, and always delivering top-tier results. As Rolling Orange’s ultra-organized project manager and content strategy lead, Lisa works closely with clients to refine, enhance, and seamlessly migrate content into their freshly redesigned sites. Her knack for clear, thoughtful communication (plus her famously meticulous project notes) makes her a client favorite—earning her rave reviews time and time again.
Before joining Rolling Orange, Lisa led the web production team at rightscenter.com, an online literary rights exchange. Her career roots are in publishing, where she spent years immersed in the world of bookselling.
When she’s not keeping projects on track, Lisa loves kayaking with her trusty sidekick, Trixie— a feisty but adorable chihuahua who rules the waterways (or at least the front of Lisa’s kayak).
Our Extended Family
A network of expertise
Great digital experiences require a diverse range of expertise.
In addition to our core team, we collaborate with a trusted network of specialists in brand design, application programming, content creation, photography/videography, analytics, search engine marketing and other complementary skillsets. These partnerships allow us to scale seamlessly, ensuring that every project benefits from top-tier talent.
Whether crafting compelling content, optimizing for search, or developing custom applications, our extended team brings the skills and creativity needed to deliver exceptional results.