This is where story meets structure.

I’m Vondell Burns—the founder of Thankless Production and NDA Haus. I work with people who are carrying ideas, questions, and callings that require more than inspiration. Through storytelling, strategy, and community, I help turn vision into something you can stand on.

This work is creative.
It’s structured.
And it’s led by faith.

Connect*

*I'm currently in a focused season and not accepting new inbound requests. If it feels aligned, I'd love to reconnect in August. Let's connect on LI in the meantime.

My Work

I invest in creative infrastructure—spaces, stories, and systems—built with discipline, stewardship, and the capacity to endure. I sit as a strategic partner to founder-focused institutions who diagnoses growth bottlenecks, sharpens founder messaging, and strengthens program ecosystems through clarity-driven strategy and storytelling.

Updated June 30

The Last 90 Days

A snapshot of recent milestones, collaborations, and personal growth — across creative work, community, learning, and life.

✍️ Writing & Creative Development

  • Produced a short film titled, Birthday Suit and it's heading to its LA Premiere at the Oscar and BAFTA qualifying LA Shorts Fest
  • Completed Sundance Collab Documentary Filmmaking certification and TV Pilot Rewrite Intensive
  • Hosted a 20+ actor table read of Legacy and Lies at NDA Haus
  • Received script notes that fundamentally evolved Narrative Infrastructure — from listening as the goal to building despite institutional inaction
  • Published What is Narrative Infrastructure Strategy? and Building Beyond Buildings

🎨 Arts, Culture & Ecosystem

  • Performed in Scores for Assembly, a Tulsa Artist Fellowship production choreographed by Saturday Scriber Maree
  • Participated in Hidden Creatives Studio Tour — visited 14 local studios, exhibited and sold artwork at Rainbow Haus
  • Attended the Trail of Tears Art Show; an exhibit unlocked a key plot point in Legacy and Lies
  • Returned to the stage at Homegrown Poetry with an original piece after years away
  • Watched I Love Boosters and reflected on Boots Riley's creative conviction

🏘️ Community Building

  • Continued growing NDA Haus as rhythm-centered community infrastructure — not an event venue
  • Hosted The Table on themes of living a life with abundance + trust without guarantees
  • Sustained The Reset, Saturday drop-in, co-working, and recurring programming
  • Expanded the Hausmates membership vision
  • Began laying the foundation for Called to Create, a faith-centered community for creatives and entrepreneurs

🎓 Speaking, Learning & Ecosystem Participation

  • Keynoted the one-year anniversary of CreativeMornings Tulsa on the theme Create, introducing Narrative Infrastructure publicly
  • Attended the Greenwood Cyber + AI Lab evening with Microsoft and Black Street Press
  • Volunteered at the 6th Annual Legacy Festival in Greenwood
  • Participated in Queen Rose House programming and reconnected with Brea Baker, author of Rooted
  • Read Magnifica Humanitas — deepened conviction that community should reduce individual burden through shared stewardship
  • Watched The AI Doc: Or How I Became an Apocaloptimist

🌱 Personal Legacy & Growth

  • Coordinated the Howard University 10-year reunion and hosted the first-ever Saturday Scribe at Sea over Juneteenth weekend
  • Attended a family reunion in Brooklyn IL, reconnecting across generations
  • Reflected on the departure of beloved Tulsa community builder and mentor Nicole Nelson — a reminder that lasting impact extends beyond geography
  • Regained physical and mental energy after navigating health challenges; returned to dancing, performing, and writing from a place of joy
  • Shifted from asking What am I building? to What is all of this building in me?

Infrastructure

Thankless Production is a studio building creative ecosystems and original intellectual property designed to endure.

Saturday Scribe

writing · practice · community

A weekly writing practice rooted in discipline and return—where writers show up, listen, and write together.

NDA Haus

living · creating · working

A shared container for intentional living and creative rhythm—designed to support presence, pace, and return.


Thankless Production

strategy · storytelling · studio

A studio offering narrative and growth strategies for founder-focused ecosystems.

Let's Launch

venture · curriculum · accelerator

A venture development platform equipping emerging founders with the structure, tools, and narrative clarity needed to move from idea to execution.

And more…

About me

I founded Thankless Production and NDA Haus to build and steward creative platforms spanning storytelling, community infrastructure, and multi-city writing practice—working at the intersection of creativity, faith, and systems design.

I’ve served as an editorial and strategic authority within organizations including Goldman Sachs, Redfin, and Atento Capital, shaping voice, message architecture, and narrative systems across executive communications, global campaigns, and moments of organizational transition. Alongside institutional work, I partner with founders and early-stage teams to translate vision into structure—helping ideas become durable, legible, and scalable.

My work sits between rigor and responsiveness: inside institutions where governance and alignment matter, and alongside builders who need speed, clarity, and creative problem-solving. I work with leaders who treat narrative as infrastructure—and who understand that clarity is a strategic advantage.

I graduated from Howard University and am based in Tulsa, Oklahoma.

My throughline is creativity.
My superpower is faith.

Invitation

These spaces exist to meet you where you are—and support what you’re building.

There are many ways in.

Join a writing practice

→ Saturday Scribe

Support the long-term stewardship of creative infrastructure. Sustainers invest in the ecosystems, practices, and platforms designed to endure and empower the next generation.

Become a Hausmate

→ NDA Haus

NDA Haus is a container for those ready to build with intention, move with discipline, and grow in community.

Engage the studio*

→ Thankless Production

Collaborate on narrative systems, strategic positioning, and creative infrastructure designed for durability and long-term leverage.

*For founders and institutions.

Choose what resonates.

Need structure for what you're building?

Selected Body of Work


Authorship

In Frame

Creative writing

Original narrative work examining tension, faith, ambition, and becoming—where structure meets story at the sentence level.


Pros on Process

Editorial

Long-form essays exploring creativity, discipline, and the operating mindset behind meaningful work. A written archive of ideas in motion.



Pros on Process

Video Podcast

A visual extension of the editorial practice—conversations and commentary on craft, process, and the systems that sustain creative work.

Institutional & Client Work*

Over 15 years, I’ve operated at the intersection of narrative, strategy, and growth—supporting institutions and venture-backed teams through scaling, repositioning, and ecosystem development.

Collaborate on narrative systems, strategic positioning, and creative infrastructure designed for durability and long-term leverage.

Speaking Engagements & Facilitation

I’m invited to moderate, lead, and participate in conversations across keynotes, panels, workshops, and curated dialogues. Speaking is an extension of my work—an opportunity to translate lived experience, institutional insight, and creative practice into shared learning.

AfroTech

Delivered insights on storytelling, capital, and creative infrastructure within the tech ecosystem at Culture House

Martha's Vineyard

Delivered insights on storytelling, capital, and creative infrastructure within the tech ecosystem at Culture House

New Media Ventures Summit

Contributed to dialogue on narrative power and place-based ecosystem development.

BBYO — Art of the Ask

Led a workshop on persuasive storytelling and strategic fundraising for emerging leaders.

REALITY Trek

Facilitated conversations exploring leadership on the front lines of complexity.


Women Empowering Nations

Spoke on leadership, discipline, and building sustainable creative work.

Need a speaker, moderator, facilitator or panelist?

*I'm currently in a focused season and not accepting new inbound requests. If it feels aligned, I'd love to reconnect in May. Let's connect on LI in the meantime.

Certifications

I pursue continuous training in storytelling, venture mechanics, and ecosystem strategy—strengthening the foundation from which I build and, ultimately, invest.

NYU Tisch

Formal training in film, television, and industry systems shaping creative production.

VC University

Foundational training in venture capital, fund mechanics, and investment strategy.

Sundance — Screenwriting Intensive

Craft-focused development in narrative structure, character, and long-form storytelling.

Sundance — Documentary Intensive

Training in nonfiction storytelling, story ethics, and documentary development.


*I'm currently in a focused season and not accepting new inbound requests. If it feels aligned, I'd love to reconnect in May. Let's connect on LI in the meantime.