Groundswell’s focus has always been and will continue to be the people we serve. Coming from a community that has been left behind, I have always wanted to be able to properly respect and uplift my community, and Art has given me the opportunity to do so. With this website redesign, I wanted to focus on what my community looks like on those hot summer days when the community is vibrant and full of magnetic energy. Art will continue to be an avenue for kids just like me to express and represent themselves and the places they come from, and I am so thankful that Groundswell allowed me to do that with this redesign. My wish is that everyone can see a bit of themselves in this new design.
Artist and illustrator Ngadi Smart’s work added that energy to the website. Her work adds an inspirational element to our website design that elevates what we do and the communities we serve. This art is heavily influenced by the murals and art surrounding our home office in DC, while clearly representing communities and values across all six states Groundswell serves. When you walk down the streets in DC, you see these great murals by local artists. I wanted to give Groundswell’s website that same feel with big, billboard header graphics and strong colors, using Ngadi’s illustrations.
I want the people we serve to feel they are represented properly throughout Groundswell’s website, and we improved the website navigation to better serve our partners and communities. Groundswell.org is the central hub for everyone to meet, so making it easy to navigate was one of our top priorities. We wanted to make it easy for people to find research, subscription information, project information, and stories highlighting transformative work and individuals.
Our new Labs section is where you can find information about Groundswell’s past and ongoing research into replicable solutions that benefit communities. The Labs section literally makes it possible to see a model that works in one place and how that model can work in other locations. It is all about building a more equitable business model.
SharePower is a space where subscribers can come to set up their accounts and monitor their solar savings. The update to this section better serves our subscribers with clear answers to common questions, pricing information, and contact information for our customer support team.
I’m also really excited about The Groundswell. The Groundswell gives us an opportunity to expand our regular solar stories, and it gives us an even better chance to connect with our community because we’ll be able to feature local artists, policy makers, and community leaders with stories that tie back into the community and lift up what we are doing at Groundswell.
I hope you will come to our website and see the transformative impact of Ngadi’s art and the new design in serving our community and building clean energy futures.
Sincerely,
John Goldring