Empowering Business Leaders to Build a Better World

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75 of the world’s 100 biggest economies are companies. A defining feature of recent decades is the dramatic increase in power wielded by the private sector. Gone are the days when the primary forces shaping human society were governments and politicians. In the twenty-first century, business leaders are just as influential—if not more influential—than elected officials.

Whether that’s good or bad depends on who you ask. One thing, however, is certain: If the folks at High Meadows Institute have anything to say about it, leaders in the private sector will rise to the occasion and effect positive change.

Last year, High Meadows Institute partnered with Temper and Forge to build a more polished, intuitive website. Let’s take a closer look at the work they do and the factors that drove them to reimagine their online presence.

Strengthening the role of business in society

At the core of the High Meadows mission are three challenges: the changing role of business in society, the need for new corporate governance frameworks, and the dysfunction of capital markets. Tackling these challenges is no easy task—and that’s putting it lightly. In order to turn the private sector into an engine for positive change, the High Meadows team needs to forge lasting partnerships with academics, executives, and directors.

Inevitably, many of those partnerships will start with a visit to the High Meadows website; nobody is going to work with an organization before learning what they’re all about. Therefore, one of the primary goals of the new High Meadows site was simpler, more intuitive navigation.

“We wanted a site that would be more inviting and intuitive for visitors to navigate,” says Communications and Operations Manager Allison Kostka. “We wanted a site that would showcase our publications and projects.”

Making it easy for site visitors to understand your objectives and initiatives is undoubtedly a worthwhile goal. That being said, it’s equally important that you understand where those site visitors come from and how they interact with your content.

“We also wanted a way to track traffic to the site,” says Allison. “In particular, we wanted to track who was downloading our publications.”

Determined to improve navigation and gain insights into user behavior—on top of giving the website a more modern look—High Meadows teamed up with Temper and Forge.

Working together to make it happen

Starting with a Google search for Boston-based WordPress developers, Allison created a shortlist of vendors based on customer reviews and examples of previous work. After fielding a proposal from each of the candidates, Allison went with Temper and Forge.

“We selected Temper and Forge based on Nate’s intuitive understanding of our project and needs—as well as his reasonable price point,” says Allison.

Once Nate had a better idea of how Allison and her colleagues wanted the site to look, he was tasked with bringing it to life. In addition to managing the design process, Nate ended up rebuilding most of the backend from scratch. (Allison describes the previous site as “a bit of a mess.”) A month later, an initial draft of the new High Meadows website was ready for review.

“We hopped on a phone call so Nate could take me through the site and I could provide feedback on the general look and direction,” says Allison. “He sent the updated version within a few weeks. We gave him further feedback, and at the last minute we asked him to move up the launch date by a week to coincide with an event our CEO was attending. We were thrilled that Nate was able to meet the new deadline while still incorporating all of our feedback!”

Had you chatted with CEO Chris Pinney at that event and subsequently visited the new High Meadows website, you would’ve landed on a homepage that neatly arranges the organization’s impressive body of work. Even if this were the only page you visited, you’d walk away with a crystal clear message: High Meadows Institute is committed to building a better world—and they’ve got the vision and the infrastructure to prove it.

Reflecting on her experience with Temper and Forge, Allison had this to say: “Nate was very easy to communicate with. I was really impressed with his skill and depth of knowledge, as well as his professionalism. We appreciated his patience and good humor throughout the project.”

Make sure to take a tour of the reimagined High Meadows Institute website.