The Vermont Council on World Affairs is looking to grow the capacity and design of our website. Our goal is to make our website more accessible and easier to navigate, especially for those who are older and less “tech savvy." We have 2 primary outcomes in mind: 1. to make our Board Members' bios pop up when you hover over their profile. 2. Our longer-term outcome is to create a membership portal that will allow members to renew their membership, access "member only" events, access recordings and a database/library of resources and recordings of past events, etc., and build excitement around the benefits of becoming a member.

Though Vermont is a small, rural state, we have a citizenry that is highly engaged in international affairs and one of the largest per capita populations of Peace Corps volunteers in the country. Our organization looks to build upon and foster this identity, and promote grassroots international relations and citizen diplomacy in an increasingly polarized world. Each year we bring hundreds of international visitors to Vermont through State Department programs, and we also host events with experts on issues of global and local significance. As a small nonprofit, we depend on our members to sustain our work. Creating a membership portal will help us build our membership community, build upon the accessibility of the resources and benefits we offer our members, and also deepen appreciation and excitement around membership. In turn, a stronger membership will enable us to continue to perform our important work and expand our reach to even more rural corners of the state.

Our website is designed on Squarespace and must be able to be maintained by our staff and volunteers. We are able to provide our Taproot volunteers with our logo, color palette, and pictures. The core site audiences are citizens of VT and international visitors. We acknowledge support from our many community sponsors from Global Ties U.S. to the World Affairs Council of America.