Blog Insights
Celebrating Mission-Driven Success in 2023!

December 13, 2023

At the intersection of digital and mission-driven work, 2023 was a year of significant changes, big decisions, and growth for many organizations in the nonprofit and government space. For us, it was no different! 

We’ve been going through changes, too, from figuring out new ways to help organizations incorporate new technologies, such as machine learning and AI, to keeping our client organizations in the know on new social media platforms like Threads. Throughout this, one thing has remained constant: our commitment to partnering with mission-driven organizations to create solutions and work that amplify their impact.

We are proud to see this great work honored and to share that, across our roster of mission-driven client organizations, we took home 63 awards as well as a notable Webby nomination. That’s a rate of over one award per week! While making an impact always comes first, each of these awards is a great honor for these fantastic organizations and our Forum One team. We are proud to see how this work continues to make an impact on communities, the nation, and the world.

Here are this year’s big winners in our world of digital impact.

The AARP Livability Index: 5 Awards

AARP is the nation’s largest nonprofit, nonpartisan organization dedicated to empowering Americans 50 and older to choose how they live as they age. Within the organization, the AARP Public Policy Institute maintains the AARP Livability Index, a key tool in their mission to promote the development of sound policies to address common needs for economic security, health care, and quality of life.

Forum One worked closely with the AARP Livability Index team to meet the needs of its audiences with an easier-to-use website and accessible data that informs consumer and policy decisions nationwide. This tool was awarded five different awards for its interactive design and ability to communicate key health and livability data.

American Jazz Museum: 5 Awards

Located in the Historic 18th & Vine Jazz District in Kansas City, MO, the American Jazz Museum showcases the sights and sounds of jazz through interactive exhibits and films and features live music in their venues, The Blue Room and Gem Theater. 

Forum One partnered with the Museum to launch their new brand to the world. This work not only included launching a new website but also revitalizing the American Jazz Museum brand as a whole. 

The new American Jazz Museum brand positions the museum to be a beacon of rich history and vibrancy for the community and neighborhood and attract audiences from around the country to experience music from a range of eras and artists. This beautifully designed branding and website won five awards this year!

  • 🏆 Communicator Award for Distinction in Websites for Cultural Institutions
  • 🏆 Platinum Vega Award for Cultural Websites
  • 🏆 Gold w3 Award for General Cultural Institution Websites
  • 🏆 WebAward for Best Arts Website
  • 🏆 Gold Davey Award for Cultural Institutions

County Health Rankings & Roadmaps: 2 Awards

County Health Rankings & Roadmaps, a collaboration between the University of Wisconsin Population Health Institute and the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation, uses data to show how where we live matters to our health. 

For the past 11 annual rankings, Forum One has developed responsive, increasingly sophisticated data visualizations and maps that let users explore and compare detailed public health information across more than 65 health factors and outcomes for more than 3,000 counties.

This long-standing client and Forum One team won two awards this year and is a great example of the impact that can be made when great teams come together to collaborate!

  • 🏆 WebAward for Healthcare Standard of Excellence
  • 🏆 Silver Healthcare Ad Award for Apps and Interactive Digital Experiences

HHMI BioInteractive Community: 1 Award

HHMI BioInteractive brings the power of real science stories into tens of thousands of high school and undergraduate life science classrooms through free classroom resources and professional development. 

In partnership with HHMI, Forum One developed the HHMI Biointeractive Online Community, which is a multi-lingual, logged-in experience offering a wide range of tools for science educators vetted through a verification process. This work won a silver Davey Award for Education!

March of Dimes (Website): 7 Awards

March of Dimes is dedicated to leading the fight for the health of all moms and babies. Their goals are to end preventable maternal health risks and deaths, end preventable preterm birth and infant death, and close the health equity gap. Their work includes research, education for families and health professionals, support for families directly affected by the maternal health crisis, and advocacy.


Forum One partnered with March of Dimes to consolidate their more than 40 web platforms to develop an easy and streamlined online experience that could clearly communicate their mission and allow audience members to engage as they like. This work not only helped March of Dimes achieve these goals but also won them a total of seven awards this year, making them our most-awarded client of the year!

Compass (March of Dimes): 6 Awards

As part of their mission to fight for the health of all mothers and babies, March of Dimes came to Forum One to be the digital leader in providing families across the birthing continuum with comprehensive support to meet their needs. To achieve this, March of Dimes and Forum One worked together to develop Compass by March of Dimes.

Compass is an app designed to support parents in their journey from pregnancy through postpartum by providing answers, resources, and compassion at every step. The app includes journals and trackers to allow parents to record important information, a glossary of commonly used terms, a community and resource library, a directory of NICU family support partners, a postpartum checkup, and more. This project took home six awards this year!

  • 🏆 Communicator Award for Excellence in Apps for Nonprofits
  • 🏆 Silver Vega Award for Apps and Software for Children and Families
  • 🏆 Gold Healthcare Ad Award for Apps and Interactive Digital Experiences
  • 🏆 Silver w3 Award for Mobile Apps for Families and Kids
  • 🏆 WebAward for Mobile Standard of Excellence
  • 🏆 Silver Davey Award for Nonprofit Apps

The Nation’s Report Card (NAEP): 3 Awards

The National Assessment of Educational Progress (NAEP), a U.S. Department of Education program, assesses students around the country on educational outcomes and reports the results to a wide set of stakeholders, including policymakers, education officials, and the media. 

Since 2012, Educational Testing Service (ETS) has engaged Forum One to design and build more engaging, interactive reports to share the NAEP results, including the most recent 2022 Nation’s Report Cards for Mathematics and Reading, with data at the national, state, and district levels. 

We also created highlights pages of infographics, visualizations, and data stories to summarize key takeaways, trends, and insights into the state of K-12 education, including those for the Mathematics, Reading, and Science reports.

Overall, this work has helped to bring to light crucial information on trends in learning and education across the country. Congratulations to our clients and team members for this great work, which won three awards this year!

  • 🏆 Communicator Award for Distinction in Websites for Education
  • 🏆 Silver Vega Award for School/University Websites
  • 🏆 Silver w3 Award for General Education Websites

National Rural Health Resource Center: 4 Awards

The National Rural Health Resource Center provides technical assistance, information, tools, and resources to improve rural health care. The work that the Center does is crucial in rural communities, where it improves the health of rural populations and helps to keep many rural hospitals open.

Forum One worked with the National Rural Health Resource Center to design their new website in Drupal 9. This redesign took a user-centric approach to better meet the users’ needs and also utilized accessible, inclusive, and scalable design. This project was honored with four awards and noted for its excellent design among nonprofit and health websites.

Natural Resources Defense Council (NRDC): 4 Awards

NRDC has been working since 1970 to safeguard the earth. NRDC combines the power of more than three million members and online activists with the expertise of more than 700 scientists, lawyers, and policy advocates across the globe to ensure the rights of all people to the air, the water, and the wild.

Forum One worked with NRDC this year to redesign their website. The redesigned website continues to help NRDC deliver on its mission to safeguard the earth for years to come.

Overall, this work has helped empower NRDC’s content managers, engage their audience members in their mission, and amplify their impact. Congratulations to our clients and team members who received four awards this year!

City Health Dashboard (NYU Langone): 1 Award

The City Health Dashboard’s goal is to improve the health and well-being of people in communities throughout the United States. To do this, the dashboard provides city leaders and communities with an array of regularly updated data that are specific to neighborhood and/or city boundaries. 

Forum One designed and developed the City Health Dashboard with NYU Langone Health’s Department of Population Health to share and compare data on 37 measures of public health across more than 500 U.S. cities. This innovative tool took home a gold Healthcare Ad Award this year!

Congressional District Health Dashboard (NYU Langone): 1 Award

Created by the Department of Population Health at NYU Grossman School of Medicine in partnership with and support from the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation, the Congressional District Health Dashboard is based on a belief that where a person lives shouldn’t determine how long or how well they live. 

The Dashboard recognizes that while everyone should have the same opportunity to live the healthiest life possible, persistent and systemic barriers to health and opportunity exist in many areas across the country. While city, state, and regional-level data exist, the Congressional District Health Dashboard launched in January 2023 as a first-of-its-kind resource, offering trusted data on health and its drivers for all 435 (and Washington DC) U.S. congressional districts. Congratulations to the team who developed this critical tool, which has won a Silver w3 Award and will hopefully help guide our nation’s health policies for years to come!

  • 🏆 Silver w3 Award for General Health Websites

A Seat at the Table (Smithsonian NMAAHC): 1 Award

A Seat at the Table is a signature program at the Smithsonian National Museum of African American History & Culture (NMAAHC) that critically examines social justice issues that impact the African-American community. Participants observe a conversation on a select topic amongst an expert panel. After the conversation, diners engage in an interactive activity to consider challenging questions about race, identity, and economic justice over a meal.

The 2022 Seat the Table program examined “The Triumphs and Challenges of Black Education.” Forum One worked with NMAAHC to create a unique virtual experience that would feel almost like attendees were there in person. To do this, we found a top-of-the-line event platform, developed video assets to aid in the event’s storytelling, and even sent virtual attendees meals from local caterers. 

The sold-out event brought audiences from across the country to a uniquely branded virtual experience to share a meal and create connections over important dialogue. It also won the Smithsonian National Museum of African American History and Culture a Silver Vega Award!

  • 🏆 Silver Vega Award for Arts and Culture Virtual Experiences

Freedmen’s Bureau Search Portal (NMAAHC): 4 Awards

In 2016, the National Museum of African American History & Culture (NMAAHC) launched the Freedmen’s Bureau Transcription Project in the Smithsonian Transcription Center. Since then, thousands of volunteers have transcribed hundreds of thousands of image files of the more than 1.7 million pages of documents in the Freedmen’s Bureau archive, the largest transcription project ever undertaken by the Smithsonian. 

To make these files as searchable as possible, NMAAHC teamed up with Forum One and Quotient to build the Freedmen’s Bureau Search Portal. Through this online portal, anyone can search the transcribed and indexed Freedmen’s Bureau Archive in one place.

The Freedmen’s Bureau Search Portal was a massive undertaking that could not have happened without the Smithsonian, multiple partners, the thousands of volunteers who transcribed the documents, and the technology that powers the portal. 

To date, more than 400,000 pages of records have been transcribed. If you would like to help transcribe the remaining documents, please visit the Smithsonian Transcription Center. Congratulations to the great team that worked to bring this critical history to light and win four awards for their great work this year!

Simmons Talks (NMAAHC): 2 Awards

The National Museum of African American History & Culture’s Simmons Talks series connects audiences with individuals of singular vision, intellect, courage, compassion, and historical and contemporary significance and creates an opportunity for NMAAHC to connect with its audiences outside of the structure of a visit to the museum. Endowed by Dr. Ruth J. Simmons, the talks named in her honor feature discussions with African-American innovators in art, business, science, literature, medicine, social justice, technology, and more. 

Forum One partnered with NMAAHC to develop a visual brand system for the event in addition to visual assets, which were used across NMAAHC’s digital channels and in-person at the event. This built on NMAAHC’s core design system and utilized design, illustration, motion graphics, and more to engage NMAAHC’s audience and create a visual language that could excite and inspire event attendees. This inspiring work took home two awards this year!

Pacific Science Center: 1 Webby Nomination, 4 Awards

The Pacific Science Center is an independent nonprofit museum in Seattle with a mission to ignite curiosity and fuel passion for discovery, experimentation, and science for people of all ages and backgrounds. 

Forum One worked with the Pacific Science Center to redesign and develop its website in WordPress to highlight the museum’s post-pandemic reopening and connect audiences with its expanded slate of digital events and exhibits. 

This Webby-nominated site offers an intuitive and high-performing experience across devices, with a smooth ticketing process and user-centered design. 

SLAC National Accelerator Laboratory: 5 Awards

The SLAC National Accelerator Laboratory is a multipurpose research facility operated by Stanford University for the U.S. Department of Energy. Since its opening in 1962, SLAC has been helping create the future, including the launch of the first website in North America in 1991. 

In order to continue attracting top talent and share its mission with stakeholders, SLAC was looking for a complete redesign of its website. Forum One worked with SLAC to create a Drupal site that achieved all of these goals and also won five awards this year!

Children’s Hospital Colorado Foundation: 3 Awards

Established in 1978, Children’s Hospital Colorado Foundation is dedicated to advancing the mission of Children’s Hospital Colorado by supporting family-centered care and cutting-edge research and treatment. 

The Children’s Hospital Colorado Foundation came to us with the goal of rethinking its digital ecosystem from the ground up and optimizing how it attracts, engages, and grows its target audiences, including donors and supporters. To achieve this, Forum One conducted a comprehensive landscape analysis and full audits of its technical ecosystem, communications, and analytics, as well as stakeholder interviews. 

This work ultimately informed the redesign of the Children’s Colorado Foundation site, which has catalyzed the organization’s digital philanthropy and won three awards this year!

Washington All-Payer Claims Database: 1 Award

Forum One designed the brand identity and built the web application for the Washington All-Payer Claims Database (WA-APCD), a Washington State initiative to bring greater transparency to healthcare costs and give residents powerful tools to make data-driven, informed decisions that maximize healthcare quality and value. 

The database provides actionable information and best practices for patients, providers, hospitals, and communities to understand the state of healthcare in Washington and continuously improve healthcare quality and value through performance benchmarks and metrics. 

We are honored to have received recognition in the 40th year of the Healthcare Ad Awards and are proud of the impactful work done by our teams and client partners.

2022 State of Babies Yearbook (ZERO TO THREE): 4 Awards

ZERO TO THREE’s work helps to ensure that all babies and toddlers have a strong start in life. Their annual report, the State of Babies Yearbook, frames rigorous research, unbiased analyses, and clear communications to influence decision-makers positioned to improve public policies and interventions in support of children and families.

For the second year in a row, Forum One developed a brand-aligned design that was easy to read and organized in a way that encouraged users to dive deep into the report. This 157-page report created a useful tool for ZERO TO THREE’s advocacy work and mission to ensure that all babies and toddlers have a strong start in life. This year, it also helped ZERO TO THREE to take home four awards, including awards for excellence in annual reports and branded content. 

That’s a long list!

As you can see, while it was a busy year full of changes, it was also one of growth and great success. We can’t thank our clients and Forum One team members enough for the amazing work that they do every day to make a positive impact, overcome tough challenges, and bring inspiring new ideas into the world.

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