Web Design

We believe that web technology can be used to empower social good locally and globally. Our vision is to empower nonprofit organizations in Micronesia to harness technological advancement to help them fulfill their mission to improve lives.

Atawe Design – web design to empower social good

Atawe Design is a website design venture focusing on the empowerment of non-profit organizations, grassroots community movements, social activists, schools, and small businesses in the developing Pacific island nation of Micronesia and beyond. We pride ourselves in providing quality and affordable web design services for our clients empowering them to access global resources. We believe that these small developing Pacific island nations have a rightful place in the vastly globalized society. While having a website does not in itself solve their problems, we believe it does give a voice and a channel by which the local needs can be connected with the vast array of global resources.

Atawe Design was inspired by the Pacific island value of humble service. The name, Atawe (a-tah-way), comes from the outer island Chuukese language meaning “to empower others.” Although we are open to helping all non-profit organizations, we aspire to help the needy organizations and small businesses in the Pacific islands of Micronesia.

We invite you to review who we are, our design philosophy, our variety of services, our featured portfolio,  contact us for a no-obligation consultation to determine if we are the right partner for your web development needs.

our mission

Atawe Design was founded with the mission of using web design to help connect the local needs of non-profit organizations in Micronesia with global resources.

portfolio

Check out a few samples of our web design projects.

Xavier High School: The school needed a website to match its new directions, leadership, and renewed commitment to excellence. The project involved designing an entirely new website while matching its content with the school’s self-study report for its Western Association of Schools & Colleges (WASC).
URL: www.xaviermicronesia.org

Walnut Avenue Women’s Center: The WAWC is a “public benefit organization dedicated to improving the quality of life for women, children, and families in the local community for over 75 years. Through interactive, supportive programs, WAWC seeks to improve the economic, physical, and emotional well being of all families in Santa Cruz County.”
URL: www.wawc.org

Saramen Chuuk Academy: This is a wonderful sample of a real school-wide community educational effort, which involved students in the Advanced Computer class who served as photographers, research assistants, and content authors saving tons of time and money. It also offered an opportunity for students to learn the process of designing a website. The continued maintenance of the site was given to the school.
URL: www.scadolphins.org

Epinup Conservation Project: Funded by the Berkeley-based Seacology organization and supported by the Micronesians in Conservation group, the website was needed to document the successes and challenges of this unique community partnership. The project involved a wide variety of community leaders, schools, non-governmental organizations.
URL: www.epinup.org

Guma Mami, Inc.: Guma Mami, Inc. is a non-profit organization in Guam whose mission is to support, enhance and improve the quality of life of persons with disabilities. They needed a dynamic website in which to keep donors informed of the latest news and information and to solicit help from potential donors.
URL: www.gumamami.org

Project Irene: Project Irene is a boat restoration project within the Pillar Point Educational Fund, Inc., a non-profit organization in Half Moon Bay, California. Their ultimate goal is to restore an old fishing boat and use it for harbor tours of the Pillar Point Harbors and for charters. The funds raised from the tours and fishing charters would be used to provide educational scholarships for children of the fishermen in that fishing town of Pillar Point.
URL: www.projectirene.org

Houk Island Municipality: Commissioned by the Community Council on Houk, the project involved the documentation of the reality and needs on the island. Having so many needs and hopes for their children, the people wanted to appeal to the world community for help on some of their needs. This project involved two students from Xavier High School who served as research assistants and photographers for me.
URL: www.houkisland.org

Micronesia Dental Support Project: The team of dentists who will participate on the teams that will travel to Micronesia needed a website for information, fundraising, and other outreach initiatives. The project involved designing a website that’s simple and informative for dentists who are too busy to read text-heavy websites. The texts are kept to a minimum while the site is enhanced with photos.
URL: www.outerislands.org/dental

Matlack-Vanevery Design: This is a family-run interior design firm specializing in creative orthodontic and dental office designs. Based in Santa Cruz, CA, the small business needed a complete overhaul to keep up with its national and international success. The project involved an entirely new web design which compliments its branding and upbeat, modern, and hip design philosophy.
URL: www.matlack-vaneverydesign.com

Roche Winery: Managed by Brendan Roche, the winery needed a new professional-looking website that is accessible to its customers. The project involved working closely with the marketing department to design a website that closely matches the overall branding and marketing plans for the company. It included the designing of graphics and images that are found in their printed literature.
URL: www.rochewinery.com

Cafetal Santa Cruz: Cafetal is a progressive coffee lounge & deli located in Santa Cruz, CA. Owners Lily and Dulce needed a simple website for their shop. The project involved designing a new website that uses the same branding color scheme and feel of the cafe. This site will soon be redesigned using WordPress to enable the owners to enjoy the robust capabilities of WP.
URL: www.cafetalsantacruz.com

Three Towers Online: Xavier High School’s newspaper Three Towers needed a way to publish the student authors’ work online. Having researched the format that many colleges and universities in the States have for their student newspapers, I designed the Three Towers Online. The student team publish the printed newspaper and I transform them into the Three Towers Online version.
URL: www.xaviermicronesia.org/threetowers

our services

Are you looking for a socially-conscious designer who understands the challenges and effectiveness of non-profit organizations? Atawe Design’s philosophy goes beyond simple and functional web designs; we focus on building partnerships that foster sustainable self-empowerment of people who themselves are agents of change in their local communities.

our philosophy

Our design philosophy goes beyond simple and functional web designs; we focus on building partnerships that foster sustainable self-empowerment of people who themselves are agents of change in their local communities.

Simplicity

We believe that web design is only the tool to get our client’s mission across to the global community. Therefore, we keep the web design simple to prevent the design from overpowering the message itself.

Functionality

We focus our design on simplicity, elegance, and functionality. When people like what they see, not distracted by plug-ins and time-consuming downloads, and easily find what they are looking for, we consider that a successful design.

Affordability

We understand that non-profit organizations have varying degree of financial challenges, but we do not believe in handouts so our rates are affordable based on the complexity of the project and our partners’ financial reality.

Empowerment

We consider it a privilege to share in the mission of empowering a client to the global community. Revenues generated from every project goes to fund other worthy causes in Micronesia.

Partnerships

We believe in building partnerships for a more equitable global community. We challenge clients in more developed countries to share resources with others in less developed countries such as Micronesia.

Sustainability

Our commitment to our partners continues long after a project is completed and a website has been launched. We work ourselves out of a job by providing on-going professional development for local staff to help maintain their websites.

Humor

At the end of the day, we only have one life to live, one world to share, and very little time to enjoy both. So we live it fully, make responsible decisions, and laugh at ourselves a lot.