Project Overview

The Georgia Youth Sustainability Conference (GYSC) website was developed to support a major real-world initiative focused on empowering young environmental leaders. Organized by students and supported by environmental organizations, the GYSC event brought together hundreds of participants to exchange ideas, share research, and inspire action toward a more sustainable future. I independently designed and developed the official website for the conference, managing everything from platform design to user experience to technical deployment. The website became the digital hub for the conference, facilitating attendee registration, volunteer coordination, event communication, and community building. My work was recognized with the President’s Gold Service Award for my contribution to youth-led environmental initiatives.

Background & Context

As environmental challenges continue to escalate, the need for youth-driven activism and leadership has never been greater. The Georgia Youth Sustainability Conference was founded as a grassroots movement to give young people a platform to learn, connect, and collaborate on sustainability initiatives. However, managing the logistics of such an event required a centralized, accessible, and scalable digital solution. The leadership team sought a website that could handle not just information dissemination, but also the operational core of the event — registrations, booth reservations, volunteer management, and live updates. This is where my involvement began: translating the mission and logistical needs of the conference into a functional, user-friendly, and visually appealing web platform.

Goals & Objectives

My objectives for the GYSC website were clearly defined from the start:

• Develop a responsive, mobile-friendly platform accessible to a wide demographic.
• Design intuitive user flows for attendee registration, booth signup, and volunteer coordination.
• Integrate automation features like a chatbot to streamline common inquiries.
• Ensure high accessibility standards to accommodate users of all abilities.
• Support event organizers with backend tools for participant tracking and communication.
• Reflect the conference’s environmental mission through thoughtful design and branding.

Planning & Design Approach

The first phase of the project involved deep collaboration with the GYSC organizing committee to identify needs, pain points, and desired features. I mapped out detailed user journeys, from initial visit to registration confirmation, to ensure that every step of the process would feel simple and intuitive.

For the visual identity, I chose a fresh, vibrant green color palette accented by blues and earthy tones, aiming to symbolize growth, unity, and environmental stewardship. Typography was selected to be clean and highly readable across devices, while imagery centered on youth engagement and natural landscapes to visually reinforce the conference’s mission.

Wireframes and prototypes were created for all major sections: the homepage, about page, registration form, volunteer form, booth reservation system, event schedule, and blog.

Development & Implementation

The website was built using WordPress, leveraging its flexibility to rapidly develop a scalable and easily manageable platform. I customized a lightweight WordPress theme extensively to create a unique brand identity that aligned with the conference’s mission.

For the core functionalities, I utilized custom forms and plugins for attendee registration, booth signups, and volunteer coordination. Each form was optimized for user experience, with confirmation emails and internal tracking features set up through the WordPress backend.

I also developed a chatbot using a WordPress plugin integrated with custom scripts to assist visitors by answering FAQs about registration, volunteering, and event logistics. This automation dramatically reduced the burden on human volunteers responding to inquiries.

Accessibility features were prioritized, including keyboard navigation, ARIA labels for form elements, and high-contrast modes.

Performance optimization was also key, with compressed assets, lazy loading for images, and minimized script usage to ensure fast page load times even on slower connections.

Key Features

The GYSC website incorporated several high-impact features:

Attendee Registration and Booth Reservation: Fully integrated registration platform with real-time booth availability and session signup.

Volunteer Management: Dedicated volunteer registration form and backend database for organizers to manage volunteer assignments.

Chatbot Assistance: Interactive chatbot providing instant answers to common questions, improving the user experience and reducing email volume.

Responsive Design: A fully mobile-optimized layout that ensured participants could register and access information from any device.

Event Blog: Dynamic blog showcasing conference updates, sustainability articles, and speaker announcements.

Live Updates: Ability to post last-minute announcements or changes directly to the homepage and registration page.

Outcomes & Achievements

The GYSC website proved instrumental in the success of the 2023 conference. It handled over 250 registrations, coordinated dozens of booth reservations, and processed volunteer signups efficiently. The chatbot answered hundreds of questions before the event, saving organizers significant administrative time.

Attendees praised the site for its clean design, ease of use, and quick responsiveness. Event organizers appreciated the smooth backend management and the reduced workload enabled by automation.

My contributions to the GYSC platform were recognized with the prestigious President’s Gold Service Award, a national honor acknowledging outstanding service to community and civic engagement initiatives.

Beyond accolades, the website demonstrated the power of well-executed digital infrastructure in empowering grassroots movements and facilitating real-world change.

Reflections & Learnings

Building the Georgia Youth Sustainability Conference website was an invaluable learning experience that combined technical development, project management, and mission-driven design.

Technically, the project strengthened my skills in working with WordPress customizations, building scalable form systems, developing chatbot functionalities, optimizing performance for large user bases, and maintaining strict accessibility standards. It also gave me practical experience in supporting a live event with a dynamic web platform — dealing with real-time updates, user issues, and operational needs.

On a personal level, it reinforced my belief in technology as a tool for social and environmental impact. Seeing how a thoughtfully designed website could bring hundreds of young people together for a common cause was incredibly rewarding.

If I were to enhance the site today, I would explore integrating more personalized attendee dashboards, automated reminder systems, and post-event surveys to continue improving user engagement and feedback collection.

The GYSC website remains a defining project in my portfolio, representing the intersection of environmental passion, community action, and digital innovation.