Alopex Case Study
Calista Education & Culture
CEC + Alopex
Building a Better Hub for Resources Across the Calista Region
As a nonprofit organization and subsidiary of Calista Corporation, Calista Education and Culture helps Alaska Native students and families access scholarships, educational opportunities, career development programs, and cultural resources throughout the Calista Region.
Their website serves as a central hub for students, guardians, educators, and community members looking for information and support. With so many people relying on the site to find opportunities and resources, it needed to be more than just informative, it needed to be intuitive, accessible, and easy to navigate. At the same time, the Calista Education team needed a platform that could grow with the organization and allow staff to manage content without unnecessary complexity.
The Barriers to a Better Digital Experience
Calista Education came to Alopex after an initial website project left them wanting more. The site functioned, but it didn't fully reflect the organization's mission, connect with its audience, or provide the polished user experience they were hoping for.
At the same time, Calista Education wanted to keep the simplicity of Squarespace. Their team needed a website they could confidently manage on their own without sacrificing quality, flexibility, or design.
Reimagining What Squarespace Could Be
Rather than recommending a completely new platform, we focused on getting more out of the one they already had.
As a Squarespace Gold Circle Partner, we've spent years pushing the platform beyond what most people expect. Working closely with the Calista Education team, we restructured content, refined messaging, improved navigation, and refreshed key branding elements to create a stronger digital experience from the ground up.
The goal wasn't simply to redesign the site, it was to build a website that felt uniquely Calista Education while remaining easy for their team to update and maintain.
Custom Design Without the Complexity
One of the biggest misconceptions about Squarespace is that every site looks like a template.
Through custom layouts, thoughtful user experience design, and strategic content organization, we transformed the platform into a website that feels entirely custom-built. We refined the organization's logo, adjusted visual elements and colors, and created a design system that better reflects the professionalism and impact of the Calista Education program.
The result is a cleaner, more engaging experience that helps students, families, and community members quickly find the resources they're looking for.
A Foundation for the Future
Today, Calista Education has a website that better represents its mission and serves its audience.
Visitors can easily explore scholarships, educational opportunities, and cultural resources, while the organization's team benefits from a platform that is straightforward to manage and update internally.
Most importantly, the project demonstrates that great websites aren't defined by the platform they're built on. With the right strategy, design, and expertise, Squarespace can deliver a highly customized experience that feels every bit as polished as a fully custom website.