Plus Three Works with Hispanic Veterans Leadership Alliance

Posted on 07/24/2020 @ 02:49 PM

When the Hispanic Veterans Leadership Alliance (HVLA) approached us to build them a better website—to help them amplify their voices and create real change in America—we knew it was a worthy endeavor. The HVLA, a nonprofit 501(c)(3) organization consisting of leaders both military and civilian, is committed to changing the egregious discrepancy between the color of the faces in the military and the color of the faces of their superiors. They needed a website that could clearly communicate the problem: that there is lack of Hispanic representation among the senior ranks of the Department of Defense.

The new HVLA website needed a beautiful and intuitive design that would foreground the statistical narrative of Hispanic representation in the military. The argument is in the numbers: only 1% of all General and Admiral ranks are Hispanic; only 3.3% of Senior Executive Service Civilians are Hispanic; and only 8% of all military officers are Hispanic. This is especially unacceptable given that Hispanics constitute 18% of the U.S. population, and 7% of all current military members.

In addition to painting a picture with numbers, HVLA needed a way to engage potential members and advocates. They had devised a campaign strategy consisting of four parts: congressional outreach, national Latino organization engagement, media engagement, and Department of Defense engagement. As we know, the appearance of an organization’s website is crucial in establishing credibility. For HVLA’s campaign to take off, they needed a website that was professional, easy to navigate, and interactive. We made sure they had a design reflective of the gravity of their mission.

Plus Three’s approach to website building is a listen-first, act-second approach. We sat down (virtually) with Colonel Edward Cabrera of the U.S. Air Force (Retired), one of HVLA’s seven distinguished leaders, to discuss a path forward for the website. Colonel Cabrera told us what he envisioned for HVLA. We took notes, and then we went to work. Before long, we presented Colonel Cabrera with a composite image—a mockup—of our proposed website design. He gave us feedback and the process was repeated until HVLA was satisfied with our design.

Our work with HVLA is far from done. Once Plus Three has built a website for a client, we are available for all ongoing needs and requests. We’re not just a pretty face: our reliable online platform can host virtual town halls and rallies, engage millions of potential clients through marketing, and raise millions of dollars in funds—or more. We can help nonprofits strategize, too. We were thrilled for the opportunity to work with HVLA and are emboldened by their mission: to have our military leaders mirror the many faces of America.