Embolden Design: Newsroom - Archived Press

07-07-03
Embolden Blazes Online Trail for Nonprofits
Providence Business News
July 7, 2003

By Patricia Resende

Ann-Marie Harrington has taken her experience in social work and mixed it with a bit of coding and HTML and has formed Embolden Design Inc., a Pawtucket-based Web-development company that caters to the nonprofit community.

The 38-year-old Rhode Islander spent most of her early career in social work and working with nonprofits. It wasn’t until the mid-1990s that she developed an interest for designing Web sites, an interest that ultimately led her to start a high-tech business.

“I was working in social work and the Internet was starting to bubble to the surface,” Harrington said.

The executive, who holds an undergraduate degree in business from Bryant College and a master’s of social work from Rhode Island College, was working with Rhode Island Kids Count, a children’s policy and advocacy organization, and was tasked with developing a Web site for the nonprofit.

An enthusiastic Harrington began teaching herself how to design a Web site. The site was predominantly all text because graphics were still not available at that point in time. In 1994, HTML (a programming language used to post documents to the Web) and Flash (an animation application used in Web-site design) were not yet in existence.

“I taught myself and fell in love with it,” she said. “It was a perfect combination in technical and creative and it used both sides of the brain.”

After spending three months on the project, Harrington knew that “I wanted to do this as my career.”

Cash-strapped nonprofits needed desperately to get the word out about their organization and its mission. And Harrington saw a need for a market that was basically untouched by other developers.

“Some folks were seeing it as a way to raise funds,” she said of the nonprofits.

By 1998, when Web-development businesses were sprouting up everywhere charging tens of thousands of dollars, Harrington began to get requests to develop sites through word-of-mouth.

“They said you understand us and know our language,” Harrington said of nonprofits.

That year, Harrington built up enough courage to start her own business.

The company name, Embolden, which means to encourage, seemed like a perfect fit because that was what she was trying to do – encourage nonprofits to reach out to the community through the Internet.

Harrington started the company from her home on the East Side of Providence and soon brought on other employees, including Mark Ardizzone, Embolden’s first employee and vice president of design. The crew worked remotely until early 2002 when Embolden landed office space in a century-old mill on Pawtucket Avenue in Pawtucket.

Today, the five-person business, has landed dozens of clients – both businesses and nonprofits – including the Rhode Island Foundation and Brown University, to name a few.

The foundation’s site has grown fivefold and has won two awards from the Council on Foundations, a membership organization with more than 2,000 foundations across the nation.

Embolden’s founder makes it clear that although she got her start in providing services to the nonprofit world, business didn’t stop there. In fact, 40 percent of her clients are private and public businesses while 60 percent are nonprofits.

“We have worked (for businesses) all over New England and in other areas like Mississippi,” Toronto and Washington D.C., Harrington said.

Local customers include Bonanza Bus, Bank Rhode Island and Pawtuxet Valley Bus Lines.

Embolden does not stop at design. The company also offers hosting, Web development and most recently the company developed Matriarch, an application that allows clients to update their Web sites without having a lot of technological know-how. The custom Web application, also called the Mother of Content Management, allows users to add text, tweak data and import images onto the site.

One thing that Embolden does that its competitors do not, is it shares a bit about its employees to the online world.

Embolden employees post images of their dogs and children to their own site.

“It was purposeful to put the pets and children online,” she said. “It shows the diversity of our lives.”

Harrington, who does not have children, refers to her two dogs and cat as her kids.

“I adopted Theo, a greyhound that was kept at a track in New Hampshire and not treated well,” she said. “He was in bad shape and terrified of people.”

She also adopted Timothy the Cat and Ruthie a mix-breed dog from the R.I. Animal Rescue League.


	about company overview our staff pets & children job opportunities clients featured clients client list services overview full list of services web design and development online community building online marketing strategic web consulting newsroom newsroom archived press signup for enewsletter contact contact us online contact form directions google maps search community foundations // nonprofits // health // higher education // professional services newsroom \| archived press \| signup for enewsletter 07-07-03 Embolden Blazes Online Trail for Nonprofits Providence Business News July 7, 2003 By Patricia Resende Ann-Marie Harrington has taken her experience in social work and mixed it with a bit of coding and HTML and has formed Embolden Design Inc., a Pawtucket-based Web-development company that caters to the nonprofit community. The 38-year-old Rhode Islander spent most of her early career in social work and working with nonprofits. It wasn’t until the mid-1990s that she developed an interest for designing Web sites, an interest that ultimately led her to start a high-tech business. “I was working in social work and the Internet was starting to bubble to the surface,” Harrington said. The executive, who holds an undergraduate degree in business from Bryant College and a master’s of social work from Rhode Island College, was working with Rhode Island Kids Count, a children’s policy and advocacy organization, and was tasked with developing a Web site for the nonprofit. An enthusiastic Harrington began teaching herself how to design a Web site. The site was predominantly all text because graphics were still not available at that point in time. In 1994, HTML (a programming language used to post documents to the Web) and Flash (an animation application used in Web-site design) were not yet in existence. “I taught myself and fell in love with it,” she said. “It was a perfect combination in technical and creative and it used both sides of the brain.” After spending three months on the project, Harrington knew that “I wanted to do this as my career.” Cash-strapped nonprofits needed desperately to get the word out about their organization and its mission. And Harrington saw a need for a market that was basically untouched by other developers. “Some folks were seeing it as a way to raise funds,” she said of the nonprofits. By 1998, when Web-development businesses were sprouting up everywhere charging tens of thousands of dollars, Harrington began to get requests to develop sites through word-of-mouth. “They said you understand us and know our language,” Harrington said of nonprofits. That year, Harrington built up enough courage to start her own business. The company name, Embolden, which means to encourage, seemed like a perfect fit because that was what she was trying to do – encourage nonprofits to reach out to the community through the Internet. Harrington started the company from her home on the East Side of Providence and soon brought on other employees, including Mark Ardizzone, Embolden’s first employee and vice president of design. The crew worked remotely until early 2002 when Embolden landed office space in a century-old mill on Pawtucket Avenue in Pawtucket. Today, the five-person business, has landed dozens of clients – both businesses and nonprofits – including the Rhode Island Foundation and Brown University, to name a few. The foundation’s site has grown fivefold and has won two awards from the Council on Foundations, a membership organization with more than 2,000 foundations across the nation. Embolden’s founder makes it clear that although she got her start in providing services to the nonprofit world, business didn’t stop there. In fact, 40 percent of her clients are private and public businesses while 60 percent are nonprofits. “We have worked (for businesses) all over New England and in other areas like Mississippi,” Toronto and Washington D.C., Harrington said. Local customers include Bonanza Bus, Bank Rhode Island and Pawtuxet Valley Bus Lines. Embolden does not stop at design. The company also offers hosting, Web development and most recently the company developed Matriarch, an application that allows clients to update their Web sites without having a lot of technological know-how. The custom Web application, also called the Mother of Content Management, allows users to add text, tweak data and import images onto the site. One thing that Embolden does that its competitors do not, is it shares a bit about its employees to the online world. Embolden employees post images of their dogs and children to their own site. “It was purposeful to put the pets and children online,” she said. “It shows the diversity of our lives.” Harrington, who does not have children, refers to her two dogs and cat as her kids. “I adopted Theo, a greyhound that was kept at a track in New Hampshire and not treated well,” she said. “He was in bad shape and terrified of people.” She also adopted Timothy the Cat and Ruthie a mix-breed dog from the R.I. Animal Rescue League.