LEAD Edu

11 Aug

Nonprofit

LEAD Edu: a stuck 7.0 site rebuilt on Squarespace 7.1

LEAD Edu is a nonprofit that develops young leaders through education and sport, partnering with locally led academies in Liberia and Morocco. Their site has to work hard for three audiences at once: donors, partners, and the families their programs serve.

Client
LEAD Edu

Sector
International education nonprofit

Platform
Squarespace, 7.0 to 7.1 migration

Timeline
5 weeks

New design screenshot — add it via the gear panel in the editor

Old design screenshot — add it via the gear panel in the editor

Project overview

LEAD Edu's old site ran on Squarespace 7.0, the older version that locks you into a template family and makes everyday edits harder than they should be. Squarespace does not offer a one-click upgrade to 7.1, so the site had to be redesigned and rebuilt from scratch on a new 7.1 site, then swapped in under the same domain. We designed the new site in Figma with several rounds of team feedback, rebuilt every page, and trained the team so they could run it without a developer.

The problem

For a small communications team, every site update on 7.0 was a chore, and the design no longer matched the scale of the organization's work. Meanwhile the impact evidence a donor looks for, students served, exam pass rates, alumni outcomes, was not working as hard as it could on the page.

What was done

Full redesign in Figma, reviewed section by section with the LEAD Edu team
Complete rebuild on a new Squarespace 7.1 site, launched under the existing domain with a carefully timed switchover from GoDaddy
Custom-coded impact counters and logo slideshows, with a written guide covering every anchor link and ID so the team can maintain them
An alumni section built as a collection, so adding a new alumni profile is a form fill, not a design task
Auto-list sections for FAQs and team members, and saved reusable sections for building new pages
Newsletter integration with MailChimp and a donation-focused Ways to Give page
A recorded 1-hour training call, plus handover of the editable Figma files

We partnered with Studio Elias for LEAD Edu’s website rebrand and couldn’t be happier with the result. Mikka took the time to truly understand our organization’s mission and translated it into a design that feels both inspiring and intentional. The process was smooth, collaborative, and creative from start to finish. I highly recommend Studio Elias to any nonprofit or mission-driven team looking for thoughtful, high-quality design work.
— Daniela, LEAD Edu

Here’s how it looks

Make it stand out

Whatever it is, the way you tell your story online can make all the difference.

The new site launched in September 2025 with the team fully trained and holding the documentation, recordings, and Figma files to run it themselves.

Common questions

No. Squarespace has no automatic upgrade path, which is why this is a rebuild: a new 7.1 site is designed and built, then the domain is moved over. Done right, visitors never notice the switch.
The old subscription is cancelled once the new site is live. Squarespace often refunds a recently renewed plan, which LEAD Edu requested during this project.