Young Americans Center
DoodleWeb built Young Americans Center on WordPress on WP Engine for the Education sector. One platform now carries both the nonprofit and the bank without either one diluting the other. Parents and educators land on a program page and reach an enrollment action in a single scroll, the in-house team launches a new program page in a day without developer help, and the site holds WCAG 2.2 AA across every template.
A scalable Drupal/WordPress platform that unifies a youth financial education nonprofit and its youth-focused bank into one clear story.
Short answer
What did DoodleWeb deliver for Young Americans Center?
Young Americans Center for Financial Education runs the only bank in the world for kids alongside a set of hands-on programs, AmeriTowne, International Towne, Money Matters, YouthBiz, and summer camp, that teach financial literacy to youth. Two audiences, two brands, one mission, and previously two disconnected websites. DoodleWeb ran a brand and experience repositioning, then rebuilt the platform on WordPress at WP Engine: a sub-brand system that lets Young Americans Center, Young Americans Bank, and each program keep its own color world while sharing one component library, program pages that lead with a plain-language promise instead of nonprofit jargon, and an editorial model that keeps mission content and regulated bank content cleanly separated. Shipped in 18 weeks. WCAG 2.2 AA conformant.
- Client
- Young Americans Center
- Industry
- Education
- Platform
- WordPress on WP Engine
- Donation page conversion
- 2x
- Reduction in admin tickets
- 40%
- WCAG 2.2 AA
- 100%
Last updated: August 2026 · Source: DoodleWeb, Columbia Tower, 701 5th Ave 42nd Floor, Seattle WA 98104 · info@doodleweb.io · (425) 359-0168
Where they started.
Young Americans is two organizations under one roof. A nonprofit teaching financial literacy through experiential programs, and a chartered bank built for people under 22. The old digital presence split them across disconnected sites, buried the programs behind nonprofit language, and gave a parent no way to answer the only question they actually have: what does my kid do here, and how do I sign them up.
What we built.
We repositioned the brand around a single line, Join the take charge generation, then built the sub-brand system that line needed. Young Americans Center, Young Americans Bank, and each program, International Towne, Money Matters, Summer Camp, YouthBiz, got its own lockup and color world inside one shared WordPress component library. Every program page opens with a promise in kids-and-parents language, Take charge of your world, Take charge of your finances, followed by what happens, who it is for, and a single enrollment action. Mission content and regulated bank content run on separate editorial tracks so neither slows the other down.
Where it landed.
One platform now carries both the nonprofit and the bank without either one diluting the other. Parents and educators land on a program page and reach an enrollment action in a single scroll, the in-house team launches a new program page in a day without developer help, and the site holds WCAG 2.2 AA across every template.
The work behind the launch.
Each engagement covers strategy, design, build, and post-launch care — orchestrated by a single senior team.
Barriers we had to overcome.
A concise look at the constraints that shaped every decision in the build.
Two brands, one organization, no shared story
Young Americans Center and Young Americans Bank were presented as separate entities on separate sites. Visitors could not tell they were the same organization, and neither brand got credit for the other's credibility.
Programs written in nonprofit language
AmeriTowne, International Towne, Money Matters, YouthBiz, and summer camp were described in institutional copy. A parent reading them could not tell what their child would actually do, what age it was for, or how to sign up.
Four audiences, one undifferentiated path
Kids, parents, educators, and donors all entered through the same generic navigation. The enrollment path, the classroom curriculum path, and the giving path competed with each other on every page.
A regulated bank inside a nonprofit site
Young Americans Bank is FDIC member and carries compliance requirements that the program content does not. The old setup gave editors no safe boundary between the two.
No room to grow
Every new program or seasonal campaign meant a developer ticket and a one-off template, so the site fell behind the organization's actual calendar.
What we built.
The pieces that shaped the final build — each tied back to a real business outcome.
One positioning line, then the system to carry it
Join the take charge generation became the through-line. Every program headline is a variation on it, Take charge of your world for International Towne, Take charge of your finances for Money Matters, so the mission repeats without repeating itself.
A sub-brand color system
The Center, the Bank, and each program get a distinct lockup and color world, cyan for International Towne, warm yellow for Summer Camp, deep teal for Money Matters, navy for the Bank, all drawn from one shared component library so nothing is bespoke.
Program pages built for parents
Each program page opens with the promise, then the photo of kids actually doing it, then grade range, format, and dates in plain language, and ends in one enrollment or registration action. No scrolling past mission copy to find the button.
Separate tracks for mission and bank content
Bank pages run on their own templates and editorial workflow with the FDIC lockup and required disclosures, so compliance review never blocks a program launch and program edits never touch regulated copy.
Accessibility as a launch criterion
WCAG 2.2 AA across every template, tested with keyboard and screen reader, with contrast verified for each sub-brand palette before it shipped rather than after.
A platform the team runs themselves
Reusable program, event, and campaign templates on WP Engine mean a new program page, camp session, or donor appeal goes live the same day, with no developer in the loop.
What changed.
What changed for the team and their audience after launch — measured in real behavior, not vanity metrics.
- One organization, one story, with the Center and the Bank reinforcing each other
- Program pages that reach an enrollment action in a single scroll
- A sub-brand system that absorbs new programs without new design work
- Clean separation between mission content and regulated bank content
- WCAG 2.2 AA across every template
- Same-day publishing for programs, camps, events, and donor campaigns
- Stronger visibility for the programs parents and educators search for
Technology used for the Young Americans Center project
DoodleWeb delivered this engagement on WordPress on WP Engine over 18 weeks. The published project record includes the following platforms, tools, and delivery disciplines.
- WordPress
- WP Engine
- Custom theme
- Sub-brand design system
- Accessibility
- SEO
Inside the build.
A few selected screens from the live product.
They understood we weren't just a nonprofit and we weren't just a product. We were both.
Numbers we are proud of.
Specific, measurable, and pulled from production analytics (not assumptions).
Other Education work, worth a look.
Frequently asked questions about the Young Americans Center project
- What did DoodleWeb build for Young Americans Center?
- DoodleWeb repositioned the Young Americans Center brand and built a custom WordPress platform on WP Engine. The work unified Young Americans Center, Young Americans Bank, AmeriTowne, International Towne, Money Matters, YouthBiz, and summer camp through one component library while preserving a distinct visual identity for each program.
- How did the website serve both a nonprofit and a youth bank?
- The shared platform uses separate templates and editorial tracks for mission content and regulated bank content. Bank pages retain required disclosures and the FDIC lockup, while program teams can update camps, events, curriculum, and donor content without touching regulated copy.
- How did DoodleWeb simplify program enrollment?
- Each program page was reorganized around the questions parents and educators ask first: what participants do, who the program serves, when it runs, and how to enroll. The primary enrollment or registration action appears within one scroll instead of after institutional mission copy.
- Was accessibility included in the Young Americans Center rebuild?
- Yes. WCAG 2.2 AA conformance was treated as a launch requirement across every template. Keyboard and screen-reader testing were included, and contrast was checked for each program's sub-brand color palette before launch.
- What platform powers the Young Americans Center website?
- The website uses a custom WordPress theme hosted on WP Engine. Its reusable program, event, campaign, and bank components let the internal team publish updates without needing a developer for every change.
- How long did the Young Americans Center project take?
- The brand repositioning, information architecture, design system, custom WordPress development, accessibility work, quality assurance, and editor training were delivered over 18 weeks in 2024.
- What outcomes are reported for the Young Americans Center project?
- The published project record reports a two-times improvement in donation-page conversion, a 40 percent reduction in administration tickets, and WCAG 2.2 AA conformance. The internal team can also publish new program, camp, event, and donor pages on the same day without developer support.
- Which Young Americans Center programs are represented in the new system?
- The shared system supports Young Americans Bank and the nonprofit's financial education programs, including AmeriTowne, International Towne, Money Matters, YouthBiz, and summer camp. Each program has its own visual treatment inside one governed design system.