Our Site of the Month winner for May 2011 is hiddenvoices.org. It’s a website with an inspiring mission and a community of hundreds that contribute and support not only each other, but their cause.

How long have you hosted your site with Lunarpages and which hosting plan are you using?

Lynden: We switched to Lunarpages in 2008 because our fabulous tech guy, Joe Keilholz, suggested Lunarpages as a great host.  We have the basic plan.

Describe your average visitor to hiddenvoices.org.

Lynden: The typical visitor is interested in social justice and often looking for a way to become engaged in the work we do.  Our mission is to challenge, strengthen, and connect our diverse communities through the transformative power of the individual voice.  That’s a pretty broad mission and leaves a lot of room for experimenting with how to use the power of individual stories to create pathways for change.  One of our partners said that while they might do the best job of research into some of these issues, they rarely change anyone’s mind with that research.  So, we focus on creating venues for those individuals affected by these issues to communicate their experiences and perspectives to the broader community.  Our tagline?  Stories create pathways.  Stories open minds and inspire action.  Stories make change possible.

Tell us a bit about your site and what you do there.

Lynden: Engage, empower, envision, enhance.  Those are the steps in the Hidden Voices process and we’re aiming the site toward accomplishing those same goals.  Engage the visitors in the stories and questions that we explore; empower those visitors to share their own stories or find ways to use the materials we create; allow visitors to envision the community and life they want; and encourage them to use this work to enhance their own community dialogue.  So we hope to provide visitors with an overview of the work we do, as well as to serve as a resource for those interested in the issues.  We are still working on the site but our goal is not only to let visitors know that we had an exhibit at Duke Chapel attended by 12,000 viewers, but to let the site visitors actually access the components in that exhibit.  As part of  Because We’re Still Here (and Moving) we created a walking tour map of an historic African-American area whose physical presence had been largely lost due to development.  We look forward to the day that that site also shows an interactive form of that map so that anyone can access the sites, stories, and histories.

Tell us about the design of your site.  We noticed you are using WordPress, is this a custom theme? What made you decide to use WordPress?

Lynden: Our fabulous designer, Sarah Dooley, suggested we use WordPress.   The previous site was mostly static HTML pages and we wanted something easier to up-date and that would accommodate the visual media more easily.  The theme is maybe semi-custom–it’s based on Kubrick but is probably modified beyond recognition.  Since we generally have three projects in various stages of development at the same time, the design allows us to highlight the most current while still allowing visitors to easily access two more projects on the homepage.

Reading up on some of your projects, there are a dozen listed.  Which are you most passionate about?

Lynden: I think we are always most passionate about whichever project we’re currently most involved in.  And since we are often working on more than one at a time that can be a lot of passion!  Our new project looks at the intersection of ethnicity, literacy, poverty, and incarceration.  What we see when we look at those factors, along with zero-tolerance policies in the schools and high stakes testing is an outcome that’s been dubbed the “School to Prison Pipeline.”  So we’ll be talking with teachers, students, and administrators around the state about what’s working in our schools, as well as what’s working to exclude the very children who are not supposed to be “left behind.”  We form many deep connections with project participants that continue to expand.

Tell us about your most successful project.

Lynden: Impossible to choose.  All the projects have been enlightening and incredibly rewarding.  The performance from Speaking Without Tongues, a project looking at the impact of violence in families and the repercussions in our society maybe traveling to the Kennedy Center, which is very exciting.

How has the internet and your website helped hiddenvoices.org gain awareness and support?

Lynden: Since we work in communities across the state, we don’t have a traditional work space.  The website is where and how we connect with volunteers and audience members.  We have a “suggest a project” page where folks can connect with us and help shape future projects.  Because performances and exhibits are incredibly time and space-intensive, the website allows a space for those who could not attend the actual event to still access the materials.

How large is your network of volunteers?

Lynden: We work with a couple hundred volunteers for each project, from project participants to students to transcriptionists to professional artists who generously share their creative skills.

How did hiddenvoices.org come to be?

Lynden: We wanted to create a space in which a cross section of our community—rich, poor, white, Latino, black, old, young, homeless, undocumented, well-educated, illiterate, career-oriented, incarcerated—would be in the same room at the same time to hear each others’ stories.  Stories change minds.  It’s the only way to break down stereotypes.  And you can’t make decent policy if you don’t know the actual truth on the ground.

Now, let’s have a bit of fun.

If you wrote a book, what would the title be?

Lynden: My favorite title of anything I’ve written is probably “To Buy the Sun” a recent play about Pauli Murray.

If you could be anyone for a day, who would it be and why?

Lynden: I can’t imagine anyone having a more fulfilling life than I do so that’s a tough question.  And a day off as someone else would set my work schedule back!

Would you ever be on a reality show? If yes, what kind?

Lynden: The work we do is seriously the most fascinating reality show you can imagine.  And the most compelling.

Real books or Kindle?

Lynden: Real.

Domain name you wished you owned?

Lynden: Have it already.  (Do people really covet domain names?!)

If you were to be famous what would you like to be known for?

Lynden: Creating pathways for healing.  Writing that makes a difference and transforms lives.   Connecting folks in powerful, life-enhancing ways.

Thanks Lynden!

If you would like to submit your site for Site of the month for June 2011, become a fan of Lunarpages on Facebook and then add your site to the post for May!