Overview
California FFA is one of the largest and most active agricultural education organizations in the country, supporting students, teachers, and programs across hundreds of schools. When they partnered with Aero Design, their online infrastructure was struggling to keep up with the scale of their mission. They needed a platform that could handle complex data integrations, event management, student registration, and educator tools—all while remaining accessible and intuitive for users across the education spectrum. The new calaged.org is a powerful, streamlined system that reflects the professionalism, history, and energy of California FFA.
Challenge
The legacy calaged.org site had grown increasingly complex over time, with overlapping systems for managing member data, event signups, resources, and teacher tools. Performance was inconsistent, user interfaces were dated, and workflows were often more manual than they needed to be. In particular, educators were spending too much time navigating around system limitations, and students found key processes—like registering for conferences or checking eligibility—confusing or inaccessible. California FFA needed a digital platform that could unify all of these pieces while remaining scalable and secure for the future.
Our approach
Aero Design worked closely with FFA’s leadership and technical teams to audit the platform’s existing functionality and design a roadmap for modernization. We developed a fully custom Drupal-based website tailored to the organization’s unique data and workflow needs. This included integrating with third-party databases, developing custom dashboards for teachers and advisors, and streamlining event and eligibility systems for students. Our design focused on clarity, responsiveness, and accessibility—ensuring the site would serve everyone from first-year students to regional administrators with ease and confidence.
Results
The new calaged.org launched with immediate impact. Educators now manage student records, event participation, and credential tracking with significantly less friction. Students can register for events and access key information in a more intuitive and mobile-friendly environment. Behind the scenes, FFA’s administrative team now operates on a solid, scalable foundation that reduces manual work and enables real-time updates. This project highlights Aero Design’s ability to deliver highly customized, mission-aligned platforms for large, education-focused nonprofits—and we’re proud to support the next generation of agricultural leaders through this work.