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Name: NationSwell
One-Liner Pitch: NationSwell is a new digital media company focused on high-quality stories about the people renewing America.
Why It's Taking Off: With a team of seasoned journalists and advisers across various spaces, NationSwell not only identifies the innovators moving the country forward, but also drives social action in support of their efforts.
When Greg Behrman returned from military deployment in Afghanistan a year and a half ago, he was excited to start a new company with roots in national service. After reading about American decline and the challenges the country faces, he wanted to find out who was actually engaging these issues with the most exciting, dynamic solutions.
But it was harder than expected to find progressive pioneers. "There wasn't really that go-to place — that platform, that community, that experience — that focused exclusively on identifying those people and showcasing their efforts with great storytelling," he tells Mashable.
See also: 10 Innovations That Improved the World in 2013
Now, as founder and editor-in-chief, Behrman hopes NationSwell can be that go-to place. The site's strict focus on American renewal promises a multimedia hub of innovators across the U.S., all of whom put national progress at the forefront of their ideas.
Since its soft launch into beta on Dec. 9, the site has featured numerous compelling stories, including profiles of a former Navy SEAL who founded a non-profit that donates clothing kits to wounded soldiers, and a foundation working to reform the prison system. One of NationSwell's original videos, about a doctor who makes house calls to homeless people, was recently featured prominently on Upworthy's homepage, and also picked up by the Huffington Post.
The digital media company's mission is twofold, marrying this kind of content with social action. "If a reader or viewer experiences a story and is inspired by it, there's a way for him or her to take action and do something to support the innovator or cause. And in that way, he or she provides a mechanism to enter the story, and become a part of the story," Berhman says.

An example of NationSwell's Take Action element.
Image: NationSwell
The team put a lot of thought into the site's social action aspect, wanting it to be at once effective, impactful and user-friendly — all while flowing as seamlessly with the editorial experience as possible. A "Take Action" button sticks to the left side of a given story as you scroll down; once you reach the end of the story, the button expands to give more information about the action you can take.
The story about the doctor who helps the homeless, for example, gives readers the option to donate to the Street Medicine Institute. It met its goal of $500 within five days, and has raised a total of nearly $1,200 at this time of writing.
In addition to making those kinds of micro donations, the site's social actions include signing petitions and signing up for emails. In the future, Behrman says there will be chances to do a wider range of actions specific to innovators' individual initiatives.
NationSwell coverage, a mix of original features and curated posts, pinpoints the key issues in the U.S. at the present moment — people who are enhancing socioeconomic mobility, advancing national service, working toward education reform, protecting the environment and much more.
"We don't do politics at all, but we're really interested in stories about people who are doing things that...make government work more effectively, and deliver more responsibly to citizens," Behrman says.
The site's strength lies in part with the small but well-rounded team. The company hired Cathy Sharick, former managing editor of TIME.com, and reporters from The New York Times, TIME and POLITICO. It also has advisers from Upworthy and Facebook, and recently hired Serena Roosevelt, former executive director of business development at New York Media, as NationSwell's general manager.
Though it's based at the Center for Social Innovation in New York City's Chelsea neighborhood, Behrman says NationSwell isn't focusing on New York, Silicon Valley and Washington, D.C., as much as other outlets are.
"We subscribe to the notion that the towns, cities, and states throughout our nation are these really exciting laboratories for innovation. And to that end, we have a network of about 100 freelancers throughout the country," he says. There are also full-time staffers based in Delaware, Georgia and elsewhere.

Image: NationSwell
For the NationSwell team, everything comes back to mission — finding people on the cutting edge of solving America's challenges, and supporting them. That's why it launched the NationSwell Council, a membership network to mobilize innovators and the community, and provide an offline forum for more intimate, intensive engagement.
"We have 30 founding members, who are amazing people — leaders in business and finance, media, the not-for-profit world, and technology — and we do high-end events for them with the kind of innovators that we profile on the site," Berhman says. The events can be a breakfast, an intimate dinner, a cocktail party or some similar gathering where an innovator can discuss his or her mission.
It's based in traditional networking, but goes further by NationSwell following up each event with "impact notes," which provide interested members with an efficient and effective way to get involved. So far, the council has hosted events with the Center for America, the Franklin Project, Code for America and others. There will also be a dinner with Ben Rattray, founder and CEO of Change.org, in late February.
While NationSwell isn't disclosing traffic metrics yet, Behrman says the first month has shown great promise. In the second week after launch, a post about a creative solution to homelessness went viral, and currently has well over 800,000 unique pageviews and climbing.
He's also seeing great traction on social — the Facebook page currently has more than 50,000 likes.
"Most importantly, we have a very strong sense of mission and belief in what we are building," Behrman says. "We are really excited about this nice start — and our prospects for generating further reach and impact in the days ahead."
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