Our Mission:
Improve human experiences through web, digital, & creative media
Since 2003, our award-winning team has helped hundreds of organizations serve millions of users. Our work brings new leads, clients, sales, calls, orders, appointments, new team members, new product lines, mergers, acquisitions and more.
Clients Featured In:
Our Impact
9M+
Users Visiting Our Work Last Year
450
Successful Web & Digital Projects
120 Years
Collective Years In the Business
13
Websites Donated to Local Charities
4,000+
Meals Made & Served to the Homeless
4:1
Average Client ROI Within First Year
2.5 Months
Average time our work takes to pay for itself
1.75
Average cups of coffee / tea / mud water per person
Our Values
Impact = Empathy + Expertise
We believe true impact is a result of endeavoring to better understand your audience (and their problems), and then creating a unique offering that solves them.
Simple is the most powerful.
The hardest thing in life, business, marketing, branding, and web is to remain simple, but it is simultaneously the most effective.
Always build to last.
Our work continues to prove that data-backed, well-researched, well-built strategy, web, and digital work withstands the test of time, every time.
Leave things better than you found them.
Whether it’s cleaning your place at the table, or updating a client website, we believe in improving life for the next person.
Sustainability – Reduce, remove, recycle wherever possible.
The perfection of nature’s ecosystem is no accident. It is both simple, and complex. Nothing is wasted. We are constantly working to reduce our carbon footprint, removing unnecessary processes, code, things, recycling and giving back to the environment however we can.
People first.
This means we value relationships, team members, family, and community over sales, leads, traffic and everything else. For our work, this means prioritizing honesty, trust, integrity, privacy, personal data safety, and accessibility.
Help those who need it.
Not for a corporate statement, not to “feel better” about our work, not to win a project, but because we believe in making the world a better place, and it starts with the person next to us.
What’s Tracked Gets Improved.
We love helping others define their dreams, setup the KPI’s and conversions that move the needle toward that end. Then we track how our work performs, improve what needs improving, and increase more of what is succeeding. We love the 1% rule.
In the Community
Upstate Golisano Children’s Hospital opened in 2009, with the mission to provide safe, effective, innovative, and family-centered care for children in the Central New York region. Today we serve children and families across 17 counties and treat over 100,000 pediatric encounters per year. Breakthrough supports the hospital’s ongoing mission.
Breakthrough donated web, digital, and communication platform assistance to this small but fervent community dedicated to service, radical inclusion, and helping those less fortunate.
Breakthrough Design helped plan, execute, and achieve the largest volunteer class in FrancisCorp’s history (despite being during the pandemic with reduced volunteering worldwide). For a year, these volunteers will help run homeless shelters, soup kitchens, refugee programs, pre-school programs, child services and more throughout the Syracuse community.
Executive Team Members
Tison Kelley
Founder, Digital Experience Architect
Kelley, B.S., specializes in Human Experience in enterprise architectures. He has worked with the US Navy, Federal Aviation Administration, Higher Education Institutions, Commercial Real Estate, Financial Planning firms, and hundreds public and private organizations around the world… (Continued)
Ari Kaplan
Creative Extraordinaire
Kaplan, B.A. graduated from Rutgers University in Graphic Design in 2004 and has worked for a finance-based agency for 8 years prior to building Breakthrough. Whether working in the wee hours on a project with the close-knit crew at Breakthrough or enjoying time in the great outdoors, Ari draws inspiration from his beautiful family and amazing friends.
Ron Griffel
Creative and Strategic Jedi
Mike Curry
Web Design Director
Curry, BFA, specializes in brand and UI design. His work spans across several industries including medical, hospitality and blockchain technology. Mike graduated from West Chester University of Pennsylvania in 2018 with a BFA in Graphic and Interactive Design. With a passion for art and design he enjoys refining his skills across all mediums.
Devon Beard
Master Front End Web Developer
Beard, B.S., focuses in front-end web design & development including HTML, CSS, JavaScript, & custom WordPress theme development. Beard has worked for small outfits like Twitter, Omada Health (voted the #1 most effective way to treat Diabetes), McDonalds, and more. When not making the web a more user-friendly place, Beard can be found helping save our forests, or riding his motorcycle on the coast of California.
Tatiana Spears
Social Media Maven
Spears, holds an MBA in Finance & Marketing and is experienced in the banking, healthcare, and tech sectors. Tatiana has worked with top brands such as Nintendo, Whole Foods, General Electric, SAP and Coinbase. When she’s not working on social strategy, she’s baking to French music, hiking with her family, or fawning over her overworked Nespresso machine.
Sara Peirson
Content & WordPress Director
Spears, holds an MBA in Finance & Marketing
Peirson, B.S. has over 12 years experience in a variety of enterprise-level clients, including one of the largest, oldest Fortune 100 financial institutions in the world. Sara has a BS in Communications from the State University of New York Brockport. She was awarded the Junior League of Syracuse’s New Member of the Year award for her efforts assisting charities throughout the CNY region.
and is experienced in the banking, healthcare, and tech sectors. Tatiana has worked with top brands such as Nintendo, Whole Foods, General Electric, SAP and Coinbase. When she’s not working on social strategy, she’s baking to French music, hiking with her family, or fawning over her overworked Nespresso machine.
Join our team.
Help revolutionize how organizations communicate online, and the impact they can make for the world.
