For economic and racial justice: A rebrand story

Originally published as “For Economic and Racial Justice: Our Rebrand Story” on the Shriver Center on Poverty Law blog, Ambar Mentor-Truppa, Vice President of Communications, introduces their refreshed brand that Big Duck helped develop.

You may have noticed that the Shriver Center on Poverty Law looks a little different. We’re excited to share that we have rebranded! We have a new visual identity, including a shortened name and new tagline: For economic and racial justice.

The rebrand represents a bold step into a new frontier in the fight for social justice and race equity. Over the Shriver Center’s 50-year history we have secured hundreds of law and policy victories with and for people living in poverty in Illinois. Building on these wins and our comprehensive view of poverty, we connect and train lawyers, community leaders, and activists nationwide to advance opportunity — for all, not just some.

As an organization that values its position as a strong and leading advocate, we recognize the importance of having a unified and powerful voice to carry our message forward. Over the past several years, the Shriver Center has committed to centering race equity in its antipoverty mission. We have also grown our Illinois advocacy capacity, taken on new ventures with the creation of multistate networks of advocates, and added a new communications department. After celebrating our 50th anniversary in 2017, we knew it was time for our external presence to reflect our internal evolution.

We engaged in a yearlong exploration guided by our communications team in partnership with Big Duck, a strategic communications agency for nonprofits like ours. We dug deep into what motivates us as an organization, what’s been holding us back, and what the climate looks like now for the communities we serve, advocate with, and care about. We examined how we talk about ourselves and our issues, evaluated how we present our work to the world, and invested in technology and storytelling that will help us change hearts and minds.

As we unveil the Shriver Center’s new brand, which illustrates a more dynamic expression of ourselves, it is important for our allies to know that we remain steadfast to our mission.

This brand is deeply rooted in our mission and values. We wanted to bring the core pillars of our organization to life — our focus on justice and equal opportunity, our belief that race equity and poverty alleviation are inextricably linked, our commitment to communities, and our recognition of our role as a trusted leader.

This brand values our advocacy partners and celebrates the communities we serve. A variety of perspectives and collective feedback helped shape our new brand. It was crucial to have full engagement from our staff, board, and partners every step of the way. We pulled in various feedback and ideas through stakeholder interviews, staff and board discussions, and one-on-one previews of brand identity and tagline concepts with donors, advocates, and community partners. As our new brand takes shape, it will continue to reflect a commitment to being unwavering, forthright, and inclusive.

This brand propels us toward the future. We will be able to engage new audiences and supporters across spaces, generations, and identities. The new brand allows us to amplify our reputation as experienced and responsive advocacy leaders as well as drive our continued goals to be community-driven advocates and race-forward in our work. The Shriver Center also has a stronger foundation and platform for the next era of our work, which includes a new President in 2020, and a new generation of staff and partners.

As we forge ahead, we know challenging times remain for people experiencing economic hardship. But we also see hope and progress, where advocates are ushering in racially equitable policies at the state and local levels and pushing agendas that are comprehensive and progressive. We know change is possible.

We can’t do this work alone. The laws and policies behind poverty harm all of us. We’re building a future where all people, families, and future generations have equal dignity, respect, and power under the law. With you in the fight, we will be able to achieve it. Join us.