They were doing incredible work.
But no one knew about it.
Chicagoland, USA
Brand articulation.
New Vision & Mission.
New look & feel.
Storytelling.
Communications design.
Marketing.
And so many other things.
Team
In total:
14+ people
Most Notably:
Neil Helsper
LK Mahmood
Scott Fujii
Heidi Bellm
West40 is unlike any Regional Office of Education (ROE) I've ever heard of.
Admittedly, I'd never heard of an ROE before them--but I have come to believe that they are still one of a kind. I met the West40 team through working at ES99-- they'd been a long time client for our parent company and they were at a really exciting place as an organization.
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They had all of the right things going for them-- amazing new visionary leadership (Dr. Mark Klaisner), passionate people who were committed to moving the organization forward to help fill in the gaps for kids across Chicagoland, and the funding and infrastructure to move forward.
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But they were stuck. There was a stigma with their organization that they had inherited and had little visibility in the community. Everything that had been accomplished was by true love and grit that the org had for the kids they served.
Without a strong brand and message to share, they struggled to move forward and truly expand into the areas that they knew they were capable of serving and driving their mission forward.
That's where we came in.
After days of sitting at a table with everyone from their compliance group to the advocates that sit in schools and bridge the gap for the teens that need someone to be in the trenches of life with them, it became clear that they needed a brand that reflected the character of their organization.
Whiteboards + giant Post-It notes unlocked the brand direction and so many stories
When it came down to getting West40 the brand articulation they needed, what it came down to was listening to them.
Around the room were a bunch of people who loved their mission (at the time West40 had 3 key branches to their organization that weren't fully articulated) and a bunch of great listeners.
And I was the one with the marker, whiteboard and pile of Post-It notes.
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What I love about this model of working with a brand is that it helps people to get their ideas out of their heads. Questions are asked. Stories, experiences, thoughts, nuggets are recorded and everyone walks away from a 3 hours session exhausted. 😅
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It's those sessions that make it clear what kind of people and organization you're working with. And that paves the way for recording it and bringing it to life.
A mission as a promise
When you write mission statements for organizations, it's important that people who work there can see their job through the lens of the mission. That every single day, they see the value of what they do.
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For West40, we wanted to give them the most actionable mission statement out there.
It's active. And it's a promise.
We will meet you where you are.
We will be what you need.
We will walk further with you.
We will stand strong with you.
My involvement with West40 transitioned to just supporting the team after the first 9 months or so. I got the creative direction and the team established and then let them run from there.
They did designed a website, did SO many photoshoots, wrote stories (40!), established a social media direction, email campaigns, made banners and graphics for events, created a podcast, created graphic templates and brand guidelines... and I'm sure so many things I'm sure I never even saw.
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I met with the West40 team a few times a year and my team kept me updated on regular happenings with them because I like to keep tabs on clients I love.
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All in all, from original brand direction to team empowerment (and their success), it'll always be one of my favorite brands to have worked on.
Color explosion in pink and purple behind the statement "It becomes impossible to stop here" and a paragraph about West40's vision for the coming years
Series of images of young adults in portrait with statement "We believe we can fill the gaps to make this community whole" and the West40 mission statement
Color explosion in rainbow behind the quote from Dr Mark Klaisner "People always ask us where we will stop. I always say I don't have an answer for them."
Color explosion in pink and purple behind the statement "It becomes impossible to stop here" and a paragraph about West40's vision for the coming years