Teach For America (TFA) is a national nonprofit that recruits and develops leaders to teach in under-resourced public schools across the United States. The organization was founded in 1990 by Wendy Kopp, who first proposed the idea in her 1989 Princeton University undergraduate thesis. TFA launched with 489 corps members in six regions and has since grown into a network of more than 72,000 alumni and corps members working to expand educational opportunity. [1] [2]
Design and History
For more than 25 years, Teach For America used a logo that was simply a type treatment of its name. The organization itself described this wordmark as having been created at a time when it was an emerging nonprofit, and acknowledged that it was not designed for the digital landscapes in which people consume information today. [3]
In 2023, Teach For America introduced a new brand identity, its first new logo in 25 years. The rebrand included a new symbol, a new color palette, and a new tagline: “Illuminate every learner.” [4] The organization explained that research and testing showed the previous logo was not providing brand lift or differentiation in the marketplace, and that the new identity was designed to help clarify who TFA is and what it does. [3]
The earlier wordmark identity was designed by William Drenttel, a graphic designer who worked in partnership with Jessica Helfand at the design studio Winterhouse. Drenttel’s biography notes that he designed identities for Teach For America, the Poetry Foundation, and the Yale School of Management. [5]
Meaning and Symbolism
The 2023 logo introduced a new symbol that Teach For America describes as both a spark and a sun. According to the organization’s official FAQ, the symbol “represents the light and potential that lives in all of our students” and “represents a movement working together centered on students.” [3]
The new identity also adopted purple as its primary color. Teach For America explained that competitive research showed the vast majority of similar organizations primarily used blues and greens in their logos, so purple was selected as a strategy to stand apart. The organization also noted that “red + blue makes purple,” describing it as “the combination of our past coming together to make our future.” [3]
Typography and Design
Teach For America’s pre-2023 logo was a text-based wordmark, described by the organization as “simply a type treatment of our name.” [3] The organization has not publicly documented the specific typeface used in either the old or new logo, nor has it published official color specifications for the current identity.
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