STAY CONNECTED

OUR STORY & NEW BRAND

OUR STORY

Kerry Olson and her husband, David Katz, founded the private nonprofit Firelight Foundation in 1999 to support children affected by HIV/AIDS and poverty.

Over the decade that followed, Firelight built broad public support based on its wide recognition and reputation as a leader in effectively getting resources to community organizations supporting vulnerable children in Africa.

In celebration of its tenth year of grantmaking, on July 1, 2010, Firelight took the exciting step of incorporating as a public charity. The Firelight Foundation public charity runs the organization’s grantmaking and other programs. The nonprofit private entity, the Firelight Endowment, is responsible for the good stewardship of the endowment in order to provide resources to grassroots efforts supporting vulnerable children and families in Africa.

Kerry Olson has held a life-long commitment to service on behalf of children, starting with raising funds for children in need around the world when she was only seven years old. Since then, she has been a strong advocate for children, playing a variety of roles from early childhood educator to social science researcher.

As she was getting the foundation off the ground, Kerry, an artist in her own right, began thinking about the Firelight ‘brand’ and the core values, and emotions it should evoke. She started by sketching logos, consulting Firelight’s closest supporters and advisers along the way, and eventually settling on a simple Marc Chagall-inspired sketch of a child’s face bathed in the light of a candle. The sketch visually conveyed the hope for a brighter future for vulnerable children. “Firelight” was chosen as the name of the new foundation to reflect this simple but powerful message.

OUR NEW TAGLINE

As we were finalizing our new five-year strategy in early 2009, we embarked on creating a new expression of our core identity.

Unveiled several months later, the new Firelight brand more vividly conveys our deep belief in the role of strong families and active communities in improving the well-being of children.

Although our visual expression has changed and our vision broadened, our strong values and mission remain unchanged. Hand in hand with our new strategy, our new brand reflects our expanded vision of life-changing community action.

BUILDING ON OUR BRAND TO IMPROVE LIVES

We couldn’t think of a better time to put our new brand to work.

We hope that in reinforcing our expanded vision and new strategy, it will help us convince a new corps of supporters to support communities in Africa.

We hope that it will encourage audiences both old and new to come to us with questions and seek more information.

And finally, we hope that it inspires confidence and optimism about how much can be achieved—even with very little—if we act together.

WHAT OUR NEW BRAND MEANS LITERALLY

Our new logo conveys the light of hope that emanates from a flame woven from three discrete but integrally connected parts: the child, the family, and the community. Together, the ‘child’, ‘family’, and ‘community’ pieces of the logo and the white paths that connect them symbolize the strong interconnectedness, solidarity, and grassroots mobilization that lie at the heart of improving children’s lives.

CHILD-CENTERED:

The bottom center piece represents the ‘child’ at the heart of it all, embraced by both the ‘family’ piece and the ‘community’ piece. We believe that children are the key to a brighter future for Africa and that all children deserve a safe environment, adequate food, shelter, and health services, a sound education, and nurturing care.

Our approach is child-centered both because that is where the greatest need is, but also because that is where the greatest hope lies. Cradled by the two elements that surround it, the ‘child’ piece of our logo conveys that centrality and hope.

FAMILY-FOCUSED:

One of the fundamental beliefs that inform our work is that children grow best in families. Families are the most important source of care, support, and protection for children. We believe in a family-focused approach because when families are strengthened, they can provide for children’s basic needs and nurture strong and healthy children, improving their lives both today and tomorrow.

The ‘family’ element is the same color as the ‘child’, signifying the unity and closeness between a family and its children and the central role of the family in a child’s development.

COMMUNITY-BASED:

We have chosen to channel our support to the community level because we believe that it will have the greatest possible impact on the well-being of children and their families. Communities provide a strong safety net of support for children and families in need, and community-based organizations are best placed to strengthen that safety net.

Our community-based approach is a direct reflection of our grounding in the grassroots and our respect for and belief in the power of community solidarity. The ‘community’ piece touches both the ‘family’ and the ‘child’ elements in significant ways, and holds them together

Our Colors

The earth-tone colors elicit the warmth and hope of a flame that progresses from dark to light and represents the hope that communities working with families hold for the future of their children.

Our New Tagline

Our new tagline simply, clearly, and powerfully communicates the priority we place on supporting the grassroots, where real change for children happens.

It conveys the message that the community solidarity and desire for change that motivates communities to mobilize and solve their own problems are the key ingredients of a long-term, sustainable approach to improving children’s lives.

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