Rebrand as Infrastructure for Program Growth
Client: scaleLIT
Partnership Type: Rebrand leading into long-term program communications support
Context
For more than 20 years, the Chicago Citywide Literacy Coalition served as a network of adult literacy providers working together to share resources and raise awareness. As the organization’s role expanded, its leadership recognized that the existing brand no longer reflected the full scope of its work or its future direction.
This moment was not about becoming something new. It was about clearly representing what the organization had already become.
causeFX initially partnered with the organization to support the transition from CCLC to scaleLIT. The goal was to develop an identity and narrative system that could support evolving programs, partnerships, and services without disconnecting from the coalition’s history.
Our Approach
The rebrand was treated as infrastructure, not a cosmetic exercise.
causeFX worked closely with scaleLIT’s leadership team to understand the organization’s evolution, its current capabilities, and its long-term vision. That insight informed a comprehensive branding strategy that included a new name, tagline, visual identity, website, and supporting digital materials.
Rather than positioning the rebrand as a reset, the work focused on continuity. Messaging and design choices were grounded in real program activity and coalition values, ensuring the new brand could be adopted quickly by staff, partners, and stakeholders without friction.
The rebrand was designed to do one essential thing well. Create a stable foundation that future communications could build on as programs continued to grow and change.
What Changed
The transition to scaleLIT created shared clarity across the organization.
Leadership gained a clearer way to articulate mission and direction. Program teams gained language and tools that reflected their work accurately. External audiences encountered an identity that matched the organization’s energy, credibility, and expanding role across literacy, workforce, and digital learning.
The new brand was implemented across platforms and materials in ways that supported active service delivery rather than interrupting it.
Outcome
The rebrand became a durable communications foundation.
It enabled scaleLIT to:
Present a clear and cohesive identity aligned with lived program work
Support new initiatives without reinventing language or design
Maintain consistency across services, events, and partnerships
Build internal alignment around mission and direction
Most importantly, it created the conditions for an ongoing partnership focused on program communications rather than one-off brand maintenance.
What began as a rebrand became the entry point for a long-term collaboration grounded in real services and sustained impact.
Relationship to the Broader Partnership
This work set the stage for everything that followed.
As scaleLIT launched new programs, scaled events, and expanded partnerships, the rebrand functioned as a stable reference point. It allowed communications to grow alongside services rather than constantly catching up to them.
This foundation made it possible for causeFX and scaleLIT to shift from brand development into a long-term program communications partnership.
