First Edition, September 2024
What’s Inside
Welcome to the CWC LA Style & Brand Guidelines.
This comprehensive guide dictates the overall brand identity of CWC LA. This guide has been developed to provide you with visual tools and specifications to help create a consistent and cohesive brand across all mediums. Refer to the guidelines when creating content for both internal purposes within the organization, as well as external purposes for media, partners, designers or other organizations.
As an organization that serves 6 schools in 5 unique neighborhoods across Los Angeles, a great deal of care has been taken to provide the flexibility needed to accommodate a wide range of communications and to celebrate our unique school identities while maintaining a dynamic and engaging organization-wide identity. Applied thoughtfully and with consistency, these tools will help further strengthen the CWC LA brand and ensure that our visual brand and voice are recognized by all audiences.
01 Introduction 02 Messaging 03 Visual Identity
Mission & Vision
Core Values
Graduate Dispositions
Brand Voice
CWC Abbreviations
CWC Lingo
Logo
Co-branding (for Partners)
Color
Typography
Secondary Elements
Imagery
04 School Identities
CWC Hollywood
CWC Silver Lake
CWC Mar Vista
CWC West Valley
CWC East Valley
05 Applications
CWC Logo usage on graphics
Email signatures
How to Create Branded Content
Canva
Translation
These brand guidelines were developed by the CWC LA Communications team in 2024. Contact communications@cwclosangeles.org for any questions or clarifications.
Introduction 01
● Mission & Vision
● Core Values
● Gradute Dispositions
Mission & Vision
Citizens of the World Los Angeles (CWC LA) is preparing our students to emerge as a new generation of leaders – as trailblazers who are ready to tackle the future challenges and surpass the conceived limitations of what students, communities, parents, and schools can achieve.
All of our schools are tuition-free, non-religious public schools committed to socio-economic, cultural and racial diversity.
Core Values
Our core values and operating norms are part of who we are collectively. They inform our decisions, influence our interactions with one another and represent a shared set of ideas that we aspire to each and every day.
Excellence
We demand lasting quality.
Diversity
We are better and stronger because of our differences.
Authenticity
We are our true selves in this work, and we are candid.
Community
We care deeply about people. We share and build partnerships. We celebrate, laugh, and seek joy, even in the tough times.
Change
We welcome the unknown, embracing the unexpected and new. We adapt to meet the ever-changing times. We find new ways.
Graduate Dispositions
We have defined a set of habits and characteristics that we aim for all of our graduates to possess upon leaving Citizens of the World Charter Schools Los Angeles.
We focus our curriculum and lesson planning in a way that maximizes the development of these skills, customized to each students’ grade and ability. These Graduate Dispositions can be used in messaging to describe our ultimate student outcomes.
These dispositions reflect the qualities that our graduates will possess internally.
These dispositions reflect the qualities that our graduates display in relationship with others, both one-on-one and within communities.
These dispositions are the qualities that our graduates display as they engage in the world at large.
Messaging 02
● Brand Voice
● CWC Abbreviations
● CWC Lingo
Brand Voice
Positive strengths-based, affirming for all people/identities, upbeat
Informative providing worthwhile information and perspective
Authentic being true and candid to ourselves in our work
CWC Abbreviations
CWC Los Angeles
Citizens of the World Charter Schools Los Angeles (CWC LA) is a network of charter schools serving a diverse group of students across Los Angeles. CWC LA has its own Board of Directors and is part of the greater Citizens of the World Charter Schools national network.
OUR NAME
When referring to our organization, you can use the full name:
Citizens of the World Charter Schools Los Angeles
CWC LA (Space between CWC and LA)
CWCLA (No space between CWC and LA)
CWC Los Angeles
CWCLosAngeles (No space)
OUR SCHOOLS
When referring to our schools:
CWC is placed in front of the school locations ie:
CWC Hollywood, CWC Mar Vista, CWC Silver Lake, CWC West Valley, CWC East Valley
CWCHW
CWCHOLLYWOOD
ORGANIZATION ABBREVIATIONS
When referring to a school site that has both a Middle School and Elementary School program do the following:
CWC Silver Lake Middle School
CWC Silver Lake Elementary School
CWCSLMS
CWC Silver Lake MS
Citizens of the World Charter Schools Los Angeles
Citizens of the World Hollywood
Citizens of the World Mar Vista
Citizens of the World Silver Lake
Citizens of the World West Valley
Citizens of the World East Valley
CWC Lingo
CWC LA’s unique approach to learning provides students with an academically vibrant education in a diverse environment.
CWC LA’s model acknowledges that students also need to be empathetic, courageous, culturally competent, and adaptable
These skills allow students to thrive in our diverse society and be changemakers in their communities.
How we talk about our program in communication, on flyers, banners and other collateral helps communicate who we are internally and externally.
Changemakers
Someone who is empowered to advance change for the good of all. It is someone who is intentional about solving a social problem, motivated to act and be creative.
foundational Strands of our Learning Model
Our learning model has three foundational areas that guide how our students learn and grow.
Academics: Strong academics form the basis of our model. Our teachers are trained and able to implement differentiated instruction, meeting the needs of every student in their classroom, aligned to Common Core standards.
Social Emotional Learning: supports the growth and development of the whole child, helping children develop the ability to understand their feelings and those of others and how to channel their feelings and behaviors to support themselves and others.
Difference and inclusion: CWC LA creates a space to celebrate diversity of all types and has developed organizational procedures that support all types of learners.
At CWC LA , we educate future changemakers!
Our foundational strands are often displayed in a braid to illustrate that when all three are woven together, they create a strong learning environment.
CWC Lingo
Diverse By Design
CWC LA schools are built on the belief that the diversity of our communities, and of the world at large, is a great strength. Through targeted outreach and recruitment, our charter schools are intentionally designed to reflect their surrounding communities and the larger society in terms of race, ethnicity, socioeconomic status, and all other forms of diversity, both seen and unseen.
CWC LA is a diverse by design network of schools that serves students across Los Angeles.
DEIB (Diversity, Equity, Inclusion and Belonging)
Students, teachers and caregivers learn to respect and bridge differences in ways that help us heal from harm while also building upon the strength of our differences. We ensure that every child sees themselves as being reflected in the culture, climate, and curriculum. In turn, they are more engaged, able to learn, and feel a sense of belonging, which is why we added the “B” to “DEI.”
All our schools are united by our core values and are motivated by our purpose and commitment to DEIB.
Caregivers
We intentionally use the word caregiver instead of parent, as we want to acknowledge that students may be cared for by other adults (grandparents, aunts and uncles, foster parents, nannies, older siblings, etc).
We are proud to partner with our caregivers to build a strong school community.
Community Giving
We rely on the generosity and meaningful engagement of our community to support all our fundraising efforts. For this reason we use Community Giving when referring to fundraising.
Today, we are launching our Community Giving campaign. Please give what you can to support our school.
Visual Identity 03
● Logo
● Co-branding (for Partners)
● Color
● Typography
● Secondary elements
● Imagery
Logo
Citizens of the World Charter Schools Los Angeles is a regional organization and is part of a national organization.
Our logo is a graphic representation of our organization. It is uniquely designed to represent our organization and is trademarked.
CWC LA’s logo is the most important representation of our brand.
In order to keep our brand consistent, the logo should not be distorted, redrawn or changed. By using only the approved logo you ensure that brand consistency is achieved when the logo is viewed repeatedly over time.
PRO TIP
Logo Clear Space
Minimum clear space is equal to the height of the “C” in the logo.
Maintain minimum clear space on all sides.
More clear space = less tension The idea is to make the logo standout to establish our brand.
PRO TIP
Logo Logo Variation
LOGO WITH WHITE OUTLINE WHITE LOGO
Logo Not acceptable
Do not distort the logo in any way
Do not add drop shadow
Do not rotate logo
Do not change the original color
Do not rearrange
Do not change outline color
Co-branding for Partners
When displaying our logo with a partner logo, please follow these guidelines.
When stacked horizontally, logos should be sized to equal height, evenly spaced and separated by a 1pt #353535 divider.
When stacked vertically, logos should be sized to equal width, evenly spaced and separated by a 1pt #353535 divider.
Partners are encouraged to use own co-branding standards. If the partner does not have branding guidelines, they can use this layout.
Color Primary Color
Our signature CWC green (Hex# 00A14C) is an important part of our brand. This color attracts consumers and evokes emotions of warmth, security, excitement and curiosity.
Consistent use of our primary green color provides a common link between school site collateral, brand subelements, and merchandise. It is the unifying brand element for our organization.
- 348
Be a brand ambassador! Use hex codes whenever possible, simply copy + paste the #hexcode.
#52ae6a #80be8a
Color Secondary Palette
We have selected a few secondary colors that complement our primary green and shades.
These can be used to emphasize and enhance collateral and communication.
They should not be used in place of the primary green or to update the logo.
#f1c026
CMYK - 5%, 24%, 96%, 0%
RGB - 241, 192, 38
Yellow
#034a44
CMYK - 91%, 48%, 66%, 44%
RGB - 3, 74, 68
Dark Teal
#28baa6
CMYK - 72%, 0%, 44%, 0%
RGB - 40, 186, 166
Medium
Teal
#a5d9ca
CMYK - 35%, 0%, 25%, 0%
RGB - 165, 217, 203
Light Teal
#353535
CMYK - 69%, 63%, 62%, 57%
RGB - 53, 53, 53
Black
#e0e0e0
CMYK - 11%, 8%, 8%, 0%
RGB - 224, 224, 224
Light Grey
Typography
Primary Typeface
Century Gothic is the primary typeface for all CWC LA communications for use in both print and electronic communications.
It is a light typeface that has a youthful quality and can be perceived as friendly and joyful.
Three weights have been chosen to help create texture within the written page. Other weights are available; however, they are NOT approved for usage.
Century Gothic is installed with most computers and design software.
AaCentury Gothic
Bold
Aa, Bb, Cc, Dd, Ee, f f, Gg, Hh, Ii, Jj, Kk, Ll, Mm, Nn, Oo, Pp, Qq, Rr, Ss, Tt, Uu, Vv, Ww, Xx, Yy, Zz.
Regular
Aa, Bb, Cc, Dd, Ee, Ff, Gg, Hh, Ii, Jj, Kk, Ll, Mm, Nn, Oo, Pp, Qq, Rr, Ss, Tt, Uu, Vv, Ww, Xx, Yy, Zz.
Italic
Aa, Bb, Cc, Dd, Ee, Ff, Gg, Hh, Ii, Jj, Kk, Ll, Mm, Nn, Oo, Pp, Qq, Rr, Ss, Tt, Uu, Vv, Ww, Xx, Yy, Zz.
Typography
Type treatments
In order to create engaging collateral you may want to manipulate the weight, size, color and other attributes of your typography. When making these choices, it’s important to understand how the use of type can impact reader perceptions.
In general, upper and lower case are easier on the eye for readers and can be perceived as friendlier. All caps can call attention to content, but can also feel more demanding and should only be used in subheadings. Creating titles and headings to draw the reader’s eye in a sequence through the page can enhance the flow and readability. We have provided some typography options for you to use.
We operate with generosity of spirit. We are better and stronger because of our differences.
BE CHANGE MAKERS
Citizens of the World Charter Schools Los Angeles (CWC LA) is a network of charter schools with a 100+ year goal to realize human potential by strengthening the bonds among us and developing true citizens of the world. The mission of CWC LA is to create an intimate network of high-achieving, community-based public schools for a diverse community of students, developing their abilities, confidence, and sense of responsibility for themselves and their community as true citizens of the world.
Typography
Secondary Typeface
We have selected a few secondary typefaces that complement our primary fontCentury Gothic. These should be used sparingly and only to emphasize and enhance collateral and communication. See examples of use for application ideas.
Rubik / Bold
Madi / Regular
Secondary Elements
Graphic Elements
We have created branded element graphics that can be used to enhance your collateral and communication.
These have been designed to match our branding style and should not be altered except to add text/numbers.
Use a yellow underline for special words (do not overuse).
PRO TIP:
If creating a digital flyer use the yellow underline on links.
The use of sketch lines adds a youthful and educational tone. To be used as a graphic element.
The use of the wave is to be used as a divider or border.
PRO TIP:
Use it in a simple design, don’t layer too many graphic elements when using the wave element.
Use the highlight effect on titles or subtitles to add emphasis in a different way. Add a yellow rectangle behind your text.
PRO TIP:
Give some space around the text to give it some breathing room.
Use thick lines to create borders and dividers between sections.
Outlines
Use a black border (2pt or thicker) to outline a graphic element, works well with sketchy lines.
Our Mission Enroll today! Our Mission We are Citizens of the World!
The confetti pattern is to be used on gala related marketing materials.
PRO TIP:
If using a background other than white use alternative confetti pattern.
Add the paper texture background on a simple design to add visual interest.
PRO TIP:
Use on digital designs or professional printed marketing materials.
Imagery
How to choose & use images
When choosing photos, look for images that are peoplefocused, joyful and celebrate the diversity of our school communities.
Images of our classrooms and schools should highlight our unique learning model and include examples of projectbased learning, inquiry, social-emotional learning and collaboration in a diverse by design environment.
Check-in with school site operation teams to retrieve media releases for all students in a photo before publishing.
Check out our CWC LA photo library located in our Comms Hub. NEED
Use circle photos to set a playful tone.
Download files
School Identities 04
● CWC Hollywood
● CWC Silver Lake
● CWC Mar Vista
● CWC West Valley
● CWC East Valley
CWC Hollywood
CWC Hollywood was our first location, opening its doors in 2010 to a small cohort of just under 100 students. Located in the heart of Hollywood, this school has grown to serve a diverse group of students in grades TK - 5th.
Although this urban location attracts families from many surrounding communities, the intimate building and cozy interiors give CWC Hollywood a neighborhood schoolhouse vibe.
We honor our world-famous Hollywood heritage in our branding by incorporating the “star” in many of our CWC Hollywood brand elements, including our mascot. This is also a nod to our CWC Hollywood students, who dazzle us daily!
In the CWC HW mascot 6 stars “shine” brighter than the rest. These represent the 6 campuses of CWC LA.
About CWC Hollywood
Mascot: Stars
Founded: 2010 FUN FACTS
CWC Hollywood
Co-branding + Mascot
Co-branding w/ lettermark
Co-branding with the CWC Hollywood logo and the newly designed lettermark.
Mascot w/ lettermark
A vertical version of the mascot and lettermark.
To be used with a CWC LA logo.
Co-branding w/ mascot
The use of sketch lines adds a youthful and educational tone.
To be used as a graphic element.
Mascot w/ lettermark
A horizontal version of the mascot and lettermark.
The PNG file type has a transparent background. Need a vector file? Use
CWC Hollywood
#f1c026
CMYK - 5%, 24%, 96%, 0%
RGB - 241, 192, 38
#034256
CMYK - 98%, 70%, 43%, 31%
RGB - 3, 66, 91
Navy
#0e919e
CMYK - 82%, 26%, 36%, 1%
RGB - 14, 145, 158
#58ab62
CMYK - 69%, 10%, 82%, 0%
RGB - 88, 171, 98
Gradient
Yellow
Blue
Green
CWC Hollywood
Elements
CWC Silver Lake
In 2012 CWC Silver Lake Elementary opened its doors, growing our CWC LA community.
Serving a vibrant community in the heart of historic Filipinotown, this campus’s location serves as a crossroad for many eastside neighborhoods that call this school site home.
In our branding, we wanted to represent our expansion from an elementary school to our first middle school. For this reason, we have two wolf mascots - a younger cub and a fierce older sibling.
About CWC Silver Lake
Mascot: Wolf
Founded: 2012 FUN FACTS
CWC Silver Lake
Co-branding + Mascot
Co-branding w/ lettermark
Co-branding with the CWC Silver Lake logo and the newly designed lettermark.
Mascot w/ lettermark
A vertical version of the mascot and lettermark.
To be used with a CWC LA or CWC Silver Lake logo.
To
a
Co-branding w/ mascot
The use of sketch lines adds a youthful and educational tone.
To be used as a graphic element.
To be used with a
The PNG file type has a transparent background. Need a vector file? Use SVG
Elementary
Middle School Mascots w/ lettermark
Mascot w/ lettermark
Vertical versions of the mascots and lettermark.
CWC LA or CWC Silver Lake logo.
A horizontal version of the mascot and lettermark.
be used with
CWC LA or CWC Silver Lake logo.
CWC Silver Lake
#54b0de
CMYK - 62%, 14%, 3%, 0%
RGB - 84, 176, 222
#54637d
CMYK - 73%, 57%, 34%, 12%
RGB - 84, 99, 125
#616be0
CMYK - 70%, 63%, 0%, 0%
RGB - 97, 107, 224
#a899d9
CMYK - 34%, 40%, 0%, 0%
RGB - 168, 153, 217
Gradient
Blue
Purple
Slate
Light Purple
CWC Silver Lake
CWC Mar Vista
In 2013 our CWC Mar Vista location opened its doors and allowed us to expand our reach to the westside.
This extension of the CWC LA organization gave us the opportunity to also expand our branding to incorporate complementary colors like the deep orange and red that look great with our various shades of CWC green.
The CWC Mar Vista dragon mascots were a fun opportunity to exhibit these colors in action as we introduced additional branding elements like fire.
CWC Mar Vista’s branding is a salute to the passionate community that calls this school campus home.
About CWC Mar Vista
Mascot Name: Flames Founded: 2013 FUN FACTS
CWC Mar Vista
Co-branding + Mascot
Co-branding w/ lettermark
Co-branding with the CWC Mar Vista logo and the newly designed lettermark.
Elementary Mascot w/ lettermark
To be used with a CWC LA or CWC Mar Vista logo.
Co-branding w/ mascot
The use of sketch lines adds a youthful and educational tone.
To be used as a graphic element.
Middle School Mascots w/ lettermark
A horizontal version of the mascot and lettermark. To be used with a CWC LA or CWC Mar
The PNG file type has a transparent background. Need a vector file? Use SVG
A vertical version of the mascot and lettermark.
A horizontal version of the mascot and lettermark.
To be used with a CWC LA or CWC Mar Vista logo.
Mascot w/ lettermark
Vista logo.
CWC Mar Vista
#628748
CMYK - 65%, 29%, 89%, 11%
RGB - 98, 135, 72
#d67b32
CMYK - 13%, 60%, 95%, 1%
RGB - 214, 123, 50
#e1543b
CMYK - 7%, 82%, 84%, 0%
RGB - 225, 84, 59
#674882
CMYK - 70%, 83%, 20%, 5%
RGB - 103, 72, 130
Gradient
Green
Purple
Orange
Red Orange
Use the flames on top of your design or to divide a section.
CWC West Valley
Opening its doors in 2020 and maintaining a dedicated community during the pandemic - CWC West Valley is truly a unicorn in the world of education!
The uniqueness of this school’s community is celebrated in the branding with bright secondary color additions and of course through the magical mascot who was chosen by the founding families.
As the school grew one classroom at a time from TK5th grade so did the Unicorn mascot. We now have two versions of the mascot, one is its original younger form and another has matured into its pre-teen self.
About CWC West Valley
Mascot: Unicorn
Founded: 2020
FACTS
CWC West Valley
Co-branding + Mascot
Co-branding w/ lettermark
Co-branding with the CWC West Valley logo and the newly designed lettermark.
Co-branding w/ mascot
The use of sketch lines adds a youthful and educational tone. To be used as a graphic element.
Mascot w/ lettermark
Mascot w/ lettermark
A vertical version of the mascot and lettermark.
be used with a CWC LA or CWC West Valley logo.
A horizontal version of the mascot and lettermark. To be used with a CWC LA or CWC West Valley logo.
Middle School Mascot w/ lettermark
A horizontal version of the mascot and lettermark. To be used with a CWC LA or CWC West Valley logo.
CWC West Valley Color
#00a14c
CMYK - 84%, 9%, 99%, 1%
RGB - 0, 161, 76
#0a7680
CMYK - 87%, 38%, 44%, 10%
RGB - 10, 118, 128
#f2bf24
CMYK - 5%, 24%, 97%, 0%
RGB - 242, 191, 36
#d25523
CMYK - 12%, 80%, 100%, 2%
RGB - 210, 85, 35
Gradient
Yellow
CWC Green
Blue
Orange
CWC West Valley
Graphic Elements
Use the stars border on top of your design or to divide a section. How to use graphic elements
Rainbows
CWC East Valley
CWC East Valley joined the family in 2021 also during the global pandemic.
It is befitting that this CWC community is represented by a Narwal, an animal that can persevere and flourish despite its environment.
Defying all odds CWC East Valley grew into a thriving community and continues to add grade levels each year.
Founded: 2021 FUN FACTS
Mascot: Narwal
Our CWC East Valley office team has numerous Narwal toys hidden around the office - making for a fun scavenger hunt.
About CWC East Valley
CWC East Valley
Co-branding + Mascot
Co-branding w/ lettermark
Co-branding with the CWC East Valley logo and the newly designed lettermark.
Mascot w/ lettermark
A vertical version of the mascot and lettermark.
To be used with a CWC LA or CWC East Valley logo.
Co-branding w/ mascot
The use of sketch lines adds a youthful and educational tone.
To be used as a graphic element.
Mascot w/ lettermark
A horizontal version of the mascot and lettermark. To be used with a CWC LA or CWC East Valley logo.
The PNG file type has a transparent background. Need a vector file? Use SVG
#3d4bdb
CMYK - 81%, 73%, 0%, 0%
RGB - 61, 75, 219
#389cf2
CMYK - 66%, 30%, 0%, 0%
RGB - 56, 156, 242
#35e6e8
CMYK - 56%, 0%, 17%, 0%
RGB - 53, 230, 232
#7f38f2
CMYK - 67%, 76%, 0%, 0%
RGB - 127, 56, 242
Cyan
Indigo Blue
Blue
Purple
Gradient
CWC East Valley Graphic Elements
the stars border on top of your design or to divide a section.
Waves
Bubbles
Applications 05
● CWC Logo usage on graphics
● Email signatures
● How to Create on Brand Content
● Canva
● Translation
CWC Logo usage on graphics
Graphics produced by departments and schools should clearly use the CWC LA brand.
Logos should have equal visual weight and always include CWC School logo plus wordmark logo or mascot.
Logos used on top of the page can be placed on either right or left side, you can also use the logo on the bottom of the flyer.
If using logos on top of the page, you can use mascot at the bottom. BUT if you are only using bottom logos, it needs to have the CWC School logo (green).
Email Signatures
Use one of these approved layouts as the standard signature for CWC LA employees. If you are school staff, please use the appropriate layout for your school.
JOHANNA VOUTOUNOU
How to Create on Brand Content
Merchandise
CWC merchandise is a great way to use our branding to celebrate individual school sites and events! We have created several branded options for you in our school store. We encourage folks to use this brand guide to create merchandise for your school events.
Get your customer involved.
This document highlights the importance of using our branded logos, mascots and elements in your designs. 1. 2. 3. 4.
Are you creating t-shirts for students? Ask them to submit design ideas. Are you selling to caregivers? Have them vote on their favorite design.
Create designs around a concept, story, event or slogan that aligns with the CWC brand.
When creating new merchandise, ask yourself if this is saying something different than the branded merchandise that already exists in your store. Limited edition merchandise that celebrates an event (EX: Walkathon, Black History Month, Spring Carnival etc.) will attract customers back to your store.
Include your school’s name and or logo in your design.
Don’t forget to connect your event, story or slogan back to CWC.
Use branded elements in your design.
How to Create on Brand Content
Merchandise
Canva
Canva District has been set up with our branding kits to support teams in creating visually engaging materials, including merchandise for your school store, flyers, banners, social media content, and more.
All CWC LA staff access Canva Pro tools by signing into their CWC Canva accounts. Follow the school links below and enter your school email address when prompted on the Clever login screen. If you have a personal Canva account contact Canva support to transfer all your designs to your free educator Canva District account.
CANVA LINKS BY SCHOOL
Translation
CWC LA schools are built on the belief that the diversity of our communities, and of the world at large, is a great strength.
Through targeted outreach and recruitment, our charter schools are intentionally designed to reflect their surrounding communities and the larger society in terms of race, ethnicity, socioeconomic status, and all other forms of diversity, both seen and unseen.
It is important when creating collateral materials that they reflect the intentional diversity of our community and the unique group of students we serve.
How to create collateral that mirrors who we are
Make sure all flyers and brochures are available in English, Spanish, and Korean. These are the three languages that the majority of our community speaks. Check-in with school site teams who can advise what other languages their specific communities speak.
Intentionally select photos that highlight diversity.
Use text alternatives (“alt text”) on images. When creating content for websites or social media channels use alt text to support vision-impaired and blind community members understand the content and purpose of images, such as pictures, illustrations, and charts.
Use subtitles when creating videos and content with audio.
Equitable language
Equitable language means not only using (and avoiding) particular words but paying attention to whom you write about, how you tell their stories, whose points of view are included and whose are absent — whose voices are amplified and whose perspective is assumed.
Representation matters in the words you use and the stories you tell.
Ask yourself:
• Whose point of view is central? If the communication focuses on a particular group or culture, are people from within that group the main actors, rather than an outsider coming in as the “hero”?
• Who is left out of the story?
• What unexamined stereotypes might be included?
• As the storyteller, what’s your position and relationship to the subject(s)?
• What does the communication assume about the reader? (For instance, does it assume that the reader is or isn’t part of the group being described?)
When creating communication and collateral for our schools, make an effort to invite a diverse group of folks to offer feedback. This will help understand what language feels inclusive, empowering, and respectful. Also be mindful that this language can and will change as we continue to expand our engagement.
communications@cwclosangeles.org