At our 10^th annual Chocolate de Vine fundraiser, Santa Barbara Rape Crisis Center (SBRCC) formally unveiled our new brand, complete with a new name, logo, and set of colors. We are now Standing Together to End Sexual Assault (STESA). Although our previous brand served us well for many years, we believe that the new brand better captures the values of our organization, and the future we hope to create in our community.

Why did we decide to rebrand? In large part, the changes we made were in response to feedback that we received from clients and supporters. We wanted to ensure that our brand was more inclusive and enabled us to reach clients that may have felt alienated by our previous one.

The Name:

• We wanted our new name to reflect the ultimate goal of our organization, which is ending sexual assault. We also wanted to convey a sense of unity, as this is not a goal that can be accomplished without the hard work and collective action of our community.
• Over the years, we heard from survivors that the word “rape” in our name was confusing or off-putting because it made them uncertain if their experience of sexual assault fit within the services we provided.
• The previous name was not inclusive of all the services we provided. The new name includes both aspects of our work in the community: crisis intervention and sexual assault prevention.

The Logo:

• We were looking for a simpler and more gender-neutral logo that reflected the support and collective action that we are working to inspire in our community.

The Colors:

• Our previous color, purple, has historically been the color of the movement to end violence against women. In recent years, the sexual assault awareness movement has begun using teal as its primary color. Our new colors both honor our roots, and bring the organization into the modern era.
• Many male clients and community members have confessed that they were hesitant to identify with the organization because its color and logo were perceived to be “exclusive to women”.
• For our third color, we decided on a vibrant green. A color that evokes a sense of healing and growth.

The rebranding effort has been a focus for the past two years. We have been very thoughtful about how to represent our message in the community. Rebranding involved countless hours of work by our dedicated committee of volunteers, surveys of supporters, as well as input from others who were not familiar with our agency and services. Our nationwide research looked at the branding styles of other organizations across the country providing similar services. Our new name was selected on the basis of the feedback we received through surveys conducted in English and Spanish, and dialogue with supporters and clients.

Although our “look” has changed, our services remain the same. We will continue to work diligently to support survivors of sexual assault and their loved ones through their healing process in the aftermath of the assault. STESA will be unwavering in our efforts to eliminate sexual violence in our community and rely on your support of our programs.