Today you may have noticed that Saga looks a little different.

Why the change? We spent the past four years validating and refining our work and we have become a trusted, national leader in personalizing learning for students. Research and data from the University of Chicago Urban Education Labs shows that our impact is game changing. Now that that we have strong evidence, and want thousands more students to benefit from this work, it is time to start sharing our story with the world.

We engaged in a thorough and inclusive 8-month journey of discovery, which involved in-depth conversations with internal and external stakeholders, to figure out the best way to share our story. This was necessary for our story to be authentic and anchored by our core values and beliefs—because a brand is so much more than a name or logo, it is the expression of what we do and why we do it.

Because of this process, we decide to reimagine components of our brand, including our name, messaging and look, which you can see on our new website (www.saga.org) and on our social media channels.

Our Name:

We changed our name from SAGA Innovations to Saga Education to be more descriptive and clearer about who we are (I wish I had a dime for every time someone thought we were a tech company). We found something very poetic about the word, “saga.” The Oxford Dictionary defines a “saga” as a long, arduous and drawn-out story of heroic achievement. This idea truly captures the experience of the students we serve. The experience of being a student from a high-need urban environment is long, arduous and relentless—especially for students who are entering 9th grade 4-5 years behind grade level, or are homeless, or have to travel several hours just to get to school. There is something beautiful and heroic happening when students rise above these challenges.

Our logo and visual identity:

Our new logo and look incorporate interconnected geometric shapes comprised of different colors, shapes and sizes to celebrate diversity and the bright connections and relationships that we form at Saga. This look was inspired by real voices from the education community and within our own organization. The challenges we aim to address are complex and interrelated, but we know that the relationships young people can count on are the ones that lift them up.

Our tagline and message–See your story:

Saga aims to eradicate educational inequality by being a leader in working with educators to envision a new story, where the power of personal relationships nurtures academic, social and emotional growth. Educational inequity doesn’t have to be a fact. Our tagline is a call to action for people  to see a new story for themselves, their schools and their communities. In addition, the Saga Fellowship is an opportunity for people to add more meaning to their life story by connecting to someone else’s.

We are proud of the new brand we’ve built together at Saga. It is a powerful reflection of who we are and what we stand for — something we’ve long known but not always expressed with such clarity. It marks a significant milestone in our story and is one of the many things we are doing to put ourselves in a position to grow and serve more students nationally.

Please be part of our story by connecting with us on social media and by subscribing to our blog–because we look forward to sharing this next phase of our journey with you.

Antonio Gutierrez | Co-founder