Oh, LESLLA - The Places You Will Go
There have been so many changes for our small but mighty organization in recent years. LESLLA was founded in 2005 with an inaugural meeting in Tilburg, Netherlands — a cozy meeting of dedicated educators, researchers and policymakers committed to deepening our understanding of literacy and language acquisition by adult learners with interrupted formal schooling experience and little to no literacy in their first language(s). At its inception, LESLLA stood for Low Educated Second Language and Literacy Acquisition for Adults.
With the launch of LESLLA as a newly formalized nonprofit organization, registered in Minnesota, USA with 501(c)3 status, the newly established Board of Directors discussed a few changes that could be implemented in tandem with formalizing the organization. Among the changes — the name. It had been discussed (starting at the 11th Annual LESLLA Symposium in St. Augustine, Florida, USA) that perhaps “Low Educated” was deficit-based and failed to honor the learners and the vast funds of knowledge and linguistic resources they bring to the learning process. With time, LESLLA community input, and careful consideration, LESLLA came to stand for Literacy Education and Second Language Learning for Adults. We also expanded our notion of “adult” to encompass anyone 15 years of age or older, in keeping with the UNESCO definition of adult. In this way, LESLLA learners include adolescents who may be identified in the literature as Students with Limited or Interrupted Formal Education (SLIFE).
In recent years, the Facebook presence and website of LESLLA have been evolving. We have over 1,000 followers on Facebook, 500 members of our free listserv, and almost 150 official (paying) members. (Join here!)
Recently, the Board decided that along with all of this revisioning and growth within the organization, it was time to think about branding — to consider a new logo. The original logo, which has served LESLLA well for 15 years, symbolized a global network of communities of practice. However, with designers abound and logos for other organizations popping with color and stronger messaging, we made the decision as an executive board to explore a new symbol for our community of practice. We opted to crowd source designs, submitting a brief and posting a competition through a site called Crowdspring. The process was fun and challenging. We had about 70 submissions from designers all around the world. Some designs were better than others, and some designers were more responsive than others.
The Board selected a top 10 list, which was then presented to official LESLLA members. We collected rankings and comments and ultimately, it came down to two logos. We deliberated with care and ultimately, the choice boiled down to a preference for both design and designer. Abdullah from Bangladesh was very communicative from day one, responding to our requests for color, font, and design tweaks within hours if not minutes. He provided us with several final proofs, leaving us with a few options for logo style which will give us flexibility when choosing the best choice for letterhead, Facebook, the website, and other potential uses (t-shirts, banner, brochures, etc.). We realize this logo wasn’t everyone’s first choice, and know that some were happy with the original. However, we believe the new look reflects what we were hoping for — a symbol of literacy, growth, and human potential. We believe that our community is united and we look forward to moving ahead together in solidarity with one another and our learners. Just look how far we’ve come! Now imagine where we’ll go!