Today marks the start of an exciting new chapter for University City District’s workforce development subsidiary. We have rapidly expanded beyond the borders of West Philadelphia over the past few years, impacting new neighborhoods and new industries, and it was time to update and simplify our name. The growth and evolution of our vision has fueled the growth evolution of our brand from the West Philadelphia Skills Initiative to our new name: The Skills Initiative.
Although West Philadelphia is no longer in our name, it will always be our home. We will continue to be anchored in West Philadelphia, close to our University City District offices and founding major employer partners.
We have released a new publication about our next chapter, and we have developed a new look and logo driven by a desire to match the quality of our visual presentation with the quality of our staff, services, and the talent of our participants.
The different colored blocks in our logo represent the many stakeholders who make our work possible, from employer partners to graduates to facilitators to funders. Our new primary color is the bright blue at the logo’s center and dotting the letter “i” in Skills, and represents how our services provide the “missing piece” for solving workforce issues, whether for employers or our participants. The additional colors are inspired by iconic Philadelphia landmarks and iconography, seen below.
To go along with our exciting news, we are releasing a digital publication entitled Skills Initiative: The Next Chapter, a robust collection of stories about employer partners, program alumni, funders, and staff that showcases the new Skills Initiative brand and impact. Click below to view or download the new publication.
We hope you enjoy our new visual identity and name, and we look forward to providing the same quality services our reputation has been built on.
