Introducing End Child Poverty California powered by GRACE

a recurring column from ECPCA’s President & CEO, Shimica Gaskins

November 26, 2024

In all my time working to ensure every child is secure, respected, nourished, valued, and free, I’ve known the path would rarely be easy. We’ve had exhilarating victories and heart-breaking defeats. But no matter what, we continue on because our kids deserve nothing less. We owe them our hope.

One of the things that never fails to propel me in tough times is the joy I see in a child’s face when they’re free enough just to be a kid. They don’t have grown-up problems to deal with; those are our responsibilities. And as I think about the work moving ahead after these past elections, I hold both perspectives inside me: the knowledge that this work isn’t easy, but also the responsibility for doing everything I can to make California a place where children and families have what they need to thrive and be joyful.

Amid our many priorities over the turbulent past year, our team has been diligently working behind the scenes on an organizational rebrand. With the election results and the anxiety many in our communities are experiencing right now, launching a new visual identity for our campaign to End Child Poverty in California initially felt a bit discordant. But at the same time, I feel strongly that now is the exact right moment to reaffirm who we are, what we believe in, and what we’re fighting for. Indeed, while we have a refreshed look, it is a better reflection of the values that have always guided our work and will continue as we face a new political landscape. 

The first change to our logo and our identity centers what we’re fighting for, brightly and boldly—an end to child poverty in California. We dare to imagine a liberated future, free from systemic racism and poverty, in which all kids experience childhoods of abundance, dignity, and love, with opportunities to thrive. The truth is this vision is achievable. 

Public policy often starts with the wrong questions, asking what we can cut or what little we can do to keep people content. I fear this perception will only be reinforced by these election results. What if instead, we recognize our true abundance of resources and direct them to do what’s best for kids? We cannot succumb to the lie that there’s not enough to go around.

With our new logo we’re also affirming that our organizational identity is subordinate to what we’re fighting for. End Child Poverty California is “powered” by GRACE (as well as grace, an abiding sense of goodwill toward others). Our organization is an engine of the campaign, but only in service of that larger goal. The ECPCA Coalition is an example of this: a broad network of people and organizations working to realize transformative impacts on families and communities. This year we saw in practice how when we stand up together, we can win. We remain grateful to all our partners and the new connections that were forged in that fight.

Finally, resilience is a quality we will need to deepen our reliance upon in the coming years. That virtue is represented by the native California poppy we’ve added to the logo. Technically a weed, the poppy is resilient, adaptable, and will continue coming back year after year, fighting for its place in the sun and brightening the landscape with its beautiful golden hues.