A new logo can seem like a radical change.

In some ways, it is. But our refreshed brand also reflects a natural and necessary evolution.

After 20+ years of partnering with schools and districts, our thinking and services grew. With millions of students reached and hundreds of thousands of touchpoints with educators, two things were clear. First, job-embedded coaching and professional support can help create a thriving school community. Second, education systems, institutions and approaches marginalize over 50 million students, locking them out of opportunities to realize their full potential and talents.

No one can ever feel fully seen, known, or valued by institutions built to privilege existing power structures. Inequitable systems work to deny an equal share in the richness of human experience to millions of children.

So, in 2019, we changed our mission statement. The means didn’t shift: accelerate educator effectiveness via coaching. But our focus did: to disrupt predictable inequities for millions of systemically underserved young people. To build a different kind of playbook for change, a strategy to enlarge education’s circle, erase the margins, and put these students in the middle.

To achieve this ambition means that we need to be people-centered at every turn. We can hear our founder Ellen Moir’s mantra, whispering a gentle reminder: “Relationships, relationships, relationships.”

That mantra has always been in our DNA. We started when a group of teachers sat down around a kitchen table, asking how we might help educators with their craft and expertise. From mentors to coaches to entire professional learning communities, trusting relationships are the roots of all of our partnerships. 

Now, we’re pushing on that idea. Going deeper. Humanity is our beating heart, and the foundation that we’re building our vision for education. The individual humanity of all we touch — student, teacher, community — is fully recognized and honored in each part of what we do and how we do it.

NTC is known for being data-driven, research-proven. But our way — our practice — blends the science of teaching and learning with a powerfully humanized approach. We wanted our brand to reflect this viewpoint: to be personal and real. It needed to show human connection, a thread joining students and educators. And we desired something that told a story, pushing our narrative forward in poetic art to remind us of what matters. 

You can see it in the new logo. The openness of the trio of faces, the soft lines shared between them, and the warm hues flowing generously outside the lines. The colors express both the real and the unreal because our humanity is inherently unique to each person. Each human in the logo is connected but also looks outward to a personal vision. 

This change is not just design and marketing. It’s a reflection of our mission and our work.

We build those relationships by leading with listening. Our reach and scale give us thousands of perspectives, enabling custom-fit solutions grounded in proven models for change. There is no off-the-shelf product, no one-size-fits-most. Instead, we listen to what our partners need and collaborate with them to design supports for people, not data points.

This change is not just design and marketing. It’s a reflection of our mission and our work.

We’re opening up our practice and strategies, and expanding our offerings. We continue to identify opportunities to strengthen our services, deepen educator support, and prioritize underserved students. It’s done through an equity-focused lens, and with the goal to ensure that the educators we support are carrying forward our vision for change.

Our staff is committed to personal development. Individuals engage in an Intercultural Development Inventory (IDI), an instrument for under­standing cultural competence. We continue to invest in and develop internal learning to mirror and inform our external efforts.

This new brand is a reminder. To always put students in the center. To ensure our work with educators is rooted in deep relationships. To truly see people and lead with empathy, especially when designing strategies or dismantling broken systems. 

To anchor in humanity, and empower thriving communities. 

Our rebrand, including our new website, elevates stories — narratives about people and aspirations and ideas. Nothing is more human, more people-centered than inviting our community to connect through shared and different experiences. And this deep understanding of students and knowing our partners unlocks thriving, rigorous schools everywhere.

Join us at that kitchen table, as partners, to center students and advance equity.