YSRP’s New Look: A Fresh Update to Match Our Core Mission
YSRP has always been an organization grounded in purpose, built from a fierce belief in justice, dignity, and transformation for young people. When I joined this team in 2023, I was drawn to YSRP’s steadfast mission and the intentionality with which it advocates for and alongside its client-partners. As we celebrate a decade of impact this year, we’re unveiling a refreshed visual identity and a new website crafted in collaboration with our talented partners at The Devoted.
Over the past few months, The Devoted brought their skills, empathy, and expertise to bear, listening closely to understand YSRP’s values, its mission, and the nuances of our work. This is not an easy task - YSRP is a complex organization that seeks to address and dismantle systemic racism as it works within the confines of the Pennsylvania legal landscape. We even have a tongue-in-cheek phrase for when we are on the brink of over-analyzing, over-nuancing and, in general, getting really nerdy: Are we YSRP-ing this?
And yet, The Devoted did not shy away from our nuance and complexity - in fact, they ran toward it. They went all in to develop a visual identity and online presence that aligns with and amplifies who we are at our core. We couldn’t be more thrilled with the result!
The Heart of YSRP’s Work
Where other approaches may stop at legal representation, YSRP views each young person as a whole, with their own strengths, dreams, and resilience. For us, “client-partner” is a term of respect, denoting partnership, not hierarchy. Our impact doesn’t rest solely on our court advocacy and innovative mitigation reports, but also on the little things, like providing emotional support to a client-partner during a stressful hearing, sending birthday cards during prolonged periods of incarceration, and inviting them to share their stories.
We are clear about what we’re fighting for - to end the practice of charging children as adults, to fight for the dignity of Black and Brown young people impacted by an oppressive system, and to lift up their voices so that they and the wider community can push for change. The values YSRP staff articulated years ago remain strong: Justice, Dignity, Healing and Wellness, Transformation, Learning, Integrity, Self-Determination, Client Partnership, and Community-Building. But we realized we could do more to communicate these values to the world.
A Visual Identity to Match Our Purpose
In crafting YSRP’s new visual identity, The Devoted captured the honesty and directness that defines YSRP’s mission. With updated colors and a new logo, our brand refresh is rooted in the same core purpose but now communicates it with greater clarity and cohesion. This is not a from-scratch rebranding but a refinement—our values haven’t changed, but our means of expressing them have. The new design brings a sense of urgency to the mission, clarity to our messaging, and accessibility to our online presence.
Forward Together
With this brand refresh, we’re excited to enter the next decade, poised to take on new challenges and build upon Lauren Fine and Joanna Visser Adjoian’s beautiful legacy. YSRP’s co-founders introduced a model that combines legal advocacy with comprehensive reentry planning. That model has changed hundreds of lives and has evolved to include a wellspring of new initiatives: an Intergenerational Healing Circle, Speakers Bureau, and Know Your Rights training. Now, with the support of a fierce, dynamic team and the solidarity of advocates nationwide, we are prepared to lead the fight for justice on a larger stage.
The visual identity and digital presence we’ve created evoke YSRP’s purpose and the future we’re building. This is an invitation to our community, funders, partners, and supporters to join us in pushing for change, celebrating the wins, and ensuring that the voices of our client-partners echo far and wide.
Jessika Brock is the Director of Development and Communications at YSRP.