NSDC Changes Its Name to Learning Forward

The Board of Trustees and staff of the National Staff Development Council announced that as of September 1, 2010, NSDC is Learning Forward. The name change comes on the heels of an 18-month communications and publications audit which included outreach to members, former trustees, board members, funders, partners, and other education associations. One major finding of the audit was that NSDC’s brand was neither clear nor strong. Learning Forward took this feedback seriously and set to work.

 

Learning Forward hired one of the country’s leading branding firms to help it develop a strong identity and branding that clearly communicated its single purpose:

Every educator engages in effective professional learning every day so every student achieves.

The result in the words of Learning Forward:

Learning is first in our name, reminding us that learning is at the heart of our purpose and that learning creates our future. Learning Forward invites everyone to join us as we move ahead to ensure effective professional learning that results in student achievement. Learning Forward expresses our call to action, action we as a Board and as a membership association commit to each day to ensure effective teaching for every student. Our new name distinguishes us as both a membership association and an advocacy organization that marries practice, policy, and research.

Dillon-Peterson, a founding member of NSDC, believes that it was time for NSDC to change its name to one that more accurately describes the purpose and future direction of the association. “I am amazed and delighted that even as NSDC has grown to become such an enormous organization, it has retained so much of the same spirit of the original members, while expanding its influence and impact in multiple ways. It is still a very human, inclusive organization and I am pleased that the new name will continue to reflect that influence. If asked, the Mother of NSDC (as I have sometimes been labeled) heartily votes “Yes!”

Learning Forward is encouraging all state affiliates to change their names and logos to reflect a stronger connection with the purpose and work of the national association. Thus, the Michigan Staff Development Council Board has agreed to go to its membership for a vote on changing MSDC to Learning Forward Michigan.
Additional information about the Learning Forward’s new name and logo are available online.

Enjoy the new national logo and stay tuned for Michigan action!