We’re getting a new look and a new name! GCC Midwest Inc. is now One Earth Collective. Our 501(c)(3) organization will retain the same board of directors and has a new logo and new digital home at www.oneearthcollective.org.
One Earth Collective has three program areas: One Earth Film Festival, which celebrates its 10th anniversary season in 2021; One Earth Youth Voices, which focuses on programs for youth ages 8-25; and One Earth Local/Green Community Connections, which focuses on local sustainability programs in Oak Park and River Forest, Illinois.
“The decision to rebrand reflects the fact that most people in the Chicago area know us by our work through the One Earth Film Festival,” says Carolyn McCormick, One Earth Collective board member. “We also think the new branding will help us tell a fuller story of our year-round work in a more compelling way to granting bodies, sponsors and others.”
The new One Earth Collective logo features imagery of a movie projection, and symbolizes the illumination of important environmental issues and actions for change. The circle symbolizes the earth, as well as the ideas of community and openness. The logo’s sideways “V” motif implies the idea of shedding light on and opening eyes to important issues and the concept of speaking out and using one’s voice. The base of the “V” motif is a precise point, with an important purpose or focus. The way the “V” broadens reflects the way we grow our movement. The multicolored rays of the “V” motif also speak to the way that One Earth works alongside its partners in a highly collaborative and explicitly anti-racist way. The lettering, all lowercase, is friendly and inviting, while still impactful and important-feeling. The earthy colors refer to the natural world, with blue being the primary color.
The branding was developed with the generous help of two design and advertising professionals working on a pro-bono basis: Betsy Grimm, principal of Betsy Grimm Designs, who developed the artwork; and David Loew, executive creative director at Ogilvy Chicago, who provided expert advice.
GCC Midwest, or Green Community Connections, as the organization is commonly known, was founded by Dick Alton and the late Sally Stovall in 2010 as a grassroots organization that focuses on sustainability projects in Oak Park and River Forest. One of its first initiatives was a Green Living and Learning Tour highlighting homes with green features such as solar panels and grey water systems. Its website, www.greencommunityconnections.org, is packed with green living resources and will remain active.
In 2012, GCC put on the first One Earth Film Festival in Oak Park and River Forest. Throughout the years, through strategic partnerships with the City of Chicago, colleges, museums and other important relationships with environmental organizations, the Film Festival has expanded throughout the City of Chicago and surrounding four counties, plus northwest Indiana. As its reach has grown, so has its brand: www.oneearthfilmfest.org is one of the top Google search results for “Chicago environmental film.” That web address, which also houses the national One Earth Young Filmmakers Contest, will also remain a key asset to the organization.
Three board members joined the One Earth Collective board in late 2020. They are development/marketing professional Carolyn McCormick, filmmaker Annie Speicher and Wendy Williams of University of Chicago. They join the other 4 sitting board members: attorney Jodi Wine; retired businessman, activist and church leader Willard Williamson; environmental organizer James Babcock; and One Earth Film Festival director Ana Garcia Doyle.
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