Thank you for the engaging, productive, and inspiring work with our group yesterday. We all felt energized and hopeful for our future.
Hebrew Union College
We helped Hebrew Union College step into its role as the global center for evolving Jewish life, attracting future rabbis, cantors, and leaders to carry Reform Judaism forward.
Sector
Colleges & Universities
Deliverables
Brand Strategy
Legacy institution, modern crossroads.
Challenge
Hebrew Union College stands at the apex of Jewish professional training, ordaining rabbis and cantors, while training educators, nonprofit leaders, and academics from four international campuses. Yet modern times see shifting attitudes towards religion. How can this complex, deeply rooted organization continue to embody the active adaptation that’s inherent in Reform Judaism and move boldly forward as the source of effective, spiritual, and scholarly Jewish leaders?
Adaptation is the legacy itself.
Insight
Alongside decreases in Jewish religious and cultural engagement, Hebrew Union College faced increased competition from new seminaries. We saw that these dual pressures could encourage a ‘be everything to everyone’ approach that wouldn’t best suit Hebrew Union College’s position and legacy. The opportunity instead was to leverage the institution’s wide appeal as reformers and to let newcomers take more specialized positions around the edges.
Dr. Andrew Rehfeld Ph.D.
President
, Hebrew Union College
Shorter name, sharper purpose.
Journey
Through an intensive discovery process including site visits spread from Los Angeles to Jerusalem, dozens of interviews, and comprehensive surveys, we asked the questions and relished engaging with a team of rabbis and academics to interpret the meaning locked in a richness of answers.
Hebrew Union College has been, is, and will be so much to so many generations of Jews. Teasing out the big idea that celebrates that oneness required peeling back the layers of meaning and emotion to find the essential truth—and then building consensus around it. With multiple campuses, schools, languages, and cultures involved, this is one of the most expansive and far- reaching projects Mission Minded has guided to success.
A name the world can carry forward.
Impact
Alongside an evolved brand strategy and a brand new library of messages, Mission Minded helped the institution navigate the transition from its impractical full legal name—Hebrew Union College – Jewish Institute of Religion—to a shortened public-facing name, with an aligned, non-literal Hebrew translation. The new Hebrew Union College name was matched by a refined logo and visual identity that speaks to the institution’s global reach and diverse community.
