BC Rent Bank

Role: Senior Brand Leadership · Brand Strategy · Brand & Creative Direction

Scope: Brand Positioning · Brand System & Visual Identity · Logo · Website Strategy & Design

Repositioning from a pilot initiative to a province-wide backbone organization.

Led the strategic brand elevation of BC Rent Bank from a pilot initiative to a trusted backbone organization supporting a province-wide network—clarifying its role, aligning perception with purpose, and establishing a cohesive, accessible brand system designed to scale over time.

The Shift

Before

Positioned as a temporary or pilot initiative
Perceived as cold, institutional, and rule-driven
Inconsistent messaging and visual standards
Barriers to access for vulnerable audiences

After

Positioned as a trusted backbone organization
Perceived as a welcoming, supportive resource
Consistent messaging and visual standards through a shared system
Improved clarity and accessibility across touchpoints

The Context

An initiative of Vancity Community Foundation, BC Rent Bank provides funding, technology, resources, and training to British Columbia’s provincial rent bank network. While the organization delivered significant impact—supporting thousands of households and keeping people housed—the brand did not reflect the intent, care, or quality of the service.

Internally, partners understood BC Rent Bank as a critical support system. Externally, the brand read as institutional and transactional, creating a growing gap between purpose and perception.

The Challenge

The core challenge was accessibility and trust, not awareness.

BC Rent Bank needed to:

Reposition the organization as a supportive, human-centered resource
Clarify messaging across a complex, province-wide network
Reduce barriers to access for people with visual, cognitive, or hearing impairments
Establish a brand system capable of evolving alongside the organization

This required brand leadership that treated accessibility as a strategic principle, not a compliance exercise.

The Approach

I led a strategic reframing of BC Rent Bank’s role, anchored in a guiding idea: a ray of hope during moments of financial crisis.

This principle informed decisions across positioning, identity, and experience—shifting the organization from a transactional source of emergency funds to a trusted support system grounded in dignity, clarity, and empathy. The work balanced expressive warmth with rigorous accessibility standards, ensuring the brand could scale without losing humanity.

System Leadership in Practice

Website Strategy

Before

Content-heavy structure that was difficult to navigate
Inaccessible for users with visual, cognitive, or hearing impairments
Unclear calls to action creating friction in accessing support
Tone aligned more with financial institutions than housing stability

After

Re-structured around user needs and decision pathways
Intentionally designed for accessibility from the ground up
Clear, plain-language steps that reduce friction
Experience aligned with housing support rather than finance

The website now functions as a practical housing stability tool—removing barriers and enabling more renters to access help when they need it most.

Visual Identity System

Before

Cool, institutional tone
Imagery misaligned with the lived experience of the audience
Limited visual vocabulary and inconsistent photography
Text-heavy communications that created barriers to comprehensiony misaligned with the lived experience of the audience
Limited visual vocabulary and inconsistent photography
Text-heavy communications creating barriers to access

After

Warm, welcoming, and hopeful tone
Imagery reflecting the diversity of the communities served
Expanded visual vocabulary supporting clarity and flexibility
Professional photography and illustration supporting accessibility
Reduced text and approachable language improving comprehension

I guided leadership through exercises to articulate the brand visually, centering the system on warmth, clarity, and dignity—resulting in a framework that could be applied consistently across platforms while remaining responsive to varied audiences.

The Result

BC Rent Bank now presents as a trusted, human-centered support system for renters facing financial crisis. The brand aligns with the realities of its audience, supports long-term organizational growth, and scales across initiatives and partners without losing clarity, compassion, or trust.