Over the past six months, CRB has undergone a rebranding process, and we’re so excited to unveil our new name, logo, and visual brand identity! We are now known as Communities of Rooted Brilliance!

CRB was co-founded in 2009 by our Executive Director, Mona T. Han and our former board president Simon Khin. Back then, CRB was named the Coalition for Refugees from Burma and its mission was oriented at helping refugees from Burma get access to the services they especially needed to thrive in a completely new country.

People from Burma make up many different ethnicities and cultural groups, so it was important to choose a name that could pull the many different people together for a unified mission, while also honoring everyone’s unique cultural heritage. That is why we settled on Coalition for Refugees from Burma.

Over time, as the communities that CRB served broadened (because we realized that the work we were doing with communities from Burma was also very needed in other newcomer communities), CRB found that it’s name no longer fit, and not only that, it was also sometimes a point of confusion!

CRB hired Stacy Nguyen Creative to collaborate with, on the rebranding process. Together, we did visioning work and articulated the strength and, well, the brilliance of all newcomer communities in the Greater Seattle area. So often, the popular narrative and stories around these communities are focused on their struggles and on survivorship, but we wanted to go in a direction that celebrates and honors the cultural roots, wisdom, and joy that are so rich in these communities.

Our new logo spells out our acronym, but it also reflects a bridge — because that’s what CRB strives to be every day. We want to be an intentional vehicle of connection for all of our partners and all newcomer communities.