CASE 03 — 2019–2021
BRAND / UX / PRODUCT / SPATIAL
A youth Olympic leadership program designed as a system — brand, curriculum, space, and app.
The Young Champion Ambassador program connects high-performing students to the birthplace of the Olympic Movement, then sends them back to their cities as ambassadors. Founded by the US Olympic & Paralympic Museum as a single Colorado Springs cohort, it now runs in 25+ cities across the US, Europe, and Asia, and was acquired by the International Olympic Academy.
A youth program at this scale has to convince five very different audiences at once — students, parents, Olympic officials, governments, and municipalities — without diluting its identity for any of them. The program needed to feel rare to a teenager and credible to a ministry of education on the same morning.
The YCA program had to convince students, parents, Olympic officials, government, and municipalities simultaneously — each with different motivations and different definitions of success. We built distinct personas for every gatekeeper and shaped messaging, materials, and visual treatment to land on each in turn, anchored by a single brand mark.
Twelve months, twelve modules — Welcome, Connection, Simplicity, Creativity, Innovation, Resilience, Reflection, Olympic Legacy, Paralympic Story, Placemaking, Capstone, Presentation. Each module’s structure (What / Learn / Take Away) mirrored a digital onboarding flow: predictable rhythm, clear progression, every step earning the next. The curriculum was designed as software, not as a syllabus.
The brand’s first commitment was physical — a dedicated YCA space in Colorado Springs where every cohort began. Wayfinding glyphs (EXPLORE / DISCOVER / UNDERSTAND set vertically on the exterior), graphic system, and the visual identity all extended from the same triangular crest. Web came after.
The selection mechanic — top-performing ambassadors travel to Athens to carry the official Olympic Torch — turned the program into a destination, not a credential. The reward had to feel rare; the path to it had to feel earned. Both were visible from the application form forward.
YCA grew from one Colorado Springs cohort to programs in 25+ cities across three continents. It was acquired by the International Olympic Academy, becoming an official program of the institution that custodies the Olympic Movement at its origin in Athens. Top-performing ambassadors carry the Olympic Torch in Greece.