Abi Nokes, CEO of inHive, explains in this letter the practical and values-based reasons for the decision to rebrand from Future First Global to inHive.
Dear Friends
I’m thrilled to finally announce that Future First Global will now be known as ‘inHive’.
It’s been a long time coming behind the scenes and now is the right time to make the shift. There are three main reasons why we’ve decided to undergo this change.
Firstly, on a practical level, we shared our old “Future First” name origins with three other organisations: Future First in the UK (the parent to both the organisation and me as I spent three years there working as an Alumni Officer prior to joining the inHive team), Future First Kenya and Future First USA.
As we have grown over time, our work has changed and become different to the other organisations. Whilst we all retain the core belief that alumni networks contribute to fairer education systems and societies, we operate slightly differently in that we don’t seek to work directly with schools on programmes to deliver our vision (more on what we actually do here).
Secondly, from next year, a key part of our strategy will be facilitating a Global Network of alumni practitioners around the world. We will be bringing together organisations like Future First and Future First Kenya, but also Ourschool in Australia, CARE Foundation in Pakistan, Akazi Kanoze Access in Rwanda and Connect Futures in New Zealand. These are all organisations who have developed expertise in low-cost alumni network building and, in this Global Network, we want all organisations to have an equal voice and so it makes sense to unite them under a new banner.
Finally, our new name ‘inHive’ represents a consolidation of our core beliefs and values as well as a shift to our future.
The word ‘hive’ is symbolic of a connected community with clear purpose. We seek to enable and support the building and development of alumni networks that will achieve a social purpose. What’s more, successful hives rely on strong leadership and processes. Alumni networks do too, and this is the vision for the partners we work with.
The word ‘in’ relates to two key features of our work: inspiration and inclusivity. Inspiration because that is where alumni networks are most powerful. Decades of research has shown that role models who are relatable are more impactful. Alumni are exactly that; they have faced the same challenges, come from the same communities.
It is also fundamental that the networks are also inclusive spaces. For too long, alumni networks have only been accessible for a few, typically those that go to elite institutions.
As we transition into this new phase, we’re very aware that we can’t embed alumni communities everywhere alone, and so the ‘hive’ is not just about those individual networks we help to build, but a global hive of sharing and learning too.
Already we know of at least 15 organisations around the world that are building alumni networks – and suspect that there are many more. They’re facing different challenges and adopt different approaches but are all heading to that same aim: to create fairer and stronger societies where background doesn’t determine young people’s life outcomes.
We too can only achieve this if we’re also part of the hive, and so we’re excited in 2020 for this to be a key part of our strategy moving forward.
I’d like to end by saying a huge thank you to all of the people who have given their advice and support on this journey. To the current team and to Stella and Hannah, former staff, who spent hours debating possible names, to Peta Sweet, our wonderful board member who has been instrumental in crafting our messaging, to the guys at Typeface who designed our logo and to Bobby Dean, our Communications Consultant and absolute star of the show who has been so generous and patient in single-handedly managing us through this process – THANK YOU!
Kind regards
Abi Nokes
CEO, inHive