#FollowFutureFocus21C
Future Focus21C work in Education, Innovation and Research to develop learning resources, design sprints and innovation cafés for post-primary learners and community engagement. These resources, sprints and cafés are grounded in place-based STEAM learning, design thinking and project-based learning and are aligned to the SDGs.
Co-Founders Anita McKeown and Rebecca White want to augment the existing national curriculum by providing additional resources and programmes that are agile and integrate state-of-the-art developments in governance, civic society, industry and research. They are part of a number of global networks and work with passionate individuals to scale their knowledge in age-appropriate ways and for school contexts, in engaging ways. Anita and Rebecca have both just finished our SheGenerate programme, we caught up with them to get to know them better and for you to #FollowFutureFocus21C
To get us started - how would you describe yourself in 6 words or less?
Tooling up education for the 21st Century
What prompted you to start your business?
We have both been working in education in different guises and through our 3 years of research, saw gaps between what learners know and do and what they need to know and do in a rapidly changing world. Young people deserve quality, innovation and accessible learning experiences that equip them with transferable skills, confidence and agility. The current education system is not designed for this purpose. We work with young people, teachers, schools, industry, academia and civic society to ensure that the system best serves them.
Tell us a little bit more about you?
Rebecca- Australian living in South West Kerry. I have a background in post-primary education, left home, travelled the world and worked in various countries at all education levels- from primary to adult learning, to consulting with the education department in the UAE. I got a taste for how people and organisations worked within the system to innovate and reimagine the landscape, and after leaving the bright lights of Dublin for rural living with my partner and son, saw how important making my own opportunities were.
Anita - I grew up in Northern Ireland and now find myself in SW Kerry. I left school at 16. My sanctuary at school had always been art and music. I did a foundation at Goldsmiths after being made redundant at 21. Suddenly all the things I had struggled with at school, the glitches, became assets and superpowers. Now with close to 30 years working in education and community regeneration, with diverse groups of all ages and abilities - prisons, youth groups, neurodivergent, formal and informal - I have met many who could achieve within a different system - one where everyone can play to their strengths and reach their potential. This is my motivation for Future Focus21c.
How do you know each other? How did co-founding come about?
We met in 2018, when Anita employed Rebecca to work on a research project. The project had set out to look at localising the SDGs and initially was to develop a place-based STEAM toolkit aligned to the SDGs for learners in education and community. We both have worked in areas beyond education and as the project evolved, we saw how much our systemic approach, which is fundamentally learning through doing, was enabling young people to make connections across existing silos as well as what was needed for the VUCA (Volatile, Uncertain, Complex and Ambiguous) world. Through that project, we built out the education piece further than originally envisaged and secured additional funding to continue the work. We saw a need (and niche!) for the business and decided to formalise the collaborative partnership.
Fill us in on your female founder journey.
We’ve been lucky; we have been close to the edge on a few occasions with funding ending and the transition being tough but we really feel we are beginning to make real headway - and we’ve learnt a lot. We have been working on focusing on our niche and identifying the people that can help us deliver on that. The female founder space is a very exciting and uplifting one to be in- there are so many amazing women out there doing impactful work.
How did you hear about AwakenHub and what prompted you to apply for SheGenerate?
We had worked with Mary Carty last year and began to follow AwakenHub as a result of that. We really wanted a more focussed approach to business set up and expansion as well as a community of female entrepreneurs to learn from and grow with.
What have you gotten out of the SheGenerate process?
A sharing, supportive network, a sisterhood that you can trust that will be there long after our SheGenerate opportunity ends.
What does success look like to you - in 12 months and in 5 years?
Thriving in the education space, both in Ireland and abroad, working with a team of talented, passionate individuals who enjoy working on building impactful learning experiences and skills for young people.
SheGenerate is only a small part of AwakenHub - now that you have the community's attention - what can we/they do for you?
We think the big-sister idea will be amazing and perhaps a SheGenerate ‘mentorship’ programme could be something for the future with SheGen graduates buddying up with the next cohort.
As a founder - what are your non-negotiables?
Always consider new ideas and perspectives- you don’t have to take action on all of them, but be open to them. It takes a village- surround yourself with people who share your mission and bring their skills and knowledge to the table. Also, try to do no harm and leave things better than you found them.
#FollowFutureFocus21C
