Growing into Mainsprings

As many of you may remember, we celebrated our 10th anniversary last year and had many exciting changes and developments as an organization. Our first graduates started college, our primary school ranked 18th in the entire nation of Tanzania, and we worked with the government to move into a second campus site and began development there. Our team has grown and we as an organization are ready to take on bigger challenges after seeing the successes of the past decade and maturing as an organization. However, there were many things about our look and name that needed to change in order to better reflect who we are now and how we intend to grow. That is why we enlisted the support of AcrobatAnt, a Tulsa-based marketing firm, earlier this year. Over several months, AcrobatAnt helped to interview various stakeholders in our organization, helped to fine-tune who we are and where we are going, and finally came up with the incredible new look and feel of Mainsprings: The Janada Batchelor Foundation for Children.

Our namesake, Janada Batchelor (my Mimi), who originally introduced me to Tanzania, is still a part of our new identity and will always remain a part of who we are. That will not change. But, time and time again, we heard the acronym “JBFC” was tricky to remember and didn’t accurately reflect who we are and what we do. When we were first presented with possible new names and came across Mainsprings, many of us figured it was the source of a spring or at least had something to do with the flow of water, which many of us liked the image of, but we were not completely on board. However, after looking at the actual definition (something that plays a principal part in motivating or maintaining a movement, process, or activity), we were sold. That is who we are. We are a motivator for a movement to end poverty. We are not the solution- but we are a catalyst in the communities we serve. 

Throughout these next few months, we will slowly be transitioning from using the acronym “JBFC” to “Mainsprings” and will be rolling out an entirely new look. As you can see, we already have new colors and a beautiful new logo. And we will soon have a new website, new brochures, and all of the other fun things that come with this big change! Those of you who were able to attend our Tanzania Backyard Bash last week were able to see our new look in person, and we appreciate you coming out to support us as we not only unveiled this change, but launched our cookbook – our first big project as Mainsprings. I hope that you will continue to grow with us as we continue to unveil our new look this fall. Mainsprings is still devoted to the same mission of alleviating extreme rural poverty- one child, one community at a time. 

As we say in our new brand promise:

“Mainsprings personifies the hope and joy seen in the eyes of East African children and families who are mastering the life skills necessary to break the cycle of poverty and create a sustainable future for themselves and their community. Far greater than the sum of its individual parts, Mainsprings provides compassionate, lasting, innovative change via safe refuge, education, healthcare, and economic sustainability through agriculture. Like a nurturing family, Mainsprings creates an environment where children are empowered to develop life-long skills. Day-in and day-out, and with the partnership of staff, donors, volunteers and local villages, JBFC makes possible a new, hopeful reality for East African communities.”

We hope you will continue to be a mainspring- playing a principal part in our movement as we expand to help thousands of children and their families across East Africa.