What should we name our network?

[abigailmoy]

We are considering a new name for our network. As a valued member, your input on what we should call ourselves is crucial. Please take a moment to complete our survey by Friday, August 9.

Click here to access the survey.

This is the first step in a broader branding process for the Global Legal Empowerment Network. We are presently exploring a new logo, a new look, a new website, and a new name. More information about why we are doing this appears at the end of this post. For now, without further ado…

---

~THE THREE OPTIONS~

Legal Empowerment Network

Pros:

• Legal empowerment—helping people to know, use, and shape the law to address injustice— is at the heart of our community. It is what binds us together and is what we are looking to collectively advance
• Many of us are pushing for the term “legal empowerment” to be more recognized and commonly used. Committing to the name is a way to advance that goal.
• it is not a big change from the current name. This could help reduce confusion when the new brand is launched.

Cons:

• The words are long and somewhat clunky.
• Outside of our field, the term ‘legal empowerment’ is spreading, but it is not yet widely known.
• The word “legal” sounds technical. It may create the misleading impression that ours is a network exclusively for legal professionals.

Justice For All Network

Pros:

• It is catchy; it has a good ring to it.
• It builds off the Justice For All campaign, which is powered by the Network.
• The term ‘Justice For All’ is popular in the development and access to justice communities; the phrase is used by the United Nation’s Sustainable Development Goals.

Cons:

• Our network is focused on “bottom-up” approaches to ensuring access to justice. We work with communities to help people know, use, and shape law. This is not clear from the name.
• Because it is such a common phrase, it comes with a lot of preconceptions. For example, the word “justice” is often associated with the formal justice system: courts, lawyers, police, etc. This can mislead people into thinking that we focus on these institutions alone.

Grassroots Justice Network

Pros:

• It is catchy; it has a good ring to it
• The use of the word ‘grassroots’ makes it clear that the Network’s primary focus is to support those working at the community level. It aligns with the “bottom-up” aspect of legal empowerment.

Cons:

• The term “grassroots” does not translate well in some languages, such as Spanish.

---

Finally, a little background reading below.

Why are we creating a new brand

This network belongs to all of us. Our “brand” should represent who we are as a collective.

To date, however, we have not used a distinctive brand. Instead, we have borrowed from Namati branding, which causes confusion. Namati convenes the Global Legal Empowerment Network - playing a role similar to a secretariat. But all of the key priorities, strategies, and activities are driven by members. More and more, members from around the world are taking up key leadership roles within the network. We need a brand that represents that.

What we are asking you to do

Our formal name is “the Global Legal Empowerment Network.” What a mouthful! Few people use this name in its entirety. Many resort to calling it the “Namati Network,” creating further confusion. Our Network Guidance Committee narrowed a range of options down to three (shorter) names. These are the options presented in the survey.

Please feel free to discuss these options and the naming process in general below, in this discussion thread. Thanks again for completing the survey!

[alihaji (Ali Hassan)]

I am excited with this idea . This is good step towards our network.

[tobiaseigen]

I am also very excited. Clear branding distinct from (but very much supported by) Namati will go a long way to establishing our network as a community of shared purpose and solidarity, for the long term. I can’t wait to find out which name is chosen!

[michaelotto]

Thanks @abigailmoy- this is exciting to see. In hopes of getting more input from members, I wanted to mention a few groups who we see as leading members of our collective network. We see your input on this decision as valuable, so please take the survey abover, and, as always, we appreciate any thoughts on our new name in the discussion below.

@leadership_course_2015_participants @leadership_course_2016_participants @leadership_course_2017_participants @leadership_course_2018_participants @exchange_2015southafrica @exchange_2015philippines @exchange_2015bangladesh @exchange_2016kenya @exchange_2016tanzania @exchange_2018sierraleone @exchange_2018kenya @exchange_2017argentina

[AhmedMohamed (Ahmed Ismail)]

I really appreciate this, it creates a happy mood, I am eagerly waiting which and which name to be given to our Network, whichever chosen by the majority is supported.

[BambangPradityo]

finding brilliant ideas👌

[Glosh (Gloria Acayo)]

Thank you team for coming up with interesting suggestions on the brand. Personally i did not have a problem with the name but i beg to submit as follows;

I would go with number two since it is taking into consideration all persons both at grass root and above. Justice for all is looking at justice in both formal and informal justice systems and does not discriminate in terms of gender, race, education level, sex among others.

My interpretation of Justice for all is that it is so accommodating both at institutional and individual or community level. That is to say, even when a grassroot person is seeking for Justice at the informal Justice system, such person must be accorded the justice he or she needs and same must apply to the informal Justice systems or the ADRs that we do.

I would also like to note that much as our focus is grass root, the network is not only at the grassroot but is spreading across all levels and categories of people.

Good work team

[abigailmoy]

Thank you everyone for your ideas and contributions! People have shared many insightful opinions, all of which are being carefully weighed. We are still gathering feedback from stakeholders far and wide, but hope to wrap up the consultation period in the coming months. We will then assess the results and use them to inform the process of developing a new brand. We will keep you updated throughout.