There is a growing trend for creating "hubs" for coalitions to explore, share, and advance common challenges and goals. Popular examples of these hubs include the UN sustainable development goals, or in Canada, the Future Cities Hub. Too often these "hubs" focus on the convening organization (see the prominence of the logos on the two examples) and seem to "take on a life of their own". Most of these hubs are just websites that ask for member contribution or write blog posts ("spotlights") on members. For members, the hub is less about serving their needs, and more about serving the needs of the organizing coalition.

At Guides, we believe a true "hub" is one that serves and promotes members' spaces, not the other way around.

Our approach is to provide each member a space to explore and express their purpose, work, and challenges as well as a central convening space for members to share material from their space with the larger community. It is truly member-led (we use the analogy of a pot-luck) and enables new partnerships, ideas, programs, and "pathways" to emerge through authentic exploration, not design.

The hub can also act as an entry point for new stakeholders to explore the shared space, not as a destination, but as a way to arrive at member spaces.

At Guides, we believe there are no "solutions", just pathways forward, and that these pathways can emerge if we provide safe, authentic, and trust-based "connected spaces" that enable us to explore the space between us.