Every meaningful organisation reaches a point where it needs to decide what it truly wants to be. For the group then known as “Like Minds,” that moment came just a few months after its founding. On 1 May 2021 — barely three months after the first gathering on 8 February — the group announced a new name: Matured Like Minds.
It was more than a rebrand. It was a declaration of intent.
Why “Matured Like Minds”?
The original name, Like Minds, captured the founding spirit well: a gathering of people who thought similarly, who valued genuine connection, who wanted friendship without pretence. But as the group reflected on where it was going, the founders felt that the name needed to communicate more — specifically, the quality of the relationships and the seriousness of the commitment.
“Matured” was chosen deliberately. It does not refer to age, though many members were adults in the fullest sense of the word. It refers to an approach to friendship and community: thoughtful, considered, durable. The kind of connection that takes longer to build but lasts much longer than the fleeting acquaintanceships of modern social life. Matured Like Minds would be a group where you could be fully yourself, and where the friendships you built would stand the test of time.
Restrategising and reorganising
The name change came hand in hand with a deliberate effort to restrategise and reorganise the group. The founders and early members sat down to articulate, for the first time, what MLM was actually for: its mission, its vision, its aims. They settled on five commitments that would guide everything the group did:
- Foster and promote meaningful friendshipsCreate an environment for strong, lasting connections.
- Create a supportive and inclusive groupA welcoming space for open communication and mutual support.
- Promote social engagement and well-beingEvents and activities that enhance members’ lives.
- Encourage personal developmentLearning, workshops and broadening horizons.
- Foster belonging and reduce social isolationA network that helps members feel less alone.
With those commitments in place, MLM had a compass. Everything that followed — the anniversary outreaches, the donations, the parties and the gatherings — flows from the clarity that this moment of restrategising provided.
A turning point
Looking back, the name change of 1 May 2021 is one of the most significant moments in MLM’s history. It is the point at which a loose gathering of friends became a purposeful community. It is the point at which good intentions became documented commitments. And it is the point at which the group decided it would not just enjoy friendship among its members, but actively work to spread that sense of belonging outward into the wider world.
Within nine months, MLM would mark its first anniversary with a visit to an orphanage. That visit would become the first link in a chain of outreach activities that, by 2026, would include 100 school desks for a school inside an IDP camp. None of it would have been possible without the clarity that arrived with the new name.
“We aspire to create an environment where members can freely express themselves, celebrate their differences, and cultivate friendships that enrich their lives and contribute positively to society.”
From the MLM Vision Statement
What’s in a name?
Everything, it turns out. Matured Like Minds is not just a label — it is a promise. A promise to show up, to be real, to grow together, and to give back. Five years in, the group is still keeping it.
If those values resonate with you, there is a seat at the table.
