News | Monday, 26th February 2024
Meet our Donors - First generation supporting the First Generation with Matt Hamnett
In this interview Professor Matt Hamnett discusses how speaking with students and supporting their journey “always just brings it home”. Matt Hamnett is the founding partner of MH&A, a consulting firm that works with clients in the education and economic development sectors to deliver exceptional social and economic outcomes.
A natural evolution
“I've been working with the university for five or six years. I started with guest lecturing and career talks with students, and it then developed into becoming a Visiting Professor which I've really enjoyed. It got me into a flow of conversation with colleagues like Hannah Holmes at the university and later I became aware of the First Generation Scholarship Programme. I don't think I really thought about it as philanthropy in the beginning. For me, it was a natural evolution of my relationship with the university, and probably concurrent with the growth of my business and our appetite to do something positive.”
Why First Generation
“So, firstly, I had first-hand experience of what it's like to be the first person in your family to go to university and, therefore, without points of reference and advice. Secondly, I have always been passionate about it. For most of my career I’ve worked in the education sector, as a policymaker and with a focus on skills and social mobility. This is the thing I've spent my life working on. The third thing is, working with Manchester Met and with students takes me back to my own experience, it reminds me of how challenging and potentially ambition-limiting it can be for individuals if they don't get support and advice. It was so obvious to me because pretty much all of my career has been about how to help people achieve all that they could do, not just all they can see in front of them.
“I believe there is potential for students, first generation or otherwise, who have come from a challenging family context. They will have learned a lot of things about how to live, how to cope and how to survive that can translate to an advantage in their career. I've been very fortunate that many of the things that I think made me quite good have their origins in my family, my background and my early life.”
Investing in the next generation
“One of the things that worried me, which is relevant to First Generation, is that talented students will often not see their potential if they don't have a frame of reference and a personal family network around. They can often limit their own ambition to focusing on what they can see in front of them and what they can relate to.
“One of the things I like about First Generation and everything I do at the university is trying to normalise the prospect of success and social mobility. When I was 21 or 22 years old and studying Philosophy, I didn't think that many, if any, of the things that have subsequently happened to me in my career would have done. I've been very fortunate throughout my career to have had a set of people that I've met along the way that have inspired and guided me in lots of ways. I think it's incumbent on anybody who’s had that experience to do the same for others. I hate the idea of somebody who has the power and the potential to go somewhere in their career and not even know it, let alone not achieve it.”
Being a Donor
“It took the team at MH&A and I two minutes to agree to it. Our decision came from our values and views on what are our responsibilities, and our obligations are to the rest of society.
“I genuinely do it for Manchester Met and the students, not for myself if that makes sense. This is why being a donor is quite emotional. When you meet the students and you hear their stories, their context and they tell you about what this means for them and the direct impact it has, that's the bit that feels good.
“If you get into a fortunate position, I think it's appropriate that you engage and do some good. Being able to do this with the university that I went to twice makes it more personal and more meaningful. I hope when I do anything with the university, and particularly when it's with the scholars that we support, that I’m talking to them as somebody who went to their university, was first in their family and who has had a career that they didn't expect was available to them, is there to help them. It is a real privilege.
“Life is harder now than it was. By some distance, right? So, it probably matters more now to support the next generation than it did. I think it would be great if more people could get involved and support the First Generation Programme however they can, it really makes a difference.”
