Vivian Saunders, Executive Director, The Hive - 2009 Jane Metcalfe Digital Opportunity Award Winner

Vivian Saunders, Executive Director, The Hive

2009 Jane Metcalfe Digital Opportunity Award Winner

In a rural community facing increasingly complex economic and educational challenges, Vivian Saunders represents hope in Bertie County, North Carolina.  Her goal is to contribute to her community, helping it to emerge as a renewed, competitive, and technology-rich community. Her life is characterized by a desire and ability to uplift and motivate others and her love and service to the people of Bertie County has no bounds. As the Executive Director of two community hubs that provide everything from a food pantry to a computer lab, Vivian works incessantly to strengthen individuals and families by meeting their basic needs through a holistic approach. She is a true believer that having access to information and being skilled in technology is the key resource to being successful.  

Her love for children and passion to serve the community drove her to open an affordable daycare and summer camp out of her home. Years later, Saunders expanded her business by opening the Bertie County Family Resource Center that featured a food pantry, emergency assistance, childcare, and counseling classes. Her philosophy was to assist each person who walked into her facility, no matter the need. When North Carolina mandated that all 8th grade students must pass a computer competency test to proceed to high school, she added basic computer skills classes to the list of resources available at her community center.

Saunders started by turning to the youth. Having two sons of her own and a wealth of experience working with the children of the community, Saunders knew that young people possessed the energy to accomplish great things. She was most interested in collaborating with at-risk students, hoping that involvement in a positive program would give them direction and a future. After meeting Sonja Murray of One Economy, she launched the Digital Connectors program and piloted a youth-run mobile lab that trained adults in basic computer and Internet skills. Within a few months, her team had successfully given the adults of Bertie County the ability to use computer and Internet access, but the issue of access still existed.

In 2008, the community was well aware of her ability to mentor children through her after school program, and the superintendent of the school system proposed that she open another community center in Windsor, NC to extend her services to a daylong recovery school program with a technology theme. To reflect the large-scale expansion of services, Saunders changed the name of her services from the Bertie County Family Resource Center to simply The Hive.

A year later, The Hive is a thriving technology and community center with locations in Lewiston, NC and Windsor, NC. Supported by a modest budget and minimal staff, The Hive has had overwhelming success in serving the people of Bertie County. During school hours, the Hive operates as The Hive Academy, providing 25 at-risk students a second chance and preparing them for the workforce by teaching them technical proficiency and life skills. During after-school and weekend hours, The Hive is open to the rest of the community, helping to build the community’s potential for secure, healthy, responsible, productive, and fulfilled children and families. The center is built on an asset-based model that works on people’s strengths, rather than defining them by their deficiencies. Between the two community centers, Saunders has assisted over 2,000 Bertie County residents and trained over 100 students through the Digital Connectors and Hive Academy programs.

Despite all of the success, Saunders has no intention of slowing down. The Hive will be serving 150 elementary and middle school students this summer, The Hive’s recovery school program is doubling in size, and registration is on the rise for community members attending counseling classes and computer skills training. Hard economic times are at hand in Bertie County, but hope is ever present through Vivian Saunders’s work.

Congratulations, Vivian! We are all so proud of you!

-The One Economy Team