Lisa is from Oldham in Manchester where many members of the local community have experienced racial inequity. During the Black Lives Matter mobilisation Lisa saw an increase of racism and the lack of racial literacy became more evident.
Through the Fellowship Lisa will grow her initiative Working People of Colour which will improve the racial literacy of employers, ensuring that employees of colour are working in environments that are inclusive, safe, and socially aware. It will provide training sessions to clients and team building sessions for the staff as well as supporting employees that may be experiencing difficulties within the workplace.
Fatmata founded Tamareneh in 2022 to provide a means of support and inspiration for refugees and those seeking asylum to further their education or access opportunities to build their skills.
Through the Fellowship Fatmata plans to grow Tamareneh and organise ‘meet-up’s’, workshops and coaching sessions on a variety of topics including education, finance, health, and wellbeing.
Ruth has always dreamt of setting up an organisation to help people with mental health difficulties and disabled young people. From a young age animal therapy has played a huge part in Ruth’s life, helping to reduce social isolation and loneliness.
The Fellowship will allow Ruth to grow their initiative Pets Manor, which will support therapeutic connections with animals for children and young people. This will help people build connection and relationships which in turn will allow them to build confidence, self-esteem, and resilience.
Farhad wants to use his own personal experiences to support local young people to know that illegal activity isn’t the only way.
Through the Fellowship Farhad wants to create generational change and provide positive opportunities for young people. Farhad will work with young people aged 13–25 providing education and development programmes. His mission is to help young people use their entrepreneurial skills for self-improvement.
Ryan Dube is a Zimbabwean born social entrepreneur currently based in Stockton-on-Tees.
As a strong believer in community contribution Ryan utilises his creative abilities as a designer and videographer to challenge racism and empower black youth in Teesside. Through the Fellowship Ryan plans to develop his critical leadership skills and establish an organisation that will provide positive change in Teesside by engaging black youth through art, sports and education.
Chelsea lives in South Manchester, where she pushes her mission of 'Energy Dance School'.
Chelsea started her street dance career at a young age, before going onto win two 1st place European Championship titles at the age of 22. She values giving young people the opportunity to freely express themselves in a fun, nurturing environment.
From the fellowship, Chelsea aims to build infrastructure for her dance school so that she can create further opportunities for more young people to become successful through dance.
Finn grew up in the post-industrial town of Widnes in North West England, and their passion for creating change for communities grew out of their experience of living in a place lacking in local opportunity.
Finn has studied and worked in Washington, D.C. on a year abroad through attending Edinburgh University and now works for the social enterprise People's Powerhouse, which seeks to give Northerners a platform to raise their voices on the changes they want to see in the North, from racial and social justice to new ways of thinking about the economy.
Finn is passionate about emboldening working-class people and is using the Fellowship to upskill themselves and learn how to be an advocate for bringing Community Wealth Building to the forefront of how we think about our local economies and communities.
After moving to Sheffield to study Fashion Design at University, Emma discovered that there was a lack of opportunities available to young people in the North who wanted to secure creative careers. With unpaid placements being the norm in this industry, Emma is working to help level the playing field so that more young people have the chance to get paid to do the work they love.
Inspired by her own struggles with anxiety, Emma launched Studio Self-Made as an online immersive education platform designed to equip young people with the tools they need to take care of their mental health whilst pursuing a career that sparks joy.
Dami lives in Newcastle Upon Tyne, where they created Navii Media, a platform for creatives to take up space and exist unapologetically within art, events and media. Navii media was created in 2020 during the Black Lives Matter movement and during the pandemic when the community was needed more than ever.
Through the Fellowship Dami plans to help support even more communities to share their stories through the content creation platform and event spaces.
Eddie is a MLaw student at University of Huddersfield, he’s spent most his life living in West Yorkshire. Eddie spent three years on the youth board of leading disability charity Whizz-Kidz where he really developed a love for activism and advocacy.
Through the Fellowship, Eddie plans to set up a not for profit called West Yorkshire Self Advocacy Network (WYSAN). WYSAN will offer services at cost to businesses to help them improve the services they offer disabled customers, and use the funds created from this to offer social groups and campaigns which will benefit disabled people in the West Yorkshire area.
Our 2021/2 Young Change Makers graduated in May 2022. Many are still supporting the Foundation and the Fellowship through our alumni network.
Ella-Grace grew up in the North West of England starting her career at a young age as a TV actress and dancer. Her passion to be a Change Maker derives from seeing a lack of opportunity in her home town and the social and economic impact this has on individuals.
Through the Fellowship, Ella-Grace expanded EGG (Performing Arts) Lancashire CIC and became the Managing Director of Streetwise. Ella Grace has secured additional funding and is creating change and helping to grow a support system in the local community through Streetwise youth clubs, theatre school, food bank, holiday club, outreach service, adult wellbeing service and so much more.
Gage is a writer and director, as well as a freelance film programmer, and the managing director of Oxygen Films: a multi-award winning, non-profit, community interest production company based in Leeds.
Gage's role involves working with international charities, young creatives and LGBTQ+ organisations around the world to create challenging motion pictures that facilitate and encourage open discussion on some of the most difficult aspects of a modern LGBTQ+ community. Their latest feature film had its world premiere in Leicester Square and US premiere a stone’s throw away from the Hollywood sign. Through the Fellowship Gage worked to grow better infrastructure for the screen sector in the North and secure consistent funding for underrepresented filmmakers to tell their authentic stories.
Jaiden is an activist from Salford. He started in the space of youth leadership at the age of 11, leading alongside many other individuals and organisations. He is currently working to design and implement new approaches to youth co-leadership and to reimagine education.
Jaiden’s main passions lie in inspiring new models of youth leadership, improving mental wellbeing and providing more opportunity, access and support for working-class young people to thrive.
Through the Fellowship, Jaiden established his organisation Outliers and ran three summer schools supporting young males to unlock their leadership potentials, redefine what it really means to “be a man” and to work towards activating a new understanding of success.
Kobie is a Ph.D. student and social entrepreneur from Toxteth, Liverpool. From a young age, Kobie recognised the social injustices in his community, with prejudice, discrimination, bias and an apparent lack of opportunities all too common.
Kobie’s dream is to help even out the socio-cultural landscape and provide equal opportunities for individuals who would not have them otherwise. Through the Fellowship, Kobie established his organisation ‘Against the Odds’, which is now partnering with the Anthony Walker Foundation in Liverpool.
Max lives in Moss Side, South Manchester. He is passionate about achieving social change and inspiring other young people in his community to step into positive possibilities.
After the devastating attack on Manchester Arena in 2017, Max responded to the rise in Islamophobia across the city by creating 500 origami roses and encouraging other young people to be involved in focusing on love, not hate and sharing these symbols of a peaceful multi-faith future. The campaign went viral and was supported across the city. Through the fellowship Max launched Clean Cuts, an urban gardening initiative, to employ local young people to maintain the gardens of their neighbours, earn a reasonable wage and collectively work to improve the look and feel of the community.
Louisa is a female filmmaker based in Bradford. In January 2021, she set up her own grassroots production company - Northern Fortress Films. Her main aim was to shine a spotlight on Northern talent, giving Northern voices the chance to tell their stories.
Diversity and representation are at the core of all the films made at Northern Fortress Films and Louisa is aiming to change the culture of the industry through keeping these values at the forefront of her filmmaking.
Through the Fellowship, Louisa wanted to widen the horizons of young people in Bradford, educate them on the film & television industry and the careers available to them, and provide hands-on experience and credits that will help them to get their foot on the career ladder. With Skills House Bradford, Louisa has launched 'We’re Rolling', a competition for young Bradford based filmmakers.
Roukagia is Manchester based and of Syrian and Ukrainian heritage. She has just completed a law degree. Roukagia is passionate about tackling Islamophobia and amplifying the voices of women from ethnic minority backgrounds, to provide them with access routes into leadership positions in our society.
Over the last few years, Roukagia has been pursuing her passion for social justice and change with youth and women’s organisations in the city of Manchester and nationwide. Through the Fellowship Roukagia established Northern Muslim Women and created a film. Northern Muslim Women is now partnering with the charity RECLAIM to run a programme for year eight Muslim girls in Manchester.
Sarah, a mum to two boys, grew up in a small rural village called Highfield where everyone knows each other. Having children gave Sarah the drive to help others in her local area. After co-founding an organisation which was set up to reduce isolation and loneliness based in Gateshead, she soon realised that those same struggles were very evident on her own estate.
In September 2020 Sarah opened OurLives Gateshead CIC, its main aim is to raise community wellbeing, be a friend to the community and improve the local area. OurLives works hard to ensure the people in the local community are heard and not forgotten and gives them a safe space where they matter. Through the Fellowship Sarah has grown OurLives, forged new partnerships and secured much needed additional funding.
Savannah started volunteering at a young age, initially with Teesside Hospice. Through her volunteering, she visited Nepal, spent time trekking in the Annapurna Mountains, and later she trekked to Everest Base Camp, which led to her joining the British Army. At 25, Savannah was medically discharged.
Savannah is passionate about finding solutions to the rising number of veteran mental health issues and suicide rates, by creating easier pathways to accessing support. She is also interested in biomedical science, including global inequalities around medicine & health, and is passionate about greater disability inclusion, human rights and sustainability. Through the Fellowship, Savannah established UrBackUP Foundation, started a podcast ‘Through veteran’s Thoughts’, and developed an app bringing together support available to veterans, which will launch in 2023.
The Foundation works with a team of Youth Advisors who inform our programme design, decision making and activity in our young people programmes.
Rochelle works as a Domestic Violence Peer Educator at West End Women and Girls Centre recruiting and training young Domestic Violence Abuse Champions in schools and youth groups
Rochelle joined the Foundation as a Youth Advisor in 2019 and supported the design and delivery of the Young Change Makers Fellowship.
Josie is a student who joined the Foundation #iwill Take Action Fund Youth Advisory Panel back in 2017 after taking part in Baltic Centre for Contemporary Art Programmes.
Josie worked with Youth Focus North East to help us to assess grants through the #iwill Take Action Fund and joined us as a Youth Advisor in 2019.
The Foundation would like to thank past Youth Advisors and Youth Panel members for their support and insight:
Aman Akhtar, Amir Mahmood, Amy Lowes, Astrud Turner. Craig Bateman, Ellie Simblet, Eve Stobbart, Hannah Fleming, Hannah Munslow, Josie Ball, Matthew Evans, Aldair Reis, Angelica Akika, Astrud Turner, Hannah Flemming, Sam Ward-Hardy, Shakira Begum, Sophie Murtha, Tessy Idemudia
We are proud to be a Living Wage Funder, committed to tackling low pay by encouraging and enabling the organisations we support to pay the real Living Wage Link opens in a new window.