Shift

Welcome to our new series, which focuses on the shift amongst youth organisations and funders towards sharing power with young people, drawing on our work with The Listening Fund which aims to make the youth sector more accountable to young people.In this episode we explain why we’ve made this podcast, give an overview of what we’ve learned about why and how organisations are involving young people in their work - with clips from some of the brilliant guests you’ll hear from in the following six episodes.The co-hosts for this series are Mercy Shibemba, a young grantmaker and activist, and Jenny Ross from Collective Discovery.You can find all of the Listening Fund’s resources, including blogs and practice papers on a range of topics here. You can also follow the Listening Fund on X @listeningfund.A series overview, more information on our guests, and additional resources on each topic can be found in the shownotes. For more on Collective Discovery, see our website and LinkedIn. We also welcome any feedback you have: please get in touch with us at collective@collectivediscovery.co.uk.

Youth organisations often work in partnership with young people to design their programmes and services - this is sometimes called co-production. In this episode we’ll hear about the benefits and challenges of co-production and how three organisations have sought to embed the approach in their work and organisational culture.  We spoke to:Alex Mckell, Head of innovation and trainer at Leap Confronting ConflictKate Russell, Head of Programmes and Network at the Foyer FederationGemma Rowan, co-Artistic Director of Sounds Like Chaos.This episode is part of our first series which builds on Collective Discovery’s work as Learning Partner of the Listening Fund. You can find all of the Listening Fund’s resources, including blogs and practice papers on a range of topics here. You can also follow the Fund on X @listeningfund.A series overview, more information on our guests, and additional resources on each topic can be found in the shownotes. For more on Collective Discovery, see our website or LinkedIn. We also welcome any feedback you have: please get in touch with us at collective@collectivediscovery.co.uk.

One of the ways youth organisations can ensure that their work is aligned with the priorities of young people is to actively involve them in their learning and evaluation processes - to ensure that their feedback informs the way their programmes and services are adapted. We spoke to: Dave Close, Director of Hot Chocolate Trust Jeni Stephens, Youth Work Manager at Carefree CornwallSarah Rose, a Social Purpose Consultant and part of the Collective Discovery teamKate Russell, Head of Programmes and Network at the Foyer FederationThis episode is part of our first series which builds on Collective Discovery’s work as Learning Partner of the Listening Fund. You can find all of the Listening Fund’s resources, including blogs and practice papers on a range of topics here. You can also follow the Fund on X @listeningfund.A series overview, more information on our guests, and additional resources on each topic can be found in the shownotes. For more on Collective Discovery, see our website or LinkedIn. We also welcome any feedback you have: please get in touch with us at collective@collectivediscovery.co.uk.

One of the ways youth organisations work in a consistent way with young people is by creating specific roles for them. In this episode, we will hear from three organisations that have involved young people in their work by creating different kinds of leadership and ambassador roles. We spoke to:Mark Powell, Artistic Director at Prime TheatreVicki Felgate, Co-Founder of Big Leaf Foundation. Luwam, Youth Ambassador for Kent Refugee Action Network. This episode is part of our first series which builds on Collective Discovery’s work as Learning Partner of the Listening Fund. You can find all of the Listening Fund’s resources, including blogs and practice papers on a range of topics here. You can also follow the Fund on X @listeningfund.A series overview, more information on our guests, and additional resources on each topic can be found in the shownotes. For more on Collective Discovery, see our website or LinkedIn. We also welcome any feedback you have: please get in touch with us at collective@collectivediscovery.co.uk.

One of the ways that youth organisations and funders can involve young people in their work is to invite them to be part of their governance structure and become a trustee. In this episode we will hear about the role of young trustees from a range of perspectives.We spoke to:Natasha Johnson, a Blagrave Trust Young Advisor and board member of the British Youth Council.Segun Olowooke, Chair of the Blagrave Trust BoardClare Hill-Dixon, CEO of the Young Trustees Movement.And Eli Manderson Evans, CEO of the Blagrave Trust.This episode is part of our first series, looking at the work Collective Discovery is doing as Learning Partner of the Listening Fund. You can find all of the Listening Fund’s resources, including blogs and practice papers on a range of topics here. You can also follow the Fund on X @listeningfund.A series overview, more information on our guests, and additional resources on each topic can be found in the shownotes. For more on Collective Discovery, see our website or LinkedIn. We also welcome any feedback you have: please get in touch with us at collective@collectivediscovery.co.uk.

There is a growing involvement of young people in youth funders’ grantmaking. We hear about how this can work in practice, and the benefits and challenges from the perspectives of two young grantmakers, a funder, and a facilitator of youth involvement in grantmaking processes. Plus we’ll hear some top tips for funders working with young people.We spoke to:Dan Seifu from the Involving Young People Collective of the Esmee Fairbairn Foundation. Neha Bhayani, one of Blagrave Trust’s grants advisors, working on the Listening Fund. Edd Fry, who manages the Listening Fund on behalf of the Blagrave TrustKeji Okeowo from Hudl Youth Development Agency.This episode is part of our first series which builds on Collective Discovery’s work as Learning Partner of the Listening Fund. You can find all of the Listening Fund’s resources, including blogs and practice papers on a range of topics here. You can also follow the Fund on X @listeningfund.A series overview, more information on our guests, and additional resources on each topic can be found in the shownotes. For more on Collective Discovery, see our website or LinkedIn. We also welcome any feedback you have: please get in touch with us at collective@collectivediscovery.co.uk.

Sharing and ceding power to young people can be challenging for organisations and the people who work within them. In this episode we hear from three very different organisations that have made a clear commitment to sharing power with young people. We hear about how they adopted new structures and processes to support power sharing as their organisation grew. We spoke to:Catherine Hillis, Director of the Fairer Futures Programme, Esmée Fairbairn FoundationAnne-Marie Douglas and Nicola Kidston, Co-CEOs of Peer Power YouthMichael Lister, Chair of the Mix’s Youth Advisory BoardThis episode is part of our first series which builds on Collective Discovery’s work as Learning Partner of the Listening Fund. You can find all of the Listening Fund’s resources, including blogs and practice papers on a range of topics here. And here’s further reading on consent-based decision-making.A series overview, more information on our guests, and additional resources on each topic can be found in the shownotes. For more on Collective Discovery, see our website or LinkedIn. We also welcome any feedback you have: please get in touch with us at collective@collectivediscovery.co.uk.

Young people are leading organisations and taking different approaches to decision-making and power sharing which all organisations can learn from. In this episode we hear from four young people leading organisations about the challenges they face and how they think older people can support them. We spoke to:Sophie Mattholie, Trustee, the LUNA project.  Scott Kirby, Organiser, UK Youth Climate Coalition. Ze Ze Sohawon, CEO, Emotional Dysregulation in Autism.Samuel Remi-Akinwale, CEO, Young Manchester.This episode is part of our first series which builds on Collective Discovery’s work as Learning Partner of the Listening Fund. You can find all of the Listening Fund’s resources, including blogs and practice papers on a range of topics here. If you found this episode useful, you might want to read this blog: Blog: What I’ve learned from 6 months of co-leadership.A series overview, more information on our guests, and additional resources on each topic can be found in the shownotes. For more on Collective Discovery, see our website or LinkedIn. We also welcome any feedback you have: please get in touch with us at collective@collectivediscovery.co.uk.