Youth Employment Activism

Youth Employment Activism: Reflections on the Latest Lead and Be Led Cohort

The Anti-Tribalism Movement’s recent Lead and Be Led cohort has just concluded, after attending weeks of training and engaging their community with their inspiring social action campaign, EMpowerU.

EMpowerU is a podcast dedicated to raising awareness on the challenges young people are faced with in the employment market. According to the House Of Commons Youth Unemployment data, approximately 923,000 young people aged 16 to 24 are not in employment, education, or training (NEET) and there are 2.99 million young people aged 16 to 24 who are economically inactive.   

This social action campaign was born out of the difficult realities young people face when seeking jobs and working towards their future. EMpowerU was their way of bringing other young people together to speak on their experience and opinions, and also connect with older members of the local community to provide advice and also compare their experience with their employment and career journeys. Through street interviews and surveys, our group of young people gathered insight from 100 people, and designed their podcast and live event to scrutinise  their findings and invite experts to propose practical solutions.

The live event was held at the end of Youth Employment Week, and featured panel discussions with Umar Akram (Department for Work and Pensions), Andrea Maloney (WeRise), Mayra Palomina (H&F Works) and life coach Andre Shillingford. Each offered both professional reflections and personal advice to help young people as they develop their leadership skills. Attendees also enjoyed a raffle and an employment‑statistics quiz, uncovering surprising data along the way.

The event concluded with a touching video of their social action campaign journey, which includes their research process such as street interviews, their leadership development throughout the Lead and Be Led training workshops, and a sneak peak of their EMpowerU podcast episode. 

The first episode of the EMpowerU podcast is out now, hosted by young leaders Madison, Kylan, Nabeel and Alwyn, and they cover topics such as job search websites, network etiquette, dream jobs and more! Further episodes will feature interviews with young people and continued discourse surrounding employability from a youth perspective. 

EMpowerU forms part of the Anti‑Tribalism Movement’s commitment to nurturing leaders and changemakers in the local community. Lead and be Led is designed for young people aged 16 to 24, for young people to  unlock their potential and become authentic leaders in their communities.

If you’re inspired by our young leaders and ready to begin your own leadership journey, sign up now for the next Lead and Be Led cohort. 

For further information, email yasmin.moalin@theatm.org