Impact Report 2019
INSPIRING TOMORROW’S LEADERS
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Contents Our mission and vision
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Our mission
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How we started
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Students reaction
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Why our focus demographic
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What we do
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Our impact
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What students say
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Our commitment to have a greater impact
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Biography 19
IMPACT REPORT 2019
Our mission and vision
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We educate, inspire and empower children and young people to unlock their full potential.
We believe regardless of their circumstances, those from disadvantaged African and Caribbean heritage backgrounds, have tremendous potential. We partner with schools to help develop that potential.
Understanding that no matter your bacgkground you can do anything.
I learned what a personal brand is and why it is important.
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Our mission This Impact Report captures the journey of how a dream to change the lives of young girls with African and Caribbean heritage became a reality. It is not uncommon to hear the expression ‘make a lasting impression’ and wonder whether in reality that is genuinely the case. Often times what is presented as ‘a lasting impression’ proves to be a mere momentary rush of emotional fervour, which fades very quickly once the excitement of the occasion passes. Adenike Adenitire, Education lead
The story of Inspiring Tomorrow’s Leaders is the opposite. It takes a true visionary to discern the needs of a community and not be afraid to channel thoughts, emotions and strategic thinking into developing a truly amazing programme that addresses those needs. Through the Inspiring Tomorrow’s Leaders programme Michelle Levy has demonstrated such a visionary spirit. Her will to tackle what was perceived as a hidden problem within the African and Caribbean community, demonstrates her deep-
seated desire to deliver results to the community that are tangible and long lasting. I’ve admired her creativity, strength of mind and tenacity to form an organisation with the appropriate charity status to grow the programme. Tackling the numerous queries and request for further information from the Charity Commission was soul destroying at times and yet through it all, Michelle was never side tracked from her mission to have a charity that served the special needs she observed in the community. Her ultimate goal to change the dialogue and trajectory of the girls and young ladies meant she was undeterred in a bid for charity status. It was a most joyous moment for me when this charity status was secured in August 2019. Watching Michelle dive into her rolodex and garner the support of Areté Network, an organisation of black professional women which she co-founded, and later leverage other business and creative associates, along with corporate sponsors, is
a story in itself. These are the early days of a truly impressive charity. As you read this report you will see how Inspiring Tomorrow’s Leaders is making a difference in the community, by leaving a lasting impression on the minds of young girls aged 13 to 15 years old. The expressions of accomplishment and gratitude by the young students interspersed in quotes throughout the report and ending on page 17, helps you understand the thoughts and feelings of the girls as they experienced a truly unforgettable journey during 2019. Dreams that were never dreamt were created; tales that were never told were shared; friendships that never existed were created; passions that were never experienced were awakened; opportunities and doors that were never envisaged were opened; and smiles that were never smiled started beaming. It was therefore great to see that we were able to increase the number of students participating in the programme from 80 to 100 in 2019.
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These changes emphasis the positive impact our programming is having and testifies to the need for further funding to grow this charity. Additionally, we include notes on lessons learned and how we plan to develop the programme further to ensure the impact increases and the programme content remains relevant, while remaining in line with the goals of the charity. This is an account of something that started from humble beginnings and has grown with the help of our key corporate sponsors. We are very thankful for the trust our sponsors have placed in us and we hope that this report testifies to the seriousness with which we have discharged our charitable duties. Working with Barings to create Financial Education Workshops in partnership with the charity MyBank in 2019, allowed us to add a new dimension to our programme. These workshops were very successful in tapping the potential of 40 students who are interested in persusing careers in the financial services industry.
Our professional mentors have contributed many unpaid volunteering hours and for this we are truly grateful. Without their engagement the girls and young ladies would not be able to fully comprehend the many new skills and competencies we introduced to them. But to see these skills and attributes playing out in front of them by these professionals, allowed the students to open their minds to untold possibilities. It has been a pleasure working with Michelle since the inception of Inspiring Tomorrow’s Leaders and I look forward to another exciting year in 2020 as programme delivery is increased and the brand is built out.
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How we started
Michelle Levy, CEO and Founder
I wanted young black girls to see themselves in successful black women.
My story starts from the humble beginnings of a teenaged Puerto Rican mother and an AfricanAmerican father who passed away before I was five years old. I was raised by my grandparents, and later due to my desire to obtain a better education, boarded with a white middle class family in the suburbs of upstate New York. My story is truly a ‘Tale of Two Cities.’ I wondered many times later in the more successful chapters of my life, once achieving two master degrees, and starting my own angel investing syndicate, what would have happened to me without the role models and mentorship I was blessed to receive as an impressionable girl. Over the years I’ve always had a passion for mentoring young people and coaching budding entrepreneurs. Through my work with a previous mentoring programme for disadvantaged girls in London, two things became very clear. First, there is a tremendous disparity between state schools and private schools (where I am fortunate to
be able to send my children). Given the pressures and challenges faced by state schools, I could see there was a gap between the breadth of skills, support, and exposure my daughter was obtaining from her private education and what the girls in the mentoring programme were able to access. Second, the mentoring programme had very few mentors of African and African Caribbean heritage. Due to the lack of exposure to role models in their personal environment, the young black girls needed to see themselves in successful women. For me, it was a question of how to bring my incredible network of high-achieving black women together as a community and attempt to fill that gap for these bright and very abled young black girls? Hence, the concept of Inspiring Tomorrow’s Leaders was born. In, 2017, I started planting the seeds to build the initial network of women who would later become the role models for our pilot programme, the Leadership Conference that took place in July 2018. By January
2018, I co-founded Areté Network, which is an organisation made up of successful and motivated professional women of African and Caribbean heritage from various industries and walks of life. While working to organise and rally the women, I also planned and organised the 2018 Conference. I funded the pilot conference myself. I knew that if I could create what I had in mind, the support would eventually materialise. By August 2018, I was able to secure 80% of the cost of the conference from corporate sponsors through women who attended. For 2019, with the incredible support of Barings, we have increased the number of role models from 30 to 50 and students from 80-100 from the previous year. We continue to grow. Since July of 2018, we have impacted the lives of over 180 girls, helping them to dream of a brighter and more promising future. On my journey with the girls and women who made this charity possible, there are many people to thank and recognise. None of this could have been possible
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without the support of my family and Adenike Adenitire, my right hand. Adenike, without hesitation, agreed to come on board in early 2018. Her passion and experience in working with young people was exactly what was needed. She naturally connects with our young girls and has been instrumental in the development of the program and liaising with our partner schools. From the early stages, my family has embraced the spirit of this charity. My husband, Keith, agreed we should personally fund the first pilot conference until we later procured corporate sponsorship. With all hands on deck, the night before the conference my young son, Keith Jr, helped sort goody bags and name badges for the girls. My daughter, Michaela now 16 years old, continues to be ITL’s Youth Ambassador. From the start, she has had an active role in providing her relevant perspective for the programming and the tools that we develop. She introduces the programme to students and assists with the setup of the venue days
before the conference. Michaela even helped to create the brilliant ITL logo. I cannot express how overwhelmed I become with emotion on conference day when I see the transition of the girls from the moment they get off the bus in the morning until they get back on to go home. Their amazement at seeing a room filled with successful Black women, the questions they ask, and the expressions on their faces as they experience what we have on offer tell me I have to keep pushing for them. It is so rewarding knowing we had an impact not simply for a day but knowing our efforts are helping the lives of others. I struggle at times, saying to myself in earnest ‘We need to do more. These children need our help’. These simple words have fuelled my resolve even through the difficult moments. This was especially true when the UK charity registration application process, which started in January 2019, appeared as if it was not going to be approved by the UK Charity Commission. I was disappointed and frustrated when
I received their initial response in June 2019 asking to clarify the need for such a charity. Fundamentally, I did not understand how someone could not see the work being done as certainly for the “benefit of the public good”. The UK government’s 2018 racial disparity data was not enough. Determined to convince the charity assessor in our favor, after several long nights of research, armed with more relevant studies and my husband’s support, I pulled together a response. I had to overwhelm the assessor with a justification of why our work was so important and why without question ITL should be granted charitable status. We finally received approval in August 2019. So where do we go from here? In order to expand and build the program further we recognise the importance of assessing the program and determining where we need to improve. To best meet the needs of the students, we are working to more effectively capture real time feedback throughout the program from all participants.
I wanted successful black women to see themselves in young promising girls.
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Inspiring Tomorrow’s Leaders is the catalyst for change in the lives of disadvantaged young people of African and Caribbean heritage.
We owe a special thank you to Barings for their support in analysing the feedback data. Here are some interesting highlights of the 2019 Conference feedback: ●● The
age distribution of girls was 21% aged 13, 71% aged 14 and 8% aged 15.
●● Many knew the
reasons why dining and etiquette were important (93%), but very few had any indication on the proper etiquette. This was evident in the differing behavior at lunch between those who had already participated in the workshop and those who had not.
●● Being
inspired was the most popular response as to what people got out of the conference. The girls left feeling good about themselves.
●● The
analysis revealed a very important key learning: the number one thing the students and role models would change is the opportunity to have more interaction together. We are
planning to incorporate more oneon-one interaction through of use of smaller focus groups with the role models as well as a networking session in the afternoon. The broader vison is now to expand the program to impact a larger number of girls, and also to include a separate programming directive for young boys. This will require leveraging a network of male role models and securing extensive multiyear funding. Our longer term vision will be to follow the girls and boys through extended duration from high school to university, and then prepare them to mentor those just beginning in the same program. The story of my journey rests upon a simple truth: I see my younger self in the eyes of these girls, and I know the journey of Inspiring Tomorrow’s Leaders is just beginning.
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Inspiring Tomorrow’s Leaders was born out of a desire to see a fundamental increase in career exposure and skill-building opportunities for school-age girls of African and Caribbean heritage and show them real life possibilities. In only its second year of operation, ITL has impacted the lives of over 180 young black girls.
97 %
sa id
‘Y es ’
Did you find the role models approachable?
PANELLISTS: Rob Knight, Managing Director Barings (Sponsor) Vanessa Emilien, Founder and CEO of Rich Kit International Omotunde Lawal, Managing Director Barings Christine Ohuruogu, Olympic 400m Gold Medallist Dr Nneka Abulokwe, OBE, Founder of MicroMax Consulting Kim Johnson, Creative Director and Manager of Hype Coiffure Ariel White-Tsimikalis, European Counsel at Davis Polk & Wardwell
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July 2018
July 2019
October 2019
November 2019
1ST CONFERENCE 80 girls, 30 role models
2ND CONFERENCE 100 girls, 40 role models
Black History Month workshops
Financial literary and career day at Baring
IMPACT REPORT 2019
Student reaction What students enjoyed about dining and etiquette …
What students enjoyed about the career panel ...
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What students enjoyed about the Young Minds Career Panel …
What students enjoyed about the Role Models …
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Why our demographic focus We currently focus on girls between the ages of 13–16 years old.
Building my confidence and meeting some inspirational women.
In 2015, for students in Reception to Year 11, eligibility for free school meals was 28% of Black and Black Mixed Race students, 14% of White students, and 16% of Asian students. In 2015/16, the national average for the percentage of A level students at the end of 16 to 18 study achieving 3 A grades or better at A level was 13%. 3 A grades or better at A level was achieved by 24% of Chinese students, 11% of Mixed students, 11% of White students, 11% of Other ethnic group students, 10% of Asian students and 5% of Black students. Black Caribbean pupils were permanently excluded at 3 times the rate of White British pupils.
In 2015/16, 79.8% of postgraduate entrants were White, 9.4% were Asian, 6.1% were Black, 3.1% had Mixed ethnicity and 1.6% were from the other ethnic group. Black Caribbean students were most likely to have no sustained education or employment after finishing key stage 5 (usually 18 year olds) (11%), followed by Mixed White and Black Caribbean (11%) and Mixed White and Black African students (10%). In 2015/16, there were 564,700 undergraduate entrants for whom ethnicity was known at UK higher education institutions: 77.1% were White, 10.3% were Asian, 7.4% were Black, 3.8% were from a Mixed ethnic background and 1.4% were from the Other ethnic group.
For the broad ethnic groups, Black and Mixed pupils were the most likely to be permanently excluded and to have a fixed term exclusion
Even more recent data shows these trends continue and Black students continue to be left behind.
IMPACT REPORT 2019
Per The Education Policy Institute’s ‘key drivers of the disadvantage gap’ Literature Review (July 2018, Whitney Crenna-Jennings):
Disadvantaged pupils tend to have less access to a broad curriculum compared to their advantaged peers. ‘There is evidence that pupils in high-deprivation schools have fewer opportunities for out-ofclassroom education.’ Educational experiences outside of the classroom benefit attainment, and skills crucial to school performance, including motivation, behaviour and self-esteem - factors that have been linked to the gap. Schools that require parental contributions to fund these experiences restrict access to children from low-income families. Over the last two decades, ‘careers advice and work experience have been significantly reduced in schools‘, which means ‘disadvantaged pupils are currently less likely than their better-off peers to receive careers guidance’. Because of this ‘disadvantaged young people may lack social networks with the knowledge and contacts to replace guidance offered in school’.
The fact that I am going home more confident and not to give up on what you wanna do.
What I like most about the conference: ‘the fact that there was powerful and influential BLACK WOMEN that we could look to and aspire to be’.
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What we do ●● Help students develop confidence,
learn leadership and life skills.
The fact there was so many successful black women.
●● Enable students to explore and
unlock their full potential. ●● Inspire young girls to greater
achievement.
How we do It: accelerator programme ●● Annual
conference with a day that includes a series of quality interactive workshops covering critical leadership and life skills delivered by professionals. The event features two career panels of impressive women representing a wide spectrum of sectors.
●● Post the
conference over the course of the academic year, 6 additional customised development workshops designed to reinforce the key lessons from the conference and address areas for further development as identified at the conference.
●● Facilitate
corporate hosted career days.
●● Throughout the
programme we provide opportunities for the students to network with peers and interact with accomplished black women from various fields including finance, law, medicine, entrepreneurship, marketing, IT, and consulting.
Programme skills and topics include ●● Heath
and wellbeing: Positive Self Image, Health & Hygiene, Mental Health
●● Dining
and etiquette
●● Personal
brand on and offline
●● Networking ●● Financial ●● Public
literacy
speaking
●● Career development:
Interview skills, CV and cover letter writing, career fair
IMPACT REPORT 2019
Our impact
We started in with our first pilot conference in 2018:
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Our second annual conference in 2019: ●● Date: Friday 5th July 2019
●● Date: 6th July 2018
●● 100 students from year 9
●● 80 students from year 9
●● 40 role models
●● 30 role models
●● Topics covered: career start
●● Topics covered: public
speaking, dining & etiquette, personal brand online
(CV and cover letter writing), dining & etiquette, personal brand
2019-2020 academic year additional programming (4 additional sessions per school): ●● Oct 2019 Black History
Month workshops ●● Nov 2019 financial literacy
and finance career day at Barings ●● February 2020 self care
workshops ●● May 2020 career fairs
I loved having a think about my future and how its not embarrassing to chase your dreams.
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Percentage of students rating of very good/excellent after the respective events:
2019 events
84%
Annual conference 2019
Black History Month workshop 2019
99%
Financial literacy and finance career day 2019
97%
10%
20%
30%
40%
50%
60%
Rated very good/excellent
70%
80%
90%
100%
IMPACT REPORT 2019
What students say
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Being inspired and learning so many different things
Being able to know that being yourself is ok
Learning how to apply for jobs and write a good CV
Talking about stuff not really talked about
The workshops and learning important skills
We were able to talk about and plan our own CVs
You found out more about yourself
Learning how to present myself
Having a think about my future and how its not embarrassing to chase your dreams
Getting to learn how to build my confidence as a black young woman, striving to do my best
Gaining an understanding of how to behave in a formal situation
I learnt things that I never knew before
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Our commitment to have a greater impact In 2018 we delivered our pilot conference and established a solid network of phenomenal role models. For our 2019-2020 cohort of students we increased the numbers to 100 students and added after school sessions which covered 4 additional topics. For our 2020-2021 cohort of students we will increase the number of additional sessions to 6 per school and add another sponsor hosted career day with a focus on the tech sector. To increase engagement with role models, we are working with our current network to promote a greater range of skills and professional experience to inspire the girls.
The current profile of models include 22% from the financial services sector and we plan to expand the breadth of career journeys to include more from the creative and media industries. We are also working with our network to develop work experience and mentoring initiatives as well. We are committed to continuously improve the overall experience of the students, meet their needs with more one on one interfacing with the role models, give them more exposure to career opportunities, help foster a sense of community, and improve the learning of the skills on offer.
IMPACT REPORT 2019
Biography
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Michelle Levy
Adenike Adenitire
Michelle, with dual master’s degree ( MBA and MHSA), spent years in the corporate world and then as an angel investor. She always had a passion to support charities focused on young people, especially those who are disadvantaged.
Adenike Adenitire is a trained journalist, editor and media professional. From the onset, Adenike Adenitire brought her decade-plus experience and passion for working with young people.
For more information: Visit our website www.tomorrows-leaders.org Email: info@tomorrows-leaders.org Registered charity number 1184836
Designed by Joel Quartey Email: joel.quartey@yahoo.co.uk Tel: 07504 117234
