Impact and achievements

Feedback from staff and IYPC members has consistently demonstrated that there is real joy in bringing young people into organisations’ work:

• "Working with the IYPC on the Involving Young People Fund work has been an absolute joy."
• “Working on the fund mentioned has been a highlight of my time at Esmée and that was as a direct result of IYPC and their attitude to, and expertise of the subject.”
• “Couldn't be more grateful to have had the chance to work alongside everyone on the IYPC! It has been a rewarding and eye opening process where I have been able to develop as a person and have hopefully contributed a small part to making Esmée more responsive to youth voice.”

There are significant, demonstrable benefits for organisations as identified by staff at Esmée. Both those who worked intensely with IYPC members, and those whose interactions were more fleeting, reported that they helped to:

• Challenge assumptions about applications, leading to different conversations with applicants and different funding decisions
• Broaden grant-giving, not only through bringing their expertise into the application assessment process, but also by developing the communications work around funding programmes and the strategic thinking which shapes Esmée’s grant-giving
• Improve implementation of accessibility commitments and policies, highlighting where processes aren’t matching the Foundation’s ambitions
• Change how the organisation operates, examining long-standing practices and working with staff to explore the scope for improvements which better serve Esmée’s mission and the communities it wants to work alongside.

Being involved in grant-making programmes can have a transformational impact on young people’s personal and professional development. In surveys of IYPC members, they have told HUDL that:

• “This has been a one of a kind experience.”
• “I feel like there have been so many highlights - I've been able to learn from and with a group of incredible young people who have challenged my ways of thinking and pushed me to grow.”
• “This journey has been extensive, and the processes and work have become an integral part of my identity… Without the collective, I would certainly not be the person I am today, and the work I engage in would be fundamentally different.”

• Through their time with the IYPC, young consultants have been able to gain knowledge, build networks and grow their confidence and self-esteem. They have substantially expanded their knowledge of philanthropy and several IYPC members have secured roles with funders after leaving the Collective - roles they didn’t know existed before joining the IYPC. Skills the consultants have reported developing include: presenting, designing, working with young people, report writing, grant assessment, managing projects, communication, facilitation, conflict resolution, organising and listening.
• Everyone needs as much time as the work can afford. For young people, more time creates more opportunities to learn and ask questions, so that they are then better informed and empowered to challenge: an important aspect of sharing power. For the Foundation, time allows the organisation to learn through iteration and to make adjustments following feedback. It also allows staff to develop their skills in working with young people. Finally, time is essential in building the relationships and trust which underpin effective co-production work and which allow all the stakeholders to truly collaborate.