Melanie Da Silva Pinto from Esmée’s Involving Young People Collective reflects on her time as a young consultant, what she’s learned and how the experience has shaped her thinking and her hopes for the sector. Mel also shares advice for young people joining the Collective.
From Birch to Treehouse, my three years in the Involving Young People Collective (IYPC) is coming to an end - they do say time flies when you’re having fun.
I’ve just returned home from my last retreat with the Collective, and as always, it was an incredibly joyous time. We spoke on our values, the Youth-Led Creativity fund 2.0 (keep your eyes peeled for this one ;), public speaking and our personal trials. Time spent with the Collective always invigorates me, it sends me back home feeling fresh for the week ahead, and even though we’re working, it always feels fun.
Grant-making and importance of being led by your values
My knowledge on grant making, before joining the Collective, was very limited. As a kid from a working class background, born to immigrants, I knew the power that money had in bettering lives and honestly, it terrified me. I had spent my childhood on a variety of youth programmes, feeling the impact of funding, but never understanding the process from the other side. I applied to be a part of the IYPC to lean into that fear and bring my lived experience into a completely new space.
After three years, I can definitely say that my knowledge on funding has dramatically expanded. Being a cog in this Collective opened up spaces for me that I never imagined I’d have access to; it also provided me with experiences and relationships that I cherish deeply.
On the outside looking in, it may seem that this work is solely about giving young people the opportunity to shape how Esmée Fairbairn Foundation processes their grants, and yes, that’s how it began. However, in the 6 years of the IYPC’s work with Esmée, we’ve created the space to question why things are done the way they are and who it benefits; these questions have rippled across the funding sector and hopefully many other sectors to come (big wishful thinking). Nothing happens in isolation; challenges and changes in the ‘professional world’ will always bleed into our personal world, and the work we do is extremely personal. Whether we’re sitting at our laptops or in front of a stack of papers, in an office or on a beach, the work we do has the possibility to change the trajectory of a person's life. This is something I’ve felt firsthand; the programmes I had access to growing up impacted my belief system, and I'm not the only one. Funders like Esmée create opportunities for communities and collectives to grow, thrive and pass on their practices for generations to come - this work is crucial to building a liberated world.
Working on grant assessments with Esmée colleagues showed me the importance of holding our values close to us as we work, that diving deep into processes and impact is crucial, and that asking questions is not rude nor is it intrusive, but necessary when unpacking work that aims to build a more just world. The biggest lesson I've learned, through working on countless grant assessments and funds, is that organisations would achieve a greater impact if they worked together and pooled their money. We have many organisations doing similar work to one another, but working isolated within their communities - we must collectivise at every point, if we aim to build a loving world that includes all.
Prioritising care and joy
My stance within the Collective has been to promote care and joy in every aspect of our work - I believe, scratch that, I know that when we dedicate ourselves to making our work fun and warm, better results come from it. Yet, it’s not always about results, it’s also about how the work feels at every point. It’s not an easy task to make any professional sector warm, fun and aware of their holistic impact, and that’s exactly why it’s important to open up access to the wider community. How do you understand your impact if you don’t ask the people experiencing it?
Creating space to learn, listening actively, owning our lack and working to bridge any gap is key to this sector. When we work in isolation from our collective, we are able to escape accountability; however, when our work is open to others, we create the space for reflection practices and action. This is crucial to the work we do, and there’s no need to rush it. Capitalism promotes quick decisions, always pressuring the next big step; however, a just world won’t be built if we ignore the cracks and jump over the gaps. Including everyone takes time, and that time allows for connection, silence and growth.
I’m incredibly thankful to Esmée for recognising the need in the sector for young people's voices, but more widely, the need to open space and accessibility for voices often ignored or overlooked. Having the opportunity to connect with people who I'd usually not have access to has opened my eyes to new ways of thinking and creating; I’ve enjoyed all of our conversations and I appreciate the willingness you carry in every conversation. I’m especially grateful to HUDL colleagues for their dedication to this work and the people they work with; without you, this work would feel incredibly harder.
Although my 3 years are coming to an end, nothing that matters ever really ends; it just transforms into something new. I am transforming, and the IYPC impacted that journey in the best way. Young people know more than they’re given credit for, and if they don’t know it, give them a chance to learn. HUDL has facilitated intergenerational spaces beautifully, and that’s the recipe for a better future, one that listens to the needs of different people and works to bridge the gap.
What does it mean to lead and be part of a community
Everyone has a role in building a liberated world: leaders are necessary, and not always at the front, they're also the people who make sure everyone is following along, they’re the ones who hold people together, the carers, the healers, the teachers, the builders, the listeners. It is everyone's responsibility to know their role and do what they can to build a just world. Although it may seem daunting at times, change really is quite simple: we just need to talk to each other, listen compassionately and then act accordingly.
The IYPC has done a great job of carrying hope in every conversation, joy in all interactions and food for thought wherever we can. I value that above all. To all new IYPC members, it takes a little time to adjust to this way of working, but give it time, and you’ll find that you'll struggle to adjust to anything other than this. You don't have to do it all, you just have to be yourself - there’s always space.
