Action for Race Equality hosted its inaugural Youth Employment Conference on Thursday, February 22, 2024. At the heart of this discussion were the young people themselves, including Ambassadors from our ten-year long Moving on Up programme and members of the Youth Action Network who are shaping our Building Ethnic Diversity in the Youth Employability Sector programme.
With the recent release of Youth Futures Foundation’s new report on prejudice or discrimination faced by ethnic minority young people in the workplace, ARE believes it’s vital that young people speak up on the issues that matter to them.
Read their reflections on the messages they took away from the ARE conference, and what’s most important when it comes to tackling employment inequalities.
During the conference, I also helped co-facilitate a workshop which asked attendees whether more activities within schools/further education/higher education institutions were needed to connect young people from ethnic minority backgrounds to employers. It was inspiring to see how participants immediately offered advice to help individuals they had just met, due to a shared sense of purpose in reducing social inequalities. This conference proved a welcome reminder that a real, collaborative drive to improve our society does exist, and that visions for a better future for young Black, Asian and mixed heritage people are indeed possible.
Sahil Sandhu
Youth Action NetworkDuring the conference, I gave a short speech on disability and intersectionality, something which I’d never done before. Sometimes, saying the word ‘disability’ can feel like a dirty word, but being able to claim that word in front of a huge audience was extremely empowering. It encouraged me to speak more freely about my experiences as a young person with an invisible disability, and a woman of colour. I likewise enjoyed Sandra Kerr’s speech, particularly on the BITC’s Race at Work Charter because she drew attention to how measures are being taken to make companies and organisations accountable to addressing discrimination in the workplace if they are signatories to this charter, and indirectly influence other companies to follow suit.
Ishitha Islam
Youth Action NetworkMohammed Jalloh
Moving on Up AmbassadorI felt that each moment during the conference ignited something in us, and through it all was reminded there are people out there committed to improving employment outcomes for young people like me.
Lynn El-Masri
Youth Action NetworkAs young people, it can be scary seeing certain statistics of other people’s experiences, however seeing what’s being done ‘behind the scenes’ and having a seat at the table really stayed with us. As young people, there is a tendency that when