Beyond the Bias

🎉 Beyond the Bias is officially The G15 Community Awards 2025 WINNER! 🎉 We are incredibly proud to have won under the category ‘Community Group Delivering Projects Supporting Youth Work’ – an award that recognises the groundbreaking work of our incredible founding Youth Board. Yes, the first-ever and now award-winning youth board, who didn’t just talk about change, they investigated, designed, and delivered four powerful mental health social action projects tackling sustainability, period poverty, creative arts, and sports. 📌 Impact in numbers: 🔹 10 founding youth board members 🔹 40+ hours of research 🔹 200+ hours of project delivery 🔹 500+ individuals in our community supported 🔹 OCNL-accredited recognition for their leadership and impact This achievement wouldn’t have been possible without: 💜 Our funders at SNG (Sovereign Network Group) for believing in youth-led change. 💜 Our incredible facilitator, Sreeja, who championed, guided, and inspired our young people to step into leadership. 💜 Most importantly, our phenomenal young people, who turned vision into reality and proved that youth leadership isn’t just possible, it’s powerful. Swipe through to see: 📸 Some of our young people at our internal awards celebration 📸 Sreeja at the official G15 awards ceremony 📸 Our founder Maryam with the award This is just the beginning! 🚀 Thank you to Lucy, Ellie and Eden-Marie from SNG. #BeyondTheBias #G15CommunityAwards #YouthLeadership #SocialImpact #MentalHealth #YouthEmpowerment

Congratulations to SNG nominees Beyond the Bias and Well Grounded for their wins at the inaugural The G15 Community Impact Awards last week! They won in the ‘Community Group Delivering Projects Supporting Youth Work’ and ‘Community Group Delivering Projects Supporting Cost of Living, and Employment and Skills’ categories respectively. It was a fantastic evening hosted by SNG’s own Matthew Buckham, Managing Director of our Community Foundation. The evening was about celebrating the winners that make the social impact that housing associations have through our passion, drive and time commitment in our local communities. Well done to all the worthy winners!! Read more about the awards and download the latest G15 Community Impact Report at 👉  https://lnkd.in/e82TiQD2    #ukhousing #socialmpact 

🌟 Exciting News! 🌟 We at Beyond the Bias are absolutely honoured to have been nominated for TWO London Sport Awards! 🎉🏆 🏅 Supporting Young Londoners Award – recognising the work we do to empower and uplift young people across the capital. 🙌 Volunteer of the Year Award – celebrating the dedication and impact of our incredible director Maryam. This recognition means the world to us, and we’re so grateful for everyone who has supported our journey so far! 💙 A huge shoutout to all the amazing organisations and individuals making a difference in London’s sports community. We can't wait for the awards night! ✨ #SportsLDNAwards #BeyondTheBias #SupportingYoungLondoners #Volunteering #Honoured #Grateful 🎊

We are proud and humbled to share that over the past 2 and a half years, we have reached a significant milestone providing 25,000 meals to our community. This achievement would not have been possible without the incredible support and partnership of Kitchen Social, whose dedication to tackling food insecurity has been instrumental in aiding our journey. 💛 @Kitchen Social, an inspiring initiative by the The Mayor's Fund for London, works tirelessly to ensure children and families across London have access to healthy, nutritious meals and the opportunities they deserve. Their support has empowered us to reach families in need, create meaningful connections, and foster hope within our community. 🎄🍴We were deeply honoured to be invited to their Christmas Dinner at Nourish Hub, where we experienced the warmth and generosity that Kitchen Social embodies. The thoughtful gifts and the opportunity to reflect on the shared impact of our work made the evening truly special. As we celebrate this milestone, we recognise that it is a reflection of the collective effort to provide meaningful support to families in need. However, we are acutely aware that our work is far from over. Food insecurity continues to affect countless families, and the demand for support is growing. This milestone has strengthened our resolve to go even further—to expand our reach, improve our services, and continue building partnerships that allow us to make a lasting difference. ✨ Together, with the continued support of partners like Kitchen Social, we look forward to achieving even greater milestones, ensuring that no family has to face food insecurity alone. Thank you John and Rachael for all your support.

The Creative Talent Programme 2024 🎨 Over the last three months, Beyond the Bias has been proud to guide and empower 10 incredible young creatives through our Creative Talent Programme. It’s been a journey of growth, skill-building, and inspiration designed to help them step confidently into the creative industry. Facilitated by Anjelica, we delivered tailored sessions, focusing on skills such as: - Personal branding and digital marketing. - Storytelling and multidisciplinary collaboration. - Networking, CV writing, and interview techniques. We were privileged to host guest speakers who brought invaluable industry insights to the programme: 🎶 Peter from Believe, shared his vibrant journey into the music industry. 🖥️ Nepor from Lockton, captivated our participants with a talk on how to build an authentic personal brand. 📽️ Luca, a multidisciplinarian, provided a unique and honest perspective on filmmaking and creative direction. 🎲 Raj and Shaye, shared their entrepreneurial story and the creation of a best-selling board game. 💡 What’s Next? This isn’t the end; it’s just the beginning. Beyond the Bias will continue supporting our participants with: - 1:1 virtual mentoring sessions. - Work experience opportunities to build portfolios. - Access to a bursary to boost their qualifications and tools. We are so proud of what our young people have achieved, from designing album covers and pitching creative ideas to refining their career roadmaps. They leave the programme equipped not just with skills, but with the confidence to build their futures in the creative world. This programme wouldn’t have been possible without the support of our funders (Canary Wharf Group) and the dedication of our guest speakers. Thank you to Melanie from CWG, Lauren and Allan from East End Community Foundation for coming and seeing our programme! #CreativeTalent #YouthEmpowerment #CreativeIndustries #BeyondTheBias #FutureOfWork

I’m excited to share my experiences and growth over the past few months! It all started with the Beyond the Bias programme, sponsored by JP Morgan and London Youth, which gave me the tools and confidence to start building my professional career. Through their workshops, I improved my Excel skills, worked on CV building, and practiced for interviews. These skills were so helpful when I began applying for internships this year. The programme also introduced me to new career possibilities through insight events at companies like NatWest, Klaviyo, and Framestore, where I got a closer look at how technology is used in areas like fintech, adtech and VFX. On top of that, I began the IBM Data Science course on Coursera, where I’ve been learning data visualization and Python skills that I’m excited to keep improving. With this foundation, I was able to secure a data analyst internship with Leaders in Community over the summer. It was such an enriching experience: I learned to use Flourish to create data visualizations, presenting insights to funders with my team. I also managed a grant-tracking system in Excel and worked with the CEO on funding strategies. One of the highlights was leading three workshops for young people, including one on AI, which really deepened my interest in how technology can drive positive social change. I’m so grateful to both Maryam Chowdhury and Anjelica Minas from BTB and Job Kabamba from Leaders in Community for their support and for giving me opportunities to grow, learn, and make a difference. I’m excited to see where this journey takes me next!

COMING SOON TO A COMMUNITY CENTRE NEAR YOU… Part One: A highlight of my role as Canary Wharf Group’s Community Engagement Manager is getting out and about visiting the charities and community projects supported via our Community Grant Programme at their community centres or hubs getting to see first hand how our funding impacts the beneficiaries and service users. I was fortunate to visit two such Projects both doing incredible work, before wrapping up for the Festive break. The first being Beyond the Bias a social mobility organisation tackling the lack of opportunities open to young people from ethnic minority backgrounds and those within lower-income households. I was thrilled to join my colleagues from EECF’s Grants Team Allan Anderson and Lauren Rosenfeld for this interactive session, with motivational key speakers & Dragons Den entrepreneurs hosted at the funky kitch space on IODs & delighted to accept an invitation from the projects Founder Maryam Chowdhury, who alongside BTB’s facilitator were so inspiring; full of energy and passion for the work they do in mentoring young people. We got to meet the participants of their side hustle/creative skills project we funded via our Skills & Employment strand, a 40-week programme focused on skill development and employment in the creative industry, targeted for 10 local young people aged 18-25. Rewarding hearing of their improved self-confidence and skillsets and we learned of the exciting varied creative careers they were interested in; everything from Journalism, Film, Art to Gospel music DJ (disk jockey) for those golden oldies reading this ;-) Looking forward to hearing the outcomes & hopefully successes once the projects fully delivered. The ESG team and I are very much looking forward to arranging visits and catchups with as many of our supported charities & community groups as possible in 2025; also watch this space as we hope to announce the reopening of our Community Grant Programme mid-January, once again with the support of EECF. https://lnkd.in/e-tCStvP

Thank you Anjelica Minas and Maryam Chowdhury for one of the most rewarding experiences I have had to date! The people I’ve met and the insight I’ve gained through the Digital Talent Programme by Beyond the Bias has really helped me find my place and has given me the kind of skills & perspective that I didn't know I needed.

We invited Councillor Mufeedah Bustin from London Borough of Tower Hamlets to Island Point to show her how we’re listening to our residents. During the visit, she saw first-hand how we’re acting on feedback. From increasing staff presence to providing resources for young people and partnering with Beyond the Bias 🚀 We’re committed to building a safer, more inclusive community. When residents speak, we act. #Community #EastLondon #London #LocalCouncil #TowerHamlets #CouncillorVisit #E14 #Poplar #CommunityMatters #OnlyInTowerHamlets #E14 #Poplar

Our Employability Networks bring together employers, training providers and youth organisations to engage in insightful discussions, workshops and networking to enhance collaboration and boost employability outcomes for young people. Yesterday's network focused on 'Preparing for a #GenZ Workforce'.   One of our member youth organisations, Beyond the Bias kicked off the day by sharing what they do best as a youth organisation to support Gen Z, including insights into evolving job market trends, in-demand workforce skills and the importance of collaboration among stakeholders.   Our Q&A panel discussion with Temisan Williams from London Borough of Waltham Forest, Kate Banson and Aisling Lavagna Hart from our corporate partner, Howden and Ade Otunbowale from Speakers for Schools focused on how they support young people's transition to employment and recruitment processes.   Overbury, London & Partners, Grow London Local, Generation UK & Ireland and Ada, the National College for Digital Skills each gave a brief presentation highlighting their programmes, apprenticeships and services and their impact.   We ended the day with our Policy and Public Affairs Manager, Clare MacNamara giving an overview of the current policies and developments around youth employment.   A huge thank you to our members and speakers and to all attendees for joining us! #employability #network #youthemployment