30th January 2025 Celebrating our impact

Our CEO, Jenni Anderson, thanked guests at our annual reception last night at the House of Lords, hosted by The Rt Hon. the Lord Newby OBE.

Watch our new showreel premiered on the evening and Jenni's speech is available to read in full below.

Sparking ambition

Together, we’ve spent the past year helping young people to discover what they are amazing at, and working in partnership with industry to build their confidence and skills for school and work.

Our vision is to spark ambition and unlock opportunities so every young person can succeed and thrive as part of a fairer society.

What makes our vision so powerful is that it’s shared by every single one of you in this room. Your unwavering support has been instrumental in making progress toward that vision, and tonight, we celebrate all that we’ve achieved together.

16 years of impact

Over the past 16 years, we’ve learned that the key to unlocking progress in social mobility lies in shared purpose and partnership.

To have a different life outcome to that of your parents is influenced by so many factors.

Access to quality education, job opportunities, and strong support networks all make the difference and is where we play a role.

And as we hear from young people, this is on top of how they are actually feeling about their futures.

We know their confidence in having the right employability skills is reducing. And access to meaningful encounters with employers and industry is declining, particularly since the pandemic.

That’s why our approach is collaborative. Working with schools, businesses, and local communities to address local needs and build self-belief to dismantle the barriers that hold young people back.

And we’re seeing the difference this makes.

Our achievements

Together, we’ve reached 64,988 young people across 32 programmes, working with 21 businesses and organisations and supporting schools in over 140 local authorities in England, Scotland, and Wales.

While our roots are in London, 88% of the students we now work with attend schools outside the capital, ensuring our impact reaches young people where it’s needed most.

These aren’t just numbers - they represent real lives.

For example, we have expanded our place-based programmes, supporting more students in Blackpool, Rochdale, and Middlesbrough.

We've helped students through initiatives like Barclays LifeSkills to re-engage with their education and through and Skills for Life with M&G, rediscover their confidence.

Our work is also creating transformational moments.

For example, one student, who had attended an Opening Doors to Opportunities workshop at KPMG, told us that he had affixed the KPMG security card that he had been given to his school lanyard, so that every day he could be reminded that working there was now a possibility for him.

Through our Inspire US programme, 17 students joined the final few days of the US Presidential Election in Washington to immerse themselves in the campaign and cultural differences of an election overseas. A huge thank you to Amy our founder, for making the trip possible, and to our US supporter, Andy Bookless and A2P who created some of the magical campaigning moments on the trail.

Thank you volunteers

I know there will be many of you who have volunteered at one of our workshops.

You will know more than most the impact of the conversations you have had.

For the past six years, volunteers within our Track to the Future programmes with Network Rail and train operators have helped young people see an exciting career pathway that they didn’t realise could be for them.

A volunteer at one of these sessions, shared their career journey with students and highlighted that they had been in care up to the age of 16. They spoke about how their background didn’t define their future, and how opportunities in rail helped them build a successful career.

This honest and heartfelt connection gave students renewed confidence that they don’t have to limit their potential because of their background.

The next 10 years

Looking ahead, the next 10 years are an opportunity to build on this momentum.

We’ve already welcomed some new partners such as Publicis Pro, Severn Trent and A&O Shearman.

This year there are even more opportunities to be involved. To help even more young people we are finding new ways to engage supporters and raise funds for our programmes.

From our cycle challenges from Prague to Munich with our friends from the construction industry, a new London2Brighton event with Morgan Sindall, a trek to Everest Base Camp with Dell Technologies AND a chance to run for us in the London Marathon.

And we’ll continue to expand our partnerships into areas of the country that continue to be overlooked, ensuring that every young person has the chance to succeed, no matter their circumstances or where they live.

To our partners who have recently joined us, I hope you’re already seeing the tremendous impact of your involvement.

And to those who have been with us on this journey so far, thank you for placing your confidence in us to meet the evolving needs of young people and your industries.

None of this would be possible without the commitment of educators, businesses, volunteers, and supporters like you.

I also want to say thank you to our ambitious, inquisitive, small, but mighty Talent Foundry team. All of the achievements I’ve mentioned is because of their passion and commitment to social mobility.

Thank you team TTF.

As we look to the next decade, let’s carry forward the spirit of collaboration. The young people we work with have incredible potential, and together, we can help them realise it.