Kim Emenike is the Senior Programme Manager at the Department for Education, but you would never guess that she grew up in care. She advocates for care-experienced individuals just like the ones we support in YPSA. She is an advocate for the Care Experienced Community and is a youth voice contractor for the Participation People. She has recently written her first book, The Insider’s Guide to Foster Care: What Care Leavers Need You to Know. Kim works tirelessly to make sure care-experienced voices don’t go unheard. She believes that the system is “broken” and she is determined to do her part to fix it!

Shane Grant is Lewisham’s Young Mayor for 25/26. His manifesto centres on three main areas: Enterprise and jobs for young people, faith and community cohesion, and parks and improved public spaces. Shane’s deputy is Jimaine Lee. These 14-year-old black boys have a weekly meeting with youth advisors who help shape policy, allocate budget, and run youth-led projects. They have worked to reopen youth clubs that have been shut down and create more spaces for young people. We could all learn something from this incredible example. 

We had the pleasure of meeting Louise Lyons-Appiah during our Youth in Mind Conference in 2024. Alongside other young people from the Young Changemakers partnership, she interviewed our keynote speaker, Kay Rufai. Now, she is the co-founder of Synkora Consulting, a youth-led Equity, Diversity, and Inclusion (EDI) consultancy. Louise has continued to make waves within the EDI space with her impeccable public speaking and her nuanced approach.

Cach Mercer won the 2025 Love Island with Toni Laites. Instead of going down the traditional route of former Love Island stars, he became the newest ambassador for Young Minds UK. At the start of October, the dancer and influencer launched a campaign featuring Black and Asian boys about why it is important to speak about their emotions. Mental health is a stigmatised topic, and this becomes heightened in racialised communities, especially within the black community. During the Love Island series, Cach was praised by many for his vulnerability, emotional intelligence, and reflectiveness, which are often traits that we don’t get to see young black men portraying on reality TV.

Munya Chawawa is known for being a satirist, comedian, filmmaker, and social media star, but did you know that in October, he started the Black Boys Theatre Club? This community-led initiative aims to open up the world of theatre to a new generation of young Black boys, inspired by Chawawa’s own experience of discovering the medium, but rarely seeing himself represented on stage. BBTC will collaborate with several schools in the London area, with support from such organisations as Nando’s, National Theatre, Regent’s Park Open Air Theatre, and Bush Theatre, to combine theatre trips with Chawawa with behind-the-scenes access to the industry for 15 and 16-year-olds. These experiences will finish with a debrief at Nando’s, where the boys can discuss the play and its themes with Chawawa.

Cat Burns is a singer, songwriter, and queer icon. Her music isn’t only filled with beautiful melodies, but it continues to uplift and talk openly about the struggles and joys of queer relationships and her experiences of blackness. She is very open on TikTok about her neurodivergence and has become a beacon of hope for many black girls who are statistically diagnosed in their adulthood. You can also currently see her on BBC One’s Celebrity Traitors.

Faustine Petron, along with the rest of the Make It Mandatory team, held an event in parliament with Amnesty Feminists. The team of four also consists of Ithar Ghalifa and Darius Smith. Earlier in October, they brought together industry professionals such as the End Violence Against Women Coalition, NAMSS, and Everyone’s invited into one space to hear powerful testimony as to why they want RSE to be extended to 18. This grassroots campaign started right here in Oxfordshire, and we are so proud to see how far this campaign has reached.

This is just a small snapshot into a few incredible black people in our country and county who are doing great things to support the futures of young people and to stand firm in pride and power. Black history is a part of the tapestry that makes up the country we all get to live in right now.

Who is a Black person today that inspires you?

After working in a secondary school in Oxfordshire, Debs (The Founder of Know Your Worth) began to notice the impact of low self-esteem on our teenage girls, and how many girls were struggling and struggling with low motivation, self-consciousness and a lack of confidence. 

Some girls were slow to raise their hand in a lesson or volunteer answers for fear of being wrong or looking around them to check they were fitting in. Panic attacks, anxiety and low mood were among other symptoms of low self-esteem. For some it impacted their education, but more importantly, their sense of self-worth and true belonging.

This became the catalyst for Debs starting Know Your Worth. They wanted to help teenage girls build self-esteem and make good decisions. Earlier this year, we conducted some interviews with them about their work and this is what they had to say:

We are so proud to have Know Your Worth as one of our brilliant Changemakers. They have been running their incredible 8-week courses in schools and youth groups across Oxfordshire and Berkshire since 2022. 

All participants will receive a certificate upon completion of the course.

Today is the 12th day of the 16 days of activism against gender-based violence. Even though Know Your Worth doesn’t directly support the space against gender-based violence, we know that girls are at particular risk of violence. The empowerment of young women to understand consent and how to be treated properly, set clear boundaries and boost their self-esteem away from the male gaze is such an important part of the Know Your Worth programme. Emilie, the course facilitator, explained to us how men and boys can support women and girls to be empowered.

We all have a part to play in building a world for women, girls, and all marginalised identities to feel safe, empowered, uplifted, and protected. As Emilie said, it isn’t just about blaming men (they also exist under patriarchal systems), but working together to unlearn harmful practices, learning ways of uniting together and finding solutions that bring about gender equity.

If you are searching for a way to uplift the young women around you, you need to speak to Debs and her amazing team. Enquire today about getting Know Your Worth into your School or Youth Club.