Collective Strength

Impactful, connected member organisations are the foundation of our Alliance. We equip young people, staff and trustees to develop the leadership, connections and skills to collaborate and drive systems change.

Leadership Development for Systems Change

We provide a programme of training and peer support for people across our member organisations – from early-career professionals to CEOs and trustees. Together, we build a shared understanding of systems leadership and the skills needed to lead change.  Some sessions are tailored to specific roles; others bring together people from across organisations and sectors to learn and lead together.

Examples include: 

  • Systems leadership workshops and peer networks for members. 

  • CEO and trustee roundtables to explore shared challenges. 

  • Cross-sector leadership events linking education, business and youth voice. 

Member Training & Support

We support members to grow their impact through training, peer learning, data insights and one‑to‑one support. We focus on core topics such as policy influencing, youth engagement, fundraising, AI, evaluation and internal innovation. This is informed by insights from across the coalition, specialist partners and the Secretariat team, with our Ecosystem Map helping members prioritise where they can have the most impact. 

Training & Peer Learning 

  • Specialist workshops on fundraising, policy influencing and internal innovation. 

  • One-to-one support and data tools to help members identify gaps and opportunities.  

Working Groups

  • Youth Engagement

    Embedding meaningful youth voice across organisations.

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  • AI in Education

    Exploring opportunities and risks of emerging technologies.

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  • Evaluation & Innovation

    Strengthening evidence, measurement and learning.

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  • Policy Insights Group

    This group brings together FEA members to coordinate joint advocacy efforts aiming to improve education policies for children and young people from low-income households.  

    There are two types of sessions throughout the year: 

    1. Insights sessions 

    These sessions focus on key education policy topics, featuring expert insights and group discussions. They are responsive to the political climate and may not always be planned far in advance. Activities include: 

    - Contributing to FEA’s annual Report Card. 

    - Collaborating on policy consultations (e.g. Curriculum and Assessment Review). 

    - Sharing updates on policy work across member organisations and coalitions. 

    - Space for discussion and debate! 

    2. Learning sessions

    Once a quarter, the session will be designed to upskill you and your team in policy influencing. They provide deep dives into key advocacy skills and knowledge areas to enhance advocacy, influencing and collaboration skills. 

    The group will meet monthly on the fourth Tuesday of the month from 2-3pm and is open to staff in FEA member organisations in a role related to influencing national or regional government policy. 

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Skills and Opportunities for Young People

We support young people with lived experience of educational barriers to build the skills, networks and confidence to drive systems change and co‑lead the Fair Education Alliance. Through national and regional Fair Education Youth Summits, led by our Youth Steering Group, hundreds of young people gather to influence policy and strengthen their skills for social action. 

Fair Education Youth Summit

Last year, our Youth Steering Group and the Mission 44 Youth Advisory Board hosted our biggest-ever Fair Education Youth Summit, designed and led by young people, for young people. The Youth Summit brought together 166 young people from across the education sector, with the aim to ensure that young changemakers are better connected, have the skills to lead the change they want to see and want to see and can directly influence decision makers. What was the result?! Connection, inspiration and commitment! 

 Youth Steering Group

We are delighted to have twenty-five fantastic and passionate young people in the Fair Education Alliance Youth Steering Group, aged between 14-24, with diverse perspectives and lived experiences of the English education system and great ideas for how to make it fairer. These young people are key in shaping our strategy and holding decision-makers to account.