Youth Steering Group
Impact stories: Angel
Name: Angel
Age joined the Youth Steering Group: 16
Home Region: East Midlands
Angel joined the FEA Youth Steering Group in 2023, aged 16, and graduated in 2025. During her time as a member of the Youth Steering Group, Angel performed a powerful spoken word at our Fair Education Summit and represented the Youth Steering Group at the Conservative Party Conference.
“I feel like I can actually make a difference and have the opportunity to help other young people.”
Why did you join the Youth Steering Group (YSG)?
I was passionate about tackling inequality in the education system, but I wasn't quite sure how I was going to do that and what that really meant. I joined because I saw that the FEA were doing something amazing, an opportunity to be with other young people and see their perspective of the education system.
Some of their perspectives and experiences are quite similar to mine, even though we all live in different cities. But there are also those with different experiences, because they might have aspects of their identity which meant that they experienced education in a different way than I did. That was another reason why I joined – to gain more perspective on what the education system was for different demographics of people. I feel like I can actually make a difference and have the opportunity to help other young people.
How have you found being on the Youth Steering Group overall?
It's been a really good experience. We've had so many opportunities, and it’s been great to find a lot of confidence; I think my confidence has grown quite a bit.
I had the opportunity to perform my poem Brick by Brick at the FEA summit and that was an amazing opportunity – not only growing my confidence, speaking in a room in front of over 300 change-makers, but also giving me the opportunity to hear my own voice and echo out everything I experienced in the education system, impacting others with the things I've experienced and allowing them to be a beacon for all the other young people who've experienced similar things to me. I think that was really important.
It's nice to feel like your voice has been heard and also hear other people's, so it's been a really good experience. I've learned a lot about myself and other people it's motivated me to work harder. Not just work hard, but keep going with my activism because it is impactful! The amount of young people who've seen the work that I've done with the FEA Youth Steering Group and asked me more questions, or told me that they want to get into activism, has been powerful and made me more inspired to continue.
If you had to pick one thing that's been a highlight of your time on the youth steering group, what would it be?
It's really hard to pick one! I think my highlight was going to the Conservative Party Conference. It was really interesting – it's not somewhere I ever thought I would end up. Not so much because I don’t think that I'd go into politics, but because I didn't think I could see someone like myself at the Conservative Party Conference. Going and being a representative of the FEA was an amazing opportunity to listen to political views which may not align with my own. It was also good to just be in a place like that and feel like I'm representing young people, representing quite a large majority of people who would not be in that room.
It was amazing to see fellow Youth Steering Group members talk at a panel and chair one of the panels. It was great to see Ryan talk from his perspective of being in the education system, and see so many people in the room – it was completely full! I think that shows how the UK is developing in terms of listening to young people, so it was just really good to be a part of that.
What do you think has been the Youth Steering Group’s most impactful activity?
The Fair Education Youth Summit! I wasn't there on the day, unfortunately, because I was ill. But I was involved in all the planning that went into the summit, collaborating with Mission 44's Youth Advisory Board. It was especially amazing because there were already links between some of us who already knew each other, or we'd seen each other's activism. It was really great to meet up with them and create something as powerful as the Youth Summit. So many young people were impacted, and many young people had never gone into activism before but wanted to know how.
It was great that we were able to come together and plan the event so quickly. We all came from our different cities, and it was amazing that we were able to do it! Being able to take the initiative and have young leaders do that for other young people was a really powerful thing that we all did as a group.
What skills do you feel like you've developed during your time on the Youth Steering Group?
A skill I’ve really developed is listening. On the Youth Steering Group, we all have so many ideas, and we're all quite passionate because we've all lived through this experience of education from different angles and different perspectives. Working with, and being part of, the group has meant that I've been able to listen and hear what people have to say – not just waiting for my 10 minutes to talk, but genuinely listening to what people are saying. It just makes you more passionate when you're able to share someone's passion, even if you've not experienced something.
I’ve also developed confidence. As a young person in any political room or conference, you’re likely to be one of the youngest people there, and it might make you feel isolated or that you don't deserve to be there. Being part of the Youth Steering Group has taught me that no matter how young you are or how old you are, your voice matters. That is really important to remember and acknowledge. It’s something that I'm going to take with me when I go to university; even though I might not be the person who has the most academic qualifications in the room, or I might feel like I don't know a topic that well, I still have my voice and I still have my own thoughts, and that doesn't make them any less valid than other people's.
Our Youth Steering Group provides leadership on youth engagement across the Fair Education Alliance. Members are involved in the work across the Alliance, from collective action and policy influencing, to communications, events and support for our award winners.