Youth Steering Group
Impact stories: Elijah
Name: Elijah
Age joined the Youth Steering Group: 19
Home Region: West Midlands
Elijah joined the FEA Youth Steering Group in 2022, aged 19, and graduated in 2025. During his time as a member of the Youth Steering Group, Elijah has attended the Conservative Party Conference and been a judge for the FEA Innovation Awards, as well as speaking at the Fair Education Summit in 2024.
Why did you join the Youth Steering Group (YSG)?
I'm really passionate about youth voice, and I think education is an area where there's not as much youth voice as there should be. I was interested in the opportunity to engage with policymakers around education. Before joining the YSG, I was involved in other youth voice groups surrounding employment, but that's not where my main passion is.
I also knew people on LinkedIn who were on the YSG already, and I noticed that, especially when it came to topics like exclusion, there weren't that many young people with lived experience of exclusion discussing this with policymakers. So I thought that was a gap I could fill. I also liked the work the FEA does bringing together other third-sector organisations.
Elijah speaking alongside fellow YSG member, Becky, at the Fair Education Summit 2024.
How have you found being on the Youth Steering Group overall?
I think the youth steering group is my favourite youth board that I've been on because the FEA genuinely want to listen to us rather than just ticking a box by having us present. I've been on other youth boards where youth voice, even though it's in the mission, it's not something that all of the team internalise; it's just something they feel like they have to do. Whereas at the FEA, that's not the case. It does feel like it's genuinely a really important thing to the FEA.
The FEA has provided really good opportunities to engage with policymakers, which I found interesting. The other people on the Youth Steering Group have been great too. I've met so many people that I wouldn't have otherwise had the opportunity to meet and discuss different issues with, which has been amazing.
If you had to pick one thing that's been a highlight of your time on the youth steering group, what would it be?
The events we got involved with around the universal free school meals campaign were really good because there were lots of really interesting opportunities to meet policymakers. I enjoyed the universal free school meals conference I went to in London with the National Education Union (NEU) - that was great, and I had some interesting discussions. The organisers engaged with us, which made it feel like we had a real impact.
I think that in general, people seeing the work that the Youth Steering Group does has made lots of people more interested in youth voice. For example, when Ofsted did the consultation, the Ofsted AP team - it was really interesting because it became clear that they had never actually thought before about engaging with young people.
What do you think has been the Youth Steering Group’s most impactful activity?
I think being present at a lot of events around education has been impactful because when I first started my role, people didn’t know about the work that the youth steering group does, and that has changed. Recently, when I’ve attended events and introduced myself as being from the FEA youth steering group, people know who we are and what we do. In that way, I think we’ve had a real impact on youth voice as a whole because more people are coming around to the idea that young people should be present in these spaces. Events like the universal free school meals conference and discussions with policymakers have reinforced that.
What skills do you feel like you've developed during your time on the Youth Steering Group?
Public speaking skills have been the biggest area of development for me because it was something I wanted to improve, but felt quite nervous about. I've had lots of opportunities to ease myself into public speaking and writing speeches, which has helped. If you had told me three years ago that I would sit on a panel at the Conservative Party Conference, I wouldn’t have believed you - but I did it, and I felt well supported in preparing for it. That’s been a huge milestone.
Beyond that, I think I’ve also developed my leadership skills. At times, I used to feel nervous about taking on a leading role and knowing when to step back and give others an opportunity. But the youth steering group has given me a great space to practise that balance. It’s really scary at times, but it’s also nice to know that you’re in a room full of supportive people. For example, when I did the Innovation Awards, I was really nervous. But when I spoke to people before going up on stage, I realised it was a room full of people who were all passionate about education. No one was there to judge me. Some people told me they wouldn’t have been able to get up on stage themselves, and these were people who had been working in education or the charity sector for 30 years. So that reassured me.
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.