News
Introducing our strategy for 2025-2028
Jul 22, 25
Working towards a society where every young person can achieve good work.
Founded in 2019, Youth Futures Foundation exists to address systemic employment inequalities affecting marginalised young people across England.
Over the past six years, we’ve grown from a start-up into an established evidence centre, investing in cutting-edge research to uncover what truly works, funding innovative place-based solutions to break down entrenched barriers, and equipping partners with tools and resources to transform systems and improve employment outcomes for young people.
While progress has been made, there is more to be done to meet the persistent national challenge. Nearly one million young people are currently not in education, employment or training (NEET) – a crisis that continues to hit those from marginalised backgrounds the hardest.
As England’s What Works Centre for youth employment, Youth Futures Foundation is now stepping forward with renewed vision and determination.
Our Strategy for 2025–2028 sets out a bold and focused roadmap for the next four years – anchored in evidence, driven by ambition – to dismantle barriers, shape policy and practice, and secure meaningful futures for all young people.
The revised vision and mission of Youth Futures now resonate more strongly with our hopes and ambitions as young people. It is bold, action-oriented, and laser-focused on Youth Futures’ role in identifying ‘what works’ to shape policy and practices that enable young people to secure and thrive in good work.”
Yi Kang Choo - Youth Voice Ambassadors Alumni Group
We have set two ambitious North Star goals:
- For England to have the lowest NEET rate in the OECD by 2050.
- To remove the gaps in NEET outcomes for specific groups of marginalised young people.
If we can achieve both of these things, a young person born today will experience a different reality when they reach working age. And we can boost the UK’s economy by £69 billion. These goals are more than numbers; they represent a commitment to fairness, inclusion, and opportunity for all young people, ensuring no one is left behind. This is not something we can realise on our own.
Our 2025-2028 strategy is a call to action for policymakers, employers, and funders to join us in creating a future where all young people can thrive, contributing to a more inclusive, prosperous society.
We will work with these key audiences to ensure that evidence drives solutions. And we will continue to centre youth voice in our work, ensuring that the young people most affected by the system are at the heart of efforts to change it.
Core to our approach is collaboration and working in partnership. As an organisation seeking change within the system that marginalised young people navigate, we will continue to align high-quality evidence with real-world experiences and practical application, operating with and connecting evidence producers and decision-makers. Most importantly, we will continue to listen to and involve young people, putting their voices and experiences at the heart of what we do.
Seyi Obakin OBE - Chair of Youth Futures Foundation's Board
