Founders4Schools

Preparing young people for the future

“The journey from school to the world of work or higher education can be exciting as well as challenging,” says Soma, Kusuma Trust’s Executive Trustee. “It’s why we were delighted to partner with Founders4Schools to present young people with a range of information about the rapidly evolving work and education opportunities.”

In May 2021, we awarded £18,800 to Founders4Schools to fund an online ‘Careers Jam’ targeting 16 to 24 year olds across the UK. The audience included school and college students, graduates and young people looking for jobs, training opportunities or careers guidance.

  • Founders4Schools is an award-winning charity that connects educators with a network of inspirational business leaders, to improve the employment chances of young people.
  • 82% of students believe Founders4Schools events help them understand the pathway to a career.
  • Students who experience 4 or more encounters with employers are 86% less likely to become NEET (not in education, employment or training).

Industry insights and opportunities

With our support, Founders4Schools were able to host the event on a specialist digital platform for careers fairs. It meant participants could visit interactive booths and talk to leading employers, gain industry insights from an exciting agenda of panel discussions, and join employability skills workshops. Our grant also funded pre-event marketing to attract a diverse audience, and enabled 12 selected colleges and universities to exhibit for free, making sure the event showcased the widest range of further and higher education opportunities.

“We were delighted to play a part in the Careers Jam and hope that it has helped young people be inspired to find their dream careers and a fulfilling life ahead,” says Soma.

“I think it’s fair to say the pandemic is impacting the career prospects of many people. We felt it was really important to support young people right now…As part of what we’re doing, we launched a unique event called Futures4Students Careers Jam… It provided lots of ways to support young people to improve their career prospects in today’s world.”
ClaireValoti, Vice President of International Business at Snapchat and Trustee of Founders4Schools

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