Introducing The Insight to Impact Collective

Today, we're launching The Insight to Impact Collective, a national organisation based in the Tees Valley, working to put young people aged 13 to 19 at the centre of the decisions that shape their lives.

We bring research, policy, and practice together in one place, building a connected understanding of young people's lives. That means looking at education, employment, community, and opportunity as one whole, not separate pieces.

Our research helps us understand what matters most to young people, through robust methods, co-design, and evaluation. That evidence shapes recommendations that reach public policy and investment decisions, putting young people's experience directly in front of the people with the power to act on it. And in practice, we help that evidence become something real, changes to the services, programmes, and decisions that shape young people's day-to-day lives.

‍None of this exists in isolation from why we started it. As our Founder and CEO, Rylie Sweeney, puts it:

‍"Young people don't experience their lives in silos, education, employment, community, and opportunity are all connected. And none of it stands still. What's true for a young person today may not be true in six months.

The Insight to Impact Collective exists to build a better understanding of young people's lives, so decisions are shaped by insight rather than assumption. Young people are people to understand, not problems to solve."

‍That belief is what shapes our mission: working across research, policy, and practice, in partnership, to put young people at the heart of decision-making. And it's what shapes our vision for the future, a future where decisions affecting young people are no longer made on the basis of outdated assumptions or fragmented data, where young people's lived experience is understood as one connected picture, and where that understanding shapes the decisions institutions make.

‍This is the beginning of that work. Over the coming months, we'll be sharing our research, our thinking, and updates on our partnerships across the North East and nationally, as we build The Collective into the organisation young people deserve. If you're a funder, a partner organisation, or an institution working on a challenge affecting young people, we'd like to hear from you.