We’re committed to ensuring that the Y7 2021 is as inclusive, impactful and developmental for young people both in the U.K. and globally.

As a result, for the first time in the Y7’s history, we are creating a Y7 Youth Forum.

We want to ensure we have the maximum diversity of voices in the room during the course of the Summit. This is important to ensure that the recommendations produced are truly representative of all U.K. youth, but also to ensure that they are credible and pragmatic, building on real-world, lived experience.

The Youth Forum will consist of young people with lived experience of the policy themes we are discussing who have vital knowledge and perspectives to shape policy making, and whose voices may be underrepresented or unheard.

We expect to select between 2 - 4 Youth Forum members per policy track. There are four policy tracks:

  • Climate and the Environment

  • Digital and Technology

  • The economy

  • Health

Youth Forum members will:

  • Receive high quality leadership and policy making training alongside U.K. and international Y7 delegates

  • Work closely with U.K. delegates to carry out wide-reaching public consultation in advance of the Y7, by conducting consultation themselves and/or connecting delegates with underrepresented communities or ideas 

  • Bring their lived experience or knowledge into the negotiation process, increasing the diversity of perspectives and improving outcomes

  • Attend the Y7 Summit in early Summer 2021

  • Advocate for the Y7 Communique to policy makers, politicians, business leaders and civil society

  • Deliver a ‘Post Summit Initiative’ turning their experience into tangible action within their community.

This is a year long role, commencing in February 2021 and ending in February 2022. The role will be quite intense from February 2021 - July 2021, so we ask that applicants only apply if they are willing to commit ~5 hours per week for the first six months.

Eligibility Criteria

The Youth Forum is open to young people aged 18 - 30 who are resident in the United Kingdom. There are no nationality requirements to take part in the Youth Forum.

We welcome applications from young people from all backgrounds - we truly want to embrace the full diversity of U.K. youth. We will collect diversity data during the application process to monitor equality. If any candidate requires any reasonable adjustments, please contact us on hello@futureleaders.network

Selection Process

The selection process for the Y7 2021 Youth Forum opens on 11 January and closes on 24 January at 23:59. It is very straightforward - all you have to do is tell us which track(s) you would like to take part in (don’t worry if you don’t know exactly which one you prefer, or you have lived experience across multiple tracks - these are not binding) and why you’d like to be involved.

We encourage you to tell us a bit about why you are excited to get involved in the Y7; what personal, lived or unique experience you will bring to the Summit, and what you hope to learn from the experience.

When we ask about personal, lived or unique experience, this may relate to the policy track you wish to participate in (for example, if you have personally been affected by climate change, or have experience of living with a health condition or caring for someone who is unwell etc). Alternatively, it could relate to personal experiences that make you passionate about youth engagement (e.g. you come from an underrepresented community). There is no ‘right’ or ‘wrong’ answer and we will select the Youth Forum to ensure we bring in as diverse a range of voices as possible.

Candidates will be informed if they have been successful by 31 January 2021.