Charly Young is CEO and co-founder of The Girls’ Network, an award-winning charity that matches girls from the least advantaged communities across the UK with a female mentor, in order to open networks and opportunities that the girls would otherwise not have access to. She founded The Girls’ Network with her colleague Becca in 2013, whilst they were teaching in secondary schools in North West London. Prior to teaching, she worked at the Royal Society of Arts (RSA) as an education researcher, and with Whole Education supporting school leadership teams. Charly is passionate about the use of networks to empower, support and mobilise people, and believes that good mentoring can be transformational, for both mentor and mentee.
“If someone else believes in you, it helps you believe in yourself”
Having gone to a state school myself I am very passionate about the incredible work that The Girls’ Network does, especially with minorities. With their mission to unleash the potential of disadvantaged girls, Charly Young and her co-founder have created a feminist mentoring movement. Charly kindly had a call with me to discuss how she has developed this wonderful charity.
Please could you let us know a little about your educational background and how it shaped you as a person?
My parents were teachers and encouraged me to work hard at school and aim high. Yet, I didn’t know about all the possibilities that were out there for me. I didn’t think I could study subjects such as engineering for example. Looking back now, I realise I was restricted by the fact I was a girl.
“They were ambitious young women but had often come from three or four generations of women who didn’t work”
After I graduated with a philosophy degree in 2009, I was drawn to the charity and education sector. I worked for the Royal Society of Arts and then for Whole Education which believes schools should equip pupils with a love of learning. While working closely with schools, I wondered why I hadn’t trained to be a teacher myself. In 2011, I started training with Teach First (a charity working to end educational inequality).
What experiences led you think of starting The Girls’ Network?
Teaching Geography at a secondary school in London, I saw the challenges some teens face outside school. For example, many of them cared for younger siblings or couldn’t afford the right equipment. I noticed that the girls seemed risk-averse, as they felt they couldn’t be seen to fail. I saw girls with aspirations to become criminal psychologists or engineers, yet they didn’t know anyone like them doing it, so they would dismiss these dreams.
“The Girls’ Network... matches girls from the least advantaged communities across the UK with a female mentor, in order to open networks and opportunities”
I discussed this with my friend Becca, also a teacher, and we decided to organise a speed networking event for the girls at our schools, roping in friends in various careers. Afterwards the girls told us how inspired they felt, having learnt so much about different industries, and that they now believe it might be possible to achieve the things they aspired to themselves. In 2013, The Girls’ Network was born.
Please can you tell us more about The Girls’ Network?
The Girls’ Network started as a project alongside our day jobs where we found mentors for 30 girls in London. It worked so well that in 2013, we quit our jobs and applied for funding, allowing us to start up as a charity. Now we have eight hubs in cities including Liverpool, Manchester and Brighton. We have 20 staff and more than 1,400 girls aged 14-19 every year who are each matched with an inspiring female mentor.
“Many of the girls had no real concept of ‘a career’, had no one at home who could explain university”
We focus on finding female mentors from across sectors and backgrounds, but with a particular emphasis on finding those working in traditionally male-dominated fields such as engineering and banking, as well as those from ethnic minorities, and match them with girls who want to get into those careers. We believe it’s important for our mentees to have female role models. If they can see a woman in that job, they’ll believe it’s possible for them too.
Becca and I worked in northwest London schools where 75% of the children were on free school meals. They were ambitious young women but had often come from three or four generations of women who didn’t work, or had parents who had multiple jobs to bring in money, rather than being able to pursue a career that they were passionate about. Many of the girls had no real concept of ‘a career’, had no one at home who could explain university, how to formulate a CV, or how to access the industries they might be interested in.
“There’s something really powerful about someone, who isn’t your parent or carer and who isn’t being paid to do so, investing their time in you and believing you’re worth it.”
The girls meet or speak to their mentors at least once a month and the sessions might involve office tours, informal advice or helping with practical skills such as writing CVs. These relationships are so rewarding. There’s something really powerful about someone, who isn’t your parent or carer and who isn’t being paid to do so, investing their time in you and believing you’re worth it. This has a profound effect on the way the girls see themselves. We also organise panel events, round-tables and speed networking.
How has the pandemic affected The Girls’ Network work?
We’re a charity that values the power of in-person connection, so the pandemic and related school closures and lockdowns had an immediate impact on our work. We acted quickly, however, and moved over 75% of our mentoring programmes online within three weeks of the first school closures. Since then, we (virtually) trained 1329 women to become mentors, and matched 1319 girls from the least advantaged communities across England with a woman mentor. We recorded over 3000 hours of virtual mentoring nationwide and ran almost 20 virtual workshops.
Crucially, we didn’t see a drop in the impact of virtual mentoring on girls versus in-person mentoring. We learned a lot in the process and while we very much look forward to returning to in-person events and to seeing everyone in our wonderful network, we will also be taking forward some of the learnings from this year. See our full Covid-19 report here.
“My biggest goal is for them to believe that they can achieve and not feel held back by their circumstances or gender.”
How can people get involved with The Girls’ Network?
There are so many ways people can get involved with us!
Mentoring: Professional women with a few years’ work experience who live or work in one of our regions can apply to become a mentor via our website. Fundraising: Anyone can organise a fundraising event or raise money for us, with every single donation making a difference to our mission. There are loads of examples of events and other fundraising activities on our website. Partnering: Business owners and leaders can also explore a partnership with us, there is more information on this on our website, too, but if in doubt just get in touch!
The Girls’ Network has grown so fast, what are your future aspirations for the organisation?
I want to grow The Girls’ Network so we can help at least 25% of the 163,000 teenage girls in this country who are eligible for free school meals. My biggest goal is for them to believe that they can achieve and not feel held back by their circumstances or gender.
You can find out more about The Girls’ Network at https://www.thegirlsnetwork.org.uk/
Photography courtesy of Charly Young