James Dundas, Regional Programmes Manager, EY Foundation
What is your role at EY Foundation, and what does it involve?
I’m the Regional Programme Manager for our Scotland Hub; my role includes engaging with schools and teachers to recruit for and deliver our employability programmes and workshops across the region, whilst also working closely with volunteers and employer partners.
What is the EY Foundation?
The EY Foundation is a charity which tackles barriers to employment faced by young people from low-income backgrounds, specifically those who are eligible for free school meals. We support young people across the UK to succeed in the workplace by providing employability skills training, career guidance and paid work experience in conjunction with volunteers and employer partners.
Our programmes build aspiration, confidence and a greater sense of purpose; developing the knowledge, skills and experience needed for those we work with to access and thrive in the careers they want and deserve.
What is your connection with EY?
The charity was set up by the accountancy firm EY (Ernst & Young). EY provide us with office space (we currently operate out of four of EY’s offices in Glasgow, London, Birmingham, and Manchester) and fund about 60% of our operating costs.
Although we are grateful to have very close links with the firm, we are an independent registered charity; we work with lots of other corporate partners and a lot of funding comes from outside of EY, through grant applications, and community trusts like the National Lottery Community Fund, the LNER Community Fund, as well as public sector bodies, fundraisers, and educational institutions.
Why was the EY Foundation set up?
Almost two million young people – that’s nearly one in four 4–18-year-olds – are eligible for free school meals (FSM); these young people are three times more likely to be unemployed by the age of 27 than their peers, showing there is a clear pathway from being in receipt of FSM to reduced employment opportunities and earnings. The EY Foundation exists to improve social mobility, to address social inequality, and to support young people from low-income backgrounds into careers in a range of sectors, from tech and finance to charity and security.
We want to show young people that they aren’t defined by their backgrounds and show employers that they will benefit from building a more diverse workforce, engaging with and recruiting from a wider talent pool.
We’ve got some incredible success stories; young people who took part in our Secure Futures programme and decided to pursue a degree and career in cyber security; or young people who started off participating in our Smart Futures work experience programme who went on to apply for EY’s Apprenticeship Scheme. Those young people are now either fully qualified, or on the verge of being fully qualified as Chartered Accountants.
Being an accountant probably wouldn’t ever have been on their radar, and now they are working for one of the biggest accountancy firms on the planet.
Can you tell us about the Smart Futures Programme?
Smart Futures is one of the employability programmes we run across the UK. It’s a 10-month programme, formally recognised and accredited by the Institute of Leadership and Management, which includes paid work experience, interactive employability skills training and mentoring for those in Year 12 or S5 in Scotland who have qualified for free school meals of the college bursary in the past two years. Within Smart Futures, we run dedicated employer/sector programmes such as Tech Futures, Secure Futures, and Impactful Futures.
You do a huge amount of work and run a range of different programmes. How can other companies get involved and partner with you?
We can work with any company who wants to support young people from low-income backgrounds and create pathways to jobs in their business for those who face barriers to employment. The Foundation helps by reaching those young people and creating the programme or pathway that’s most appropriate for them and the industry in question.
There are lots of ways we do that and lots of ways companies can get involved; from delivering skills and training sessions, like mock interview days, to offering a work placement for a young person being supported by the Foundation. Work placements take place over three days and are followed up by 10 months of mentoring support; we also deliver bespoke programmes, tailored specifically to the corporate partner and their sector. You can find some great case studies and some examples of partnerships via our website.
It isn’t just an ‘EY Thing’; we can and do work in partnership with almost anyone, regardless of industry, size or sector, and not only is it a great way to create social value, the employer also benefits by gaining access to a talent pool they probably wouldn’t have otherwise been able to reach.
The other thing that people can do is to become a volunteer mentor – which means meeting once a month (either virtually or in-person) with a young person and giving them the benefit of your advice. It’s a lot more informal than people think it is and we provide you with all the training and support you need. We’ve all had people in our careers who have helped us get where we are today – that's all mentoring is really!
Volunteers often join programmes because they have had mentors in their own careers and therefore have experienced the impact of mentoring first-hand. What they underestimate is the dual advantage of mentoring – the impact it has on the mentor themselves as well as the mentee. Often, mentors report an increase in their communication and leadership skills as well as the sense of pride they feel when watching their mentee flourish and begin to fulfil their potential.
Do you track your positive impact, and how?
The young people complete at least one survey for any of our workshops or programmes, providing insight and feedback that helps us ensure our content continues to be both relevant and engaging for the young people we work with. Similarly, volunteers complete a survey post-volunteering to gather any feedback and, again, to ensure that we continue to improve the volunteer experience regardless of the role they undertake.
Importantly, the surveys also capture impact and, for our programmes, there are pre- and post-programme surveys which demonstrate progression over the duration of the programme in areas such as communication skills and confidence.
How can I become a mentor for the EY Foundation?
It’s really easy to sign up. If you’re interested, email volunteering@eyfoundation.ey.com and we’ll arrange a call to talk you through what’s involved. All we ask is that you commit to being a mentor for a minimum of 6 months.
The only things we require from you prior to becoming a mentor is a DBS Check or PVG Check in Scotland, and to complete some online safeguarding training via the NSPCC. Once those have been completed, we will arrange a first meeting where you will be paired up with a young person and you’ll take it from there. We offer support throughout your time as a mentor, as well as resources and session plans if they’re helpful.
What is the best thing about your job?
From my point of view, and I say this at almost every one of our programme graduations, the best thing and the measure of success in my job is seeing the improved confidence of the young people from start to end of the programme. Our surveys capture the data size of that impact, but to physically see it in the young people is very powerful and is the reward that makes my job worthwhile.
Where can people follow you/connect with the programme?
You can find our contact information via the EY Foundation website, or email via volunteering@eyfoundation.ey.com.
You can also connect with me on LinkedIn, or email me at james.dundas@eyfoundation.ey.com.
“It’s about breaking down the barriers to employment faced by young people from low-income backgrounds, providing training, support and paid opportunities in collaboration with employers and key partners to create a more equitable working world. ”
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