Set up in 2015, Social Ark is an Award winning charity that empowers 16–30-year-olds from under-resourced East London communities to develop social businesses- guided by their own lived experiences. We provide a standout programme of workshops, mentoring and personalised support that enables the young people we work with to focus on their assets and talents. In this way, they build on their goals, creating a springboard of positive action that results in sustainable change. We’ve created the Social Ark Family which consists of our supporters and young people that have been through our programmes. They sit on our board as trustees and along with our youth steering group they shape and steer our work. The Social Ark core, and senior management team is made up of our alumni and people from our own community. Our alumni co-design our programmes and often co-facilitate them too, and they're always respectfully paid as the lived experience experts they are. Our young people constantly tell us they don’t want to be “fixed or cured” by individuals that have “never walked a day in their shoes.” As they develop and lead their social enterprises, they go from being side-lined and overlooked to becoming respected role models and leaders in their communities.