THE ALLIANCE FOR YOUTH ORGANISING ARE RECRUITING A LEARNING PARTNER

It’s an exciting time at the Alliance. We are looking for a Learning Partner to help us understand what we have learned, test what we think we know, make better decisions about the future of the Alliance, and share useful learning with organisers and funders across the field.

The Alliance for Youth Organising is an intergenerational group of organisers and campaigners from across the UK working to shift power and money to young people. We support youth-led campaigns and organising that drive meaningful community change. In all of our work, we prioritise social, economic, racial, disability, gender, and environmental justice.

Since launching two years ago, we have:

• Designed a strategic framework to strengthen political education, improve disability inclusion, find and fund work in "youth organising deserts," promote international solidarity, and connect the wider youth organising field.
• Moved over £1 million to grassroots youth organising groups across the UK via four distinct grantmaking programmes:
  
  • Grassroots Learning: Direct grants to 10 organisations to explore how funders can better support grassroots youth organising.
  • Anchor Grants: 10 open-call grants to groups strengthening and widening access to the wider field.
  • Explore Grants: Seven open-call grants to groups investigating gaps in action or understanding within the field.
  • Direct Costs Fund: A partnership with the Social Change Nest to cover direct operational costs like room hire, travel, and training.

Together, we are seeking to capture and share vital, field-level lessons from this work.

About this Scope of Work

Since its inception in January 2024, the Alliance has delivered significant impact. We have gained deep insights into both the UK youth organising ecosystem and the approaches required to shift decision-making power to those closest to the frontline. We have captured key lessons throughout our journey and used them to inform future decision-making. However, we have yet to systematically synthesise and share these lessons with the wider youth organising field and funders. We want to change this.

Therefore we are looking for a Learning Partner to help us understand what we have learned, test what we think we know, make better decisions about the future of the Alliance, and share useful learning with organisers and funders across the field.

We are seeking a Learning Partner to help us:

1. Track progress against our Theory of Change.
2. Capture key insights about the UK youth organising sector.
3. Capture key insights about shifting power and money to an intergenerational collective.
4. Support Explore grant partners to synthesise, share, and implement their learning.
5. Provide actionable recommendations for the future of the Alliance for Youth Organising.

Scoring: 

We are looking for individuals, collectives or organisations who bring the following experience, against which final applications will be assessed:

• Technical ability (30%): Capability to deliver the work to a high standard, including:
  
  • Experience synthesising learning across multiple partners and contexts
  • An understanding of how to work safely and effectively support young people, community organisers and overloaded community organisations to participate in non-extractive ways
  • Knowledge of evaluating funding programmes, or sharing learning with youth groups, field practitioners and funders.
  • Strong skills in objective active listening and co-design alongside a range of research and facilitation methodologies that create space for partners to shape interpretation and outcomes. 
  • Strong communication skills and the ability to translate complex ideas into clear creative and accessible actions/recommendations for various stakeholders to engage with.
• Contextual knowledge (30%): An understanding of:
  
  • Youth organising and youth-led change.
  • Access and social justice 
  • Power dynamics and participatory practices in grantmaking.
• Values Alignment (30%): Evidence of your commitment to the aims of the project and the values of both the Alliance and the Civic Power Fund, alongside the willingness to constructively challenge us.
• Value for Money (10%): Maximising what can be delivered effectively within the fixed £60,000 award sum.

You should be able to work equitably with people from diverse backgrounds and perspectives. Internal candidates will be assessed in line with Civic Power Funds conflict of interest policy to ensure objectivity and deliverability. 

For more information and details of how to apply, read the full Scope of Work or get in touch with the Co-Leads at youthorganising@civicpower.org.uk 

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