The NYEB team was invited to collaborate with Creating Chances to bring a practical, place-based systems perspective to the Social Impact Summit. The session invited attendees to reflect on how, in a sector often trapped in shorter program-based funding cycles, we can shift to a systems thinking approach that allows us to work in a more impactful way. The Creating Chances team explained their model for supporting a young person from primary school all the way through to accredited employment.
Anna set the scene by explaining that a common experience for young people not engaged in employment, education or training: they are often facing multiple barriers which are interconnected to the wider systems. When we apply systems thinking and add place-based context, we can shift our practice, use that as data and evidence and ultimately build advocacy messaging, which can shift policy.
Anamlee and Anna examples of how NYEB alliance members had successfully demonstrated that through the NYEB model, the work of CICs and the recent Employment Service System Reform.
This introduction led into an interactive workshop where participants worked through real-world examples of the employment barriers young people face. Together, they explored potential responses, with facilitators drawing connections between participants’ ideas and the key elements of systems change. The activity encouraged attendees to think beyond program-level solutions and consider how they could influence the broader systems shaping young people’s employment outcomes.
Reflecting on the experience, Anna she is “most proud of speaking at the Social Impact Summit […] Representing an organisation doing work I believe in, and having our insight valued among so many field experts, meant a lot.”
Anna is excited to apply her experience speaking on systems thinking and change to an advocacy project the Youth Advisory Board are currently developing, creating a webinar and resource launching in late 2026.
