The last year has laid bare the scale of inequality in Britain and beyond.
That’s why we are now calling on businesses to come together this year to build a more just future for young people.
We’ve produced a powerful new film which urges companies big and small to join us in ‘answering the call’ for fairer opportunities for young people.
It combines compelling images of the divided world our young people live in: Brexit, food banks, the climate emergency and Black Lives Matters protests, with young voices calling for ‘a demand for ‘different’ and ‘a more just tomorrow’.
Nick Fuller, EVERFI’s President (International), describes the film as a ‘rallying cry’ for businesses to take action.
“In recent years, more and more businesses have voiced their commitment to do more than deliver profits. They have increasingly acknowledged a responsibility to deliver a social purpose to the communities they serve,” he says.
“As we navigate the uncertain path ahead, now, more than ever, businesses have an extraordinary opportunity to answer the call and come together to address the inequality our young people face in Britain and beyond.
“If we work together, we can build a brighter, fairer future for our young people.”
Even before the pandemic, half a million young people in Britain had experienced destitution, according to the Joseph Rowntree Foundation charity (1). A report last year by the Social Mobility Commission found British society was becoming less fair, with opportunities for advancement less equal (2).
The global pandemic will only exacerbate this.
Our own way of ‘answering the call’ is to provide free digital courses for young people on some of the thorniest challenges they face as they navigate their way into adulthood, such as how to stay safe online and how to manage their future finances.
We partner with businesses, who also want to ‘answer the call’, to make these courses free for schools in the UK.
In September, EVERFI in the US announced a $100 million (£74m), three-year commitment to build new courses and expand current ones to reduce systemic social injustice and economic disparities. The initiative will target the most disadvantaged young people, initially in the US, but expanding globally in time and will be available to young people in UK schools.
Our model has proven successful in the US where 41 million people have taken EVERFI’s free digital courses, which are financially backed by more than 3,000 corporate partners who include MassMutual, HSBC, NHL and LinkedIn.
Watch our new film and ‘answer the call’
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