Generation Change transfers its Impact Accelerator scheme to the Centre for Youth Impact

Generation Change is today transferring its Impact Accelerator programme to the Centre for Youth Impact, in order to support the creation of a more joined up and meaningful approach to learning and improvement in the youth sector. ​

The Impact Accelerator is a 12-month scheme in which youth organisations are supported through a structured process of reflection and improvement work. The scheme was jointly developed by Generation Change and Dartington Service Design Lab, and has recently been expanded through the #iwill Fund. The #iwill Fund is made possible thanks to £40 million joint investment from The National Lottery Community Fund and the Department for Digital, Culture, Media and Sport (DCMS) to support young people to access high quality social action opportunities.
 
29 youth programmes are already part of the scheme, which the Centre hopes to expand and align with its work to develop evaluation and learning practice across the youth sector.
 
Bethia McNeil, Chief Executive of the Centre for Youth Impact, said: 
“The Impact Accelerator is a powerful opportunity for youth organisations to focus on and strengthen the quality and impact of their work. It represents a really valuable addition to the Centre’s practice development offer, and we are excited by the opportunity to build on the work of Generation Change, and take the programme onwards into its next phase of life”
 
Emma Revie, Interim Chair of the Centre for Youth Impact, said:
“This is a really positive development for the Impact Accelerator, and for the youth sector more widely, and we’re very pleased to have been able to work with Generation Change to make this a reality”.
 
David Reed, Director of Generation Change, explained:
“Generation Change was founded by delivery organisations in order to drive systems change. Our goal in designing and scaling up the Impact Accelerator was to develop a robust, common benchmark for learning about effective practice - so that funders and practitioners can both focus on what’s important. Having achieved this in the youth social action space, we are delighted that the Centre is going to broaden its use across the whole youth sector.”
 
Sophie Livingstone, Chair of Generation Change said:
“We are excited to see the Centre for Youth Impact taking this forward as a universal approach that any youth organisation can engage with. It’s a fantastic legacy for what started in 2013 as a group of CEOs coming together to problem solve and an example of what true collaboration can achieve. It’s also a good example of knowing when to pass on the baton to others better placed to achieve your original mission.”
 
Generation Change will continue to act as a convening organisation for youth social action organisations, a role it has played since 2013, and will be consulting its Members about which areas of work it will be taking forward now that the Impact Accelerator will be delivered by the Centre for Youth Impact.

ABOUT
Generation Change is a movement of educators and youth organisations that offer social action opportunities for young people aged 5 - 25. Our mission is to respond to the needs of the changemaker generation, in equipping all young people to participate in social change and citizen service as a normal part of growing up. Over the past 6 years, Generation Change has driven systems change in the way youth social action opportunities are delivered, funded and recognised. 
 
The Centre for Youth Impact is a community of organisations that work together to progress thinking and practice around impact measurement and improvement in youth work and services for young people. All young people should have access to high quality support and services that improve their life chances and we believe that more meaningful approaches to evaluation - and continuous improvement of quality and impact - will help us collectively to achieve this vision. We exist to lead a step change in the way all those working with and for young people understand and act on evaluation and continuous improvement.
 
The Impact Accelerator is a 12-month programme, designed by Generation Change, and jointly developed with the Dartington Service Design Lab, to help youth programmes to validate and improve their outcomes, using a common evidence framework. To date, 29 organisations have taken part in the programme, building a robust evidence base on the differing strengths of social action practices that have been developed in different settings.