Young Emerging Leaders Collective (YELC)
The Young Emerging Leaders Collective (YELC) is a growing community for young Black people, people of colour and racialised people, committed to racial and social justice.
The collective is a space to exchange ideas, support and care; learn and build capacity and resilience; and work together in anti-racist and anti-oppressive action.
As of August 2023 we are excited to announce the relaunch of our Young Emerging Leaders Collective (YELC).
Having undergone a listening process, we are proud to launch a more structured 9-month programme, which will include a combination of community organising training and social lab sessions exploring pertinent contemporary issues/themes relevant to the lived experiences of Black and Racialised young people.
Read more about the History of YELC here
Want to join YELC in 2023?
You will be exploring the theme ‘Moving from Climate Justice to Environmental Justice’.
Are you a Black or Racialised young person, who is passionate about Environmental Justice?
As a part of our relaunch, we are looking to build YELC by recruiting 10 Black or Racialised Environmental Justice activists aged 18-30 based in and around London.
This year's YELC Cohort will be exploring the following theme ‘Moving from Climate Justice to Environmental Justice’. Through this exploration we hope for YELC members to be a part of creating more inclusive Environmental Justice spaces which ensure that the voices of communities most effected by injustices are amplified and that the work within this movement supports and serves these people.
YELC members will work collaboratively to interrogate and decolonise current practices in the Climate Justice movement and will look at how they can be a part of creating inclusive Environmental Justice spaces where Black and Racialised people feel safe, valued and feel able to challenge the current narratives around climate justice through their lived experiences and realities. As a part of this programme YELC members will co-design prototype projects that aim to empower Black and Racialised young people to create, navigate and occupy space in the field of Environmental justice with confidence and self-esteem. All YELC sessions will be facilitated by the Ubele team with the support of external facilitators.
There are 9 dates throughout 2023/2024 that you will be required to commit to. For a full list of these dates, including times and locations - please click here.
Application Form/Video Application
Please complete the application form by 02/10/2023.
We understand that writing long answers in applications is not accessible for all, for this reason we would like to give you the option of sending in a video application to answer the questions on our application form that require longer responses.
Please put your ‘full name – YELC Video Application’ as the subject of your email. Please answer questions 1-6 in the body of your email and questions 7-9 in the video. Your video application should be no longer than 3 mins. You can record your video on YouTube, upload it as a private video and email Aisha.khan@ubele.org the link to your video.
DEADLINE FOR Applications – 02/10/2023
Online interviews will be held on the 04/10/2023 & 05/10/2023.
Click here to preview the application questions
We are also currently hiring for a YELC Social Lab Facilitator. You can find details for this role on our Careers Page.
Vision
We envision a world where racial and social justice is realised globally.
Values
Community-driven: Our focus is on supporting the communities we represent and supporting each other within the YELC community.
Anti-oppressive: Our practises, our work, our partnerships are centred around fighting (racialised) oppression in all its forms.
Radically caring: Our group culture prioritises understanding individual and collective capabilities so that we are not output driven but people-centred. Our working pace matches the access requirements of the group.
YELC aims to:
Raise awareness of and advocate for social, racial and climate justice issues facing communities of colour in the UK and globally.
Provide and support young leaders in creating a brave space to enable them to play an active role in their communities.
Engage in direct and indirect anti-oppressive and anti-racist actions.
The YELC members discuss a variety of topical, contemporary and pertinent issues, relevant to the lived experiences of young Black people, people of colour and racialised people.
Tune in on Spotify, Anchor or Pocket Casts
