WE HAVE A BIG MISSION...
to empower people to succeed regardless of their racial or social background.
We achieve this by delivering educational life-skills programmes, improving learning environments and addressing racial inequality.
OUR JOURNEY
We are a relatively young charity but we've done lots of positive work in our short life! Check out our first year summary.
What do you wish you knew about money growing up?
We believe in teaching young people the skills to be financially savvy as early as possible.
Our programmes are aimed at young people from ethnic minority backgrounds to tackle income disparities, however they are open to all.
We created our WYZ Money programme with the help of qualified finance professionals from a range of backgrounds. Over 1,000 young people have started their personal finance journey with us.
We also offer a nationally recognised ASDAN accreditation too!
EDUCATIONAL LIFE-SKILLS
We have created free online courses and workshops to teach young people valuable skills for success, no matter where they start from
From the classroom to your dream career!
Growing up, many of us have no idea how to match our abilities to the range of career paths out there.
We want young people to be confident and prepared before they have their first interviews or start their own businesses.
We created WYZ for Work, our employability programme, to improve employment rates and ultimately tackle the lack of minority ethnic representation at boardroom level. Over 650 young people have started their employability journey with us.
We also offer a nationally recognised ASDAN accreditation and the opportunity to apply for work experience with our partners!
IMPROVING LEARNING ENVIRONMENTS
Delivering tech and other resources to underfunded schools
Our mission is to create an equal start line for all students.
We support underfunded schools to help improve their tech and other resources so that students have a fair chance to learn.
ADDRESSING RACIAL INEQUALITY
We're working at grassroots level to improve the statistics and
equip young people for long-term success
4.7%
of the UK's top leadership
positions are held by Black, Asian and Minority Ethnic individuals
despite representing 13%
of the population
£600
Black households are the most likely of all ethnic groups in the UK to earn less than £600 per week
WE ARE UNIQUE
OUR VALUES
Where there is no wise direction, people fall. In the multitude of counsellors, there is safety.
Transparent
Communicating openly and honestly with our donors, beneficiaries, stakeholders and regulators
Acting with integrity
Accountable
Taking responsibility for actions and decisions
Welcoming challenge and learning from mistakes
Conscious
Conscious in all that we do, being mindful to act in a way that does not bring disrepute on Open Palm or anyone associated with it
Stewards
Carrying out our work with diligence, for the public benefit
Using resources wisely
OUR TRUSTEES
Ralph McBaiden
Trustee & Co-Founder
Chartered Accountant
Former secondary school governor
Personal Ethos: "Less talk, more action. I want to make a change."
Lynette Emesibe
Trustee
Retired Accountant
Worked for BT for over 30 years
Personal Ethos: "Keen to raise self-awareness in people, helping them to realise their full potential."
Sophie McBaiden
Trustee & Co-Founder
Qualified Lawyer
Primary school governor and safeguarding link
Personal Ethos: "I want to do the best I can with this life, to be of use."
OUR ADVISORS
Good governance and risk management is core to what we do.
Our Independent Advisor provides independent challenge and advice to the Board on our governance policies and processes and how we identify and manage risk.
Senior Lawyer
Governance & Risk Management expertise
Personal Ethos: "I want to improve the lives of others, by changing the way we do things now, to make a difference tomorrow so that everyone has a fair and equal opportunity."
Raz Hussain
Independent Advisor - Governance & Risk
Our Specialist Advisory Groups
These are specialist groups of independent volunteers with experience and skills relevant to the particular initiative, ranging from qualified Teachers to Project Managers.
All proposed initiatives are brought to an Advisory Group for scrutiny, to ensure that each initiative delivers the best impact for beneficiaries and wider society.
Giving Back
We are committed to ensuring that our initiatives remain free of charge for the people we serve.
Our Trustees and Advisors help to reduce our operating costs by donating their time for free.
Interested in volunteering your skills to support us? Complete our form and we'll get in touch!