Leading With Purpose: The Power of Young Voices in Leadership
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Never Was A Normal (2021) - a music video created in lockdown with future Proof. Performer: Aman Basha
Young voices aren’t just shaping Zest’s work—they’re leading it.
Over the past four years, Zest have reimagined what it means for young people to take the lead. Last week, we celebrated two significant milestones: appointing two young trustees to our board and creating a paid leadership role within our youth advisory group, Future Proof.
These announcements sparked conversations and questions about how we’ve achieved this. If you’re curious about our approach, this blog is for you.
Established in 2007, Zest is a national touring arts organisation dedicated to creating space for young people to be heard. Using creativity to amplify their voices, Zest empowers the next generation to inspire change through theatre and cultural experiences. These new appointments reflect years of deliberate work to ensure young people aren't just invited to lead as a token gesture but are confident, prepared, and empowered to make their voices heard on their own terms.
Youth Leadership at Zest takes many forms. Not every young person wants or is ready to take on formal board responsibilities, and that’s okay. Our role is to nurture their potential in ways that work for them, whether co-leading at a project level or stepping into governance roles.
We know many organisations want to centre young voices in their work. The question we often hear is, “Where do we start?” This blog shares key insights from our journey to help you take those first steps—or refine your approach—toward empowering young leadership.
youthquake (2029-20) - National tour. Performers: Harris Cain & Lincoln College | Designer: Verity Quinn | Lighting Ben Pacey | Movement: Patricia Verity | Director: Toby Ealden | Photo: Phil Crow
Understanding the Challenges Young People Face
If we want young people to thrive as leaders, we must first understand their world. Too often, adults oversimplify or overlook young people's complex realities, underestimating their daily challenges – 1 in 5 children and young people in England aged 8 to 25 had a probable mental disorder in 2023 (NHS England).
At Zest, we work with Generation Z and Generation Alpha—generations raised in a digital-first world with limitless knowledge and connection at their fingertips. Yet young people consistently tell us they feel disconnected, isolated, and unheard.
Blaming the mental health crisis on screen time alone misses the bigger picture. Young people face a perfect storm of challenges: community divisions, limited opportunities, anxiety about the future, the cost-of-living crisis, political instability, austerity’s long-term effects, polarising rhetoric online, and the growing climate crisis. These pressures fuel a cycle of hopelessness, creating barriers to well-being and self-expression.
In response, Zest has created opportunities for young people to lead and influence—from shaping programming and policies to amplifying their communities’ needs. Since introducing these leadership pathways, our annual audience reach has grown from an average of 20,000 to 372,000—a 1,761% increase. When young people are given space to lead, something remarkable happens. Their straight-talking, no-nonsense approach and willingness to disrupt systems that no longer work ensures our work remains relevant and impactful in the communities we serve. Their resilience, curiosity, and bold imagination push us to rethink what’s possible.
At the same time, we must remember that young people are still growing and finding their place in the world. Their voices today are valid, insightful, and powerful—but like all of us, their perspectives will evolve with time and experience.
Our responsibility is to hold space for this growth. Organisations looking to centre young people's voices should embrace their unique contributions while equipping them with the tools and confidence to lead authentically and bravely.
Camp Phoenix (2029-20) - National tour. Performers: DaviD Carpenter & Stockton Riverside College | Designer: Caitlin Mawhinney | Lighting: Ben Pacey | Movement: Phao May | Director: Toby Ealden | Photo: Phil Crow
Zest's Pathway to Leadership
At Zest, youth leadership isn't just a title—it's about development, nurture, and growth over time. That's why we've built a framework to ensure young people step into leadership feeling prepared, supported, and empowered. Here's how it works:
1. Participation – Releasing Voices: Young people start their journey with Zest by participating in our projects, where their creativity and voices are nurtured. Through active listening and co-creation, they see their ideas directly influence work that benefits their communities. We partner with schools, colleges, and community groups to ensure the broadest range of voices are represented, avoiding selection or audition processes. Therefore, we work with preexisting groups and increasingly deliver free-to-access activities in public spaces, welcoming anyone who passes by or shows up.
2. Future Proof – Exploring Leadership: Participants aged 16+ who take part in our projects with the deepest level of engagement can apply to join Future Proof, our youth advisory group. Having already experienced Zest’s work, they bring an immediate sense of ownership—Zest becomes a “we” rather than a “you”. Future Proof members, drawn from communities nationwide, meet monthly on Zoom as paid consultants, shaping our strategy, policy, and programming—they even interview and select key staff. Recognising that not everyone is suited to, or ready for, formal governance roles, Future Proof gives young people the time and space to explore Leadership on their terms. The application process is straightforward, prioritising enthusiasm and potential over formality.
But we don’t just value their contributions in words; we value them in action. Future Proof members are paid London Living Wage for their time, valuing their ideas, acknowledging their role as consultants that shape Zest, and recognising the emotional cost of providing honest critique that drives our improvement.
3. Paid Co-Leadership – Building Experience and Inspiring Their Generation: Most Zest projects include a budget to hire a young person aged 16-25 as a Co-Leader on the creative team. Typically, this is someone from the local community where the project is based and often a Future Proof member. This role provides valuable paid experience for the Young Leader while bringing immense value to the project's delivery. Having young people lead their peers is incredibly empowering for participants. It ensures the Zest team continuously hears and centres the voices of the young people we serve, creating authentic, relevant, and impactful work.
4. Board Shadowing – Preparing for Governance: Through Future Proof+, we build upon our Youth Advisory Group and develop the next generation of Trustees. Future Proof members can apply to shadow our Board of Trustees for a year, joining a small cohort for governance training led by our senior team and trustees. Over 12 months, they learn about governance, finance, and Leadership and attend Board meetings. They contribute insights without legal responsibility, gaining firsthand experience in decision-making at the highest level. Future Proof+ is voluntary, emphasising commitment and preparation for formal governance roles, mirroring the trustee experience.
5. Trustee Appointments – Leading with Confidence and Purpose: We reserve two spaces for young people aged 16-25 on our Board of Trustees. After a year of shadowing, participants can formally apply for these roles. Those appointed bring their lived experiences and perspectives to the table, helping shape Zest's future. For their first six months, each young trustee is paired with a mentor from the Board to ensure they feel supported and confident. Mentorship includes pre- and post-meeting check-ins to review Board papers, processes, and decisions, ensuring they can contribute on equal footing with other trustees.
Too often, the arts and culture sector rushes to meet calls for youth representation by appointing young people to boards or leadership roles without equipping them to succeed. At Zest, we understand that meaningful youth leadership takes time—the full process above could take 3-5 years. It's not about filling quotas; it's about ensuring young people have the skills, confidence, and platform to lead with purpose.
The Youth Arts Team at The Zone (2024) - Zest’s pop-up Youth Arts Space
Listening Beyond the Agenda
Facilitating youth leadership also means that trustee and staff teams must rethink how we engage with young voices in our governance structures.
Young people bring untold knowledge of their realities, yet their contributions may sometimes feel jarring, unconventional or incomplete to those who've spent decades in the sector. That's not a shortcoming—it's their strength.
At Zest, our trustees and staff embrace questions, listen openly, and make space for moments of joy and curiosity in decision-making, regardless of age. Beyond agendas and cashflow forecasts, this ensures that our governance processes don't lose sight of their humanity.
The Forum (2022-23) - A Touring Installation. Designer: Verity Quinn
A Challenge to the Sector
Youth representation matters—but representation alone isn't enough. Without preparation, support, and genuine opportunities to lead, we risk silencing the very voices we aim to amplify.
If your organisation is exploring youth leadership, ask yourself:
Why do we want to do this, and what do you want to achieve?
Are we equipping young people with the skills and confidence to lead?
Are we valuing their contributions as decision-makers, not just participants?
Are we ready to embrace their ideas, even when they disrupt the status quo?
This work takes time, humility, and a willingness to rethink established norms, but the rewards are profound. Young people bring clarity, resilience, and imagination—qualities our sector urgently needs.
A Future Powered by Young Voices
Organisations that empower young people to lead and listen to their communities become alive with possibility, energy, and hope. This shift has been transformative at Zest, proving that extraordinary things happen when young voices are centred.
The arts have the power to change society. Young people have the power to change the arts.
