About Us

Our history

Our aim is to ensure everyone has access to a good standard of living and equality of opportunity, no matter what their or their parents’ occupation or background is. 

For over 30 years, we have lived this mission… 

1993

We started in a small office in Harlesden, as a project to help less advantaged unemployed people from Brent into employment.

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1999

We launched STRIVE, a programme adapted from the American model, becoming one of the first UK organisations to focus on attitude and behaviour, as opposed to cognitive skills.

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2002

We moved to Harriet Tubman House in Kensal Green, North West London. The new premises also gave us the space to run a community centre, where we provided services to the local area, including a youth club.

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2008

We delivered a new programme aimed at supporting young people, focusing on teaching them the skills and attitudes needed to be successful in education, a work environment, and in life.

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2013

We changed our name to “Making The Leap” to better embody our mission as an organisation: we help our young people take the necessary steps to progress in and transform their own lives.

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2017

We launched the UK Social Mobility Awards, an initiative that recognises and celebrates the achievements of UK organisations in their work to advance social mobility. To date, over 500 different organisations have been involved.

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2022

We launched Social Mobility Day to help raise the awareness of social mobility and encourage organisations to share their social mobility stories.

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Today

We equip thousands of young people with the skills they need to succeed. We aim to raise the aspirations and access to opportunities to over 8,000 young people a year.

Unlocking Their Potential

For many young people, an interview is over before it has even started.

Our film portrays the situation so many of our young people will find themselves in, and the work Making The Leap does to get them through it, with positive results.

Our Team

Amy

Digital Communications Manager

Betty

Head of Educational
Partnerships

Clare

Director of Programmes
& Innovation

Danielle

Training Facilitator

Elaine

Progression Coach

Eugene

Deputy CEO

Felece

Alumni
Coordinator

Gareth

Head of Engagement

Gerard

Head of
Communications

Hannah

Training Assistant/Receptionist

Kacey

Engagement Lead

Krupa

Progression Manager

Lili

Digital Communications
Officer

Lucy

Head of Development

Marlene

Head of Delivery

Max

Finance Manager

Padmini

Head of Research & Advocacy

Paola

Executive Assistant

Reema

Progressions
Coach

Seyi

Training Facilitator

Tunde

Founder and CEO

Our Board

Sandra Wallace CBE

Amir Nooriala

Andy Boucher

Catherine Osaigbovo

Dipi McKernan

Dom Scott

Emma Canavan

John Williams

Laurence Meehan

Our Alumni Board

Joanne

Human Rights

Wumi

Commercial Real Estate

Danyal

Business Development

Omolara

Private Equity

Sanjay

Software Engineering

Tasneem

Research Analyst

Jack

Software Engineering

Aarti

Creative / Asset Management

Jasmin

Finance / Consultant

Ferus

Law

Koray

Business Analyst

Jasmine

Marketing / Project Management

Our Partners

Our success for over 30 years would not be possible without the support of our partners. They share our philosophy of inspiring hope, empowering change and transforming lives, and we thank them for believing in our mission.

Monday – Friday, 9am – 5pm
28 Hazel Road
Kensal Green, London
NW10 5PP

  • 020 89621900
  • info@mtl.org.uk

©2024 Making the Leap | Registered Charity No: 1058648 | Company Registered in England. No: 3162045 | Privacy Policy

Amy

Senior Digital Communications Officer

I joined Making the Leap in 2023 as a Senior Digital Communications Officer after moving over from my homeland of Australia. My role involves utilising digital media to help spread the word about the work we do and excite others to get involved too.

Before landing at Making the Leap, I worked in various media and communications roles across state government in Australia, working with a huge range of content including rockets, the Olympics, and even natural disaster management and recovery.

As someone who struggled as a teen, I’ve always been passionate about empowering young people and have spent much of my life working alongside and mentoring youth to better understand themselves and dream big in their lives. I think the biggest challenge for young people today is security in knowing the world is ultimately a good place and there are great things for them in it.

I’m looking forward to helping promote the fantastic work conducted by my wonderful colleagues.

Betty Campbell

Head of Educational Partnerships

My role is to contact secondary schools throughout London to inform them of our Aspirational Character Education programmes. I also assist with delivering our programmes to schoolchildren. I started Making The Leap in April 1995!

Eugene

Deputy CEO

I am the Deputy CEO at Making The Leap and my role involves the implementation of any strategic decisions and ensuring that we run as smoothly as possible. I am approaching my 30th year at Making The Leap and started as a temp. Since then, I have worked in a variety of different roles within the organisation, including Recruitment Consultant and Project Manager, before I became Operations Director.

I share a great deal of empathy for the young people we serve, in the sense that I wanted to better myself but didn’t have much direction until I came to Making The Leap. I used to think it was a shame that Making The Leap wasn’t around at the time that I finished my studies, because I knew I had a lot to offer but I didn’t know how to achieve and lacked the confidence to do so. Working here though, it’s turned out alright. I think it’s fabulous that we can now offer young people hope, direction and aspirations.

Felece

Alumni Coordinator

I am the Alumni Coordinator here at Making The Leap, helping support our young people after they have completed the ACE programme we offer, which works to build the fundamental skills of our young people. After completion, our young people become ‘Fellows’ and join our larger Alumni Community. I create and coordinate various events and initiatives to maintain the engagement among our Fellows while building a strong Alumni Community.

I also manage our Fellow’s Board, a dedicated group who represent our Fellows and work alongside myself to grow and strengthen the Alumni Community.

A little bit about myself, I graduated from the University of Roehampton with a degree in Psychology and Counselling. I joined the MTL team in October 2023, and so far, I feel so fulfilled being able to see the massive improvement within the young people in within the space of three weeks and especially after they progress into work. I look forward to continuing to motivate and inspire our young people and support them into their dream careers.

Gareth Pryce

Head of Engagement

My role at Making The Leap is working as a Progression Officer. I joined at the beginning of June 2017. I deliver the ACE workshop (Aspirations & Character Education Programme) to groups of young people and provide 1-2-1 support for those who have successfully become Fellows after the programme. We run the three-week training programme here at the Harriet Tubman House premises. The purpose of the workshop is to assist in highlighting the skills which I believe young people already possess, and encouraging them to feel confident in developing these.

In my short time here, I have already begun to witness the positive impact this workshop has had on these young adults. The workshop offers a sense of greater aspiration and has helped to build on the character, self-esteem, and confidence. Inevitably, these skills will be vital in attaining good jobs and successful futures. I feel honoured to be a part of these young people’s lives and to observe their journeys of transformation is extremely fulfilling.

Some of the biggest challenges I believe young people in 2017 are faced with is competition and being able to overcome these by thinking about the actions that best support them towards their goals. Employers value experience, which I think leaves young people in a catch 22 position, no experience – no job, no job – no experience. In my experience, work experience has been a vital part of my journey. I’ve had to be willing to learn new skills, and to work differently, and put myself in to various roles to really grasp what that role entails. This has helped me gain some valuable practical experience in an industry and giving me a chance to make more an informed choice about my future. Also it has given me the opportunity to realise that a certain field of work is not something I would like to pursue any further.

Gerard

Head of Communications

I joined Making the Leap in the summer of 2024 after over a decade as a journalist and editor at Sky.

My role involves leading on website, social media, internal and external communications across the Making the Leap, SOMO and Social Mobility strands, and more.

Before joining Making the Leap, I spent seven years as a senior football writer, attending the biggest matches and interviewing the biggest names in football – before managing the Sky Sports website and App for three years.

So you might be wondering, why the big change? Having volunteered as a listener with Samaritans, and completed counselling and coaching skills qualifications, I am passionate about the strength of the soft skills MTL instil in young people coming through the door every day.

The incredible work Making the Leap do often has to be witnessed in person to be fully appreciated and understood. A big part of my role is to ensure that magic is felt on our major communications platforms, in particular website and social media.

Hannah

Training Assistant/Receptionist

At Making The Leap I am a Training Assistant/Receptionist. My role involves being the first point of contact for visitors in person and over the phone – and making them feel welcomed, updating computer records, providing administrative support and being part of the team to help run MTL.

Due to my background and studying a degree in Criminology and Sociology, I have always had an interest in understanding people and society-particularly in regard to social justice and gaining further insight on the socio-economic challenges people face. In my opinion some of the biggest challenges for young people in 2023 are the limited community social spaces for leisure, the stereo-typed media portrayals of young people today and navigating the job market.

Kacey

Engagement Lead

I recently joined the Making The Leap team as Engagement Lead. Within this role I engage with young people, to inform and support them as they search for career opportunities. With a tailored approach, I aim to ensure each young person aspires to reach their full potential in their desired field.

Before Making The Leap, I completed a political science degree, a journey I embarked on due to my passion to better understand the social and economic disparities within our society. Often young people leave the state education system and are not given the tools to successfully navigate the job market, which can result in the stunting of their career aspirations. I am of the firm belief that the way to address this issue is through the equitable and accessible distribution of resources and support.

Krupa

Progression Manager

My role at Making The Leap is working as a Progression Officer. I joined at the beginning of June 2017. I deliver the ACE workshop (Aspirations & Character Education Programme) to groups of young people and provide 1-2-1 support for those who have successfully become Fellows after the programme. We run the three-week training programme here at the Harriet Tubman House premises. The purpose of the workshop is to assist in highlighting the skills which I believe young people already possess, and encouraging them to feel confident in developing these.

In my short time here, I have already begun to witness the positive impact this workshop has had on these young adults. The workshop offers a sense of greater aspiration and has helped to build on the character, self-esteem, and confidence. Inevitably, these skills will be vital in attaining good jobs and successful futures. I feel honoured to be a part of these young people’s lives and to observe their journeys of transformation is extremely fulfilling.

Some of the biggest challenges I believe young people in 2017 are faced with is competition and being able to overcome these by thinking about the actions that best support them towards their goals. Employers value experience, which I think leaves young people in a catch 22 position, no experience – no job, no job – no experience. In my experience, work experience has been a vital part of my journey. I’ve had to be willing to learn new skills, and to work differently, and put myself in to various roles to really grasp what that role entails. This has helped me gain some valuable practical experience in an industry and giving me a chance to make more an informed choice about my future. Also it has given me the opportunity to realise that a certain field of work is not something I would like to pursue any further.

Lili

Digital Communications Officer

I joined Making the Leap in May 2024 as a Digital Communications Officer. Having previously worked in local journalism, I’m really excited to utilise my skills in communications to support Making the Leap in transforming the futures of less advantaged young people.

My role involves supporting the management of our social media, promoting our services and events and getting others involved and excited about the work we do here. I’m looking forward to being a part of the huge impact Making the Leap has on young people and to help in advocating for positive change.

Lucy

Head of Development

I am responsible for raising funds for the charity mainly from Trusts and Foundations, Charity of the Year partnerships with companies and individual supporters. I also support the delivery of our school programmes when required. In my role as Head of Development, I love being able to engage with a variety of people and to be able to share the wonderful work of Making The Leap to raise vital funds. I joined Making The Leap in October 2005 and in that time I have undertaken various different yet incredibly rewarding roles – all of them focused on directly working with our beneficiaries until I moved into this role in 2014.

There have been so many amazing success stories over the years! I have so much admiration for young people’s courage, determination, and enthusiasm. As so many of the young people who attend our programmes keep in touch with us afterwards, we can hear all about their wonderful personal and professional successes. It is amazing to be part of this special organisation helping young people to fulfil their own unique potential.

Marlene

Head of Delivery

My main responsibilities include overseeing the Training and Delivery functions at Making The Leap, for both our young adult and schools’ programmes. I’ve worked for the Charity since October 1999 and feel very passionate about social mobility – providing young people from socio-economically disadvantaged backgrounds with an opportunity to raise their aspirations and reach their full potential.

Aside from being an extremely proud mother of two, one of my biggest achievements is that I work for a charity that serves young people. By promoting a can-do-attitude, we help them to access opportunities that may not have been possible without our intervention, which for me is a tremendously rewarding experience as I feel that I’m playing a small part in making a huge difference.

I often reflect on the fact that, had I come across an organisation like Making The Leap in my early years that provides the relevant support, advice, encouragement and career specific guidance, how different my career choices would have been!

Max

Finance Manager

I am the Finance Manager, which involves administering and managing the charity’s finances. To me, my success story is being able to continue to contribute and be part of the wonderful work that we do in helping to build and raise the aspirations of our Associates at Making The Leap, so they can achieve their full potentials and career.

Padmini Iyer

Head of Research & Advocacy

With over 10 years’ experience as a mixed-methods social researcher, her research has focused on inequalities in education related to gender, ethnicity and socio-economic status in countries including the UK, Ethiopia, India and Vietnam. Padmini joined Making The Leap in 2021 and is tasked with capturing and communicating the charity’s unique grassroots knowledge and perspective from the work undertaken with schools, young adults, the UK Social Mobility Awards and Black Charity Leaders. She believes that high-quality, ethical research has the power to improve society, advance social mobility and racial equality in the UK.

Reema

Progressions Coach

I joined Making the Leap in May 2024 as a Progressions Coach. My role involves providing support to the fellows to help them achieve their employment goals. This support can consist of helping with CV and application finessing and conducting mock interviews with them. I also help with activities such as putting fellows forward for job opportunities and business insight days.

I have a background working as an employment specialist within the mental health field and with young people, and thoroughly enjoy supporting individuals to achieve their goals.

I think that equal access to opportunities is essential, and organisations like Making the Leap play an integral part in enabling this by empowering young people through upskilling and providing them with access to a support system and employer networks.

Tunde Banjoko

CEO & Founder

I am a Londoner born and bred and grew up in Acton. I know quite a few people who have achieved great things, from our humble origins, but equally many more who had the talent but not the support systems to maximise their potential. My experiences have undoubtedly influenced a lot of my thinking and my passion for changing lives.

Being at Making The Leap from the beginning, I still remember being in one room, with three desks and no computers. So much has changed since then, but the essence of my job is still the same: to lead the organisation and to take ultimate responsibility for how we fare. It’s been a challenging but incredibly rewarding journey for me personally.

Since being here I’ve completed a Masters at UCL, received an OBE in 2008 and met many amazing people. I am thrilled to be a part of this charity, I know that the staff really care about young people and are so professional and hardworking. In 28 years there are so many outstanding stories, so many young lives changed, that it is impossible to choose one. Something recent though, of which I’m exceptionally proud, was being an observer at the inaugural Fellows Board.

Seeing seven of our young people, who had begun their professional careers, come back and give up their free time and be part of their first ever board meeting, caused me to shed tears of joy. It was so poignant and summed up everything we do at Making The Leap.

Sandra Wallace CBE

Managing Partner/Managing Director
Practice Groups at DLA Piper

Sandra Wallace is an Employment Partner, and member of the Executive board for the global business law firm, DLA Piper, sitting as Joint Managing Director UK& Europe. Sandra also sits on the firm’s D&I Council. Prior to her Executive role she has served as UK Employment Group Head and UK Managing Partner.

Aside from her legal role, Sandra served as a Social Mobility Commissioner from December 2018 to October 2021. During her government appointment, Sandra also served the Commission as interim Co-Chair. Sandra works to drive social mobility within the legal sector and supports many initiatives to promote and sponsor progress on improving social mobility.

Sandra is also the Midlands Chair at TheCityUk, a membership body, lobbying on behalf of the financial and related professional services industry. Sandra is also a Trustee at the charity National Numeracy.

Amir Nooriala

Trustee

Amir Nooriala is a retired Tech Executive, having been the Chief Strategy Officer of Callsign and the Chief Operating Officer of OakNorth Bank. Amir started his career at Cisco Systems, Accenture, Barclays and Cantor Fitzgerald where he was a Managing Director.

Amir now runs his own Technology micro buy-out firm Aurias and is an active Technology angel investor with his wife Claire Valoti (norlonbg.com). Amir is a long-standing champion for social mobility in the UK – being a multi-tenure trustee of Making the Leap and the UK Social Mobility Awards (SOMOs).

Andy Boucher

Trustee

Former PwC Partner who previously specialised in corporate tax. After working over several years with Smith & Nephew as European Tax Manager and later with Andersen Consulting where he developed the EMEA tax function, he rejoined PwC in December 2000, focusing almost exclusively on international structuring for multi-national organisations.

He became a partner at PwC in 2005, until he retired in 2021. Since retirement he has been fully focused on social mobility, homelessness/homelessness prevention and other social issues. As well as Vice Chair of Making The Leap, where he has been a trustee since 2011, he is also Chair of Sir George Monoux College and Show Your Connection, a trustee of GambleAware and Co-founder of ESMA.

Catherine

Trustee

Catherine is a Partner within the HR Practice and their UK DE&I Ambassador at Page Executive, the executive search division of Page Group PLC, FTSE 250. She specialises in HR Leadership & Board level appointments across London, plus managing senior Diversity, Equity & Inclusion mandates nationally.

Her entire career has been within Recruitment. Over 25 years’ experience of which she has focused on HR for the past 17 years. Her passion lies in providing clients diversity of candidates that represent the world around us and their customer base and working loosely with HR and business leaders in creating an inclusive culture where everyone feels like they belong. She runs many DE&I client’s events, seminars and is also a co-founder of ENABL – Empowerment Network for Asian & Black Leaders that focuses on providing access to Black & Asian leaders across all sectors to Board appointments.

She is a true advocate for the recognition of intersectionality of diversity and that by focusing on accessing opportunities early on in one’s life can help ensure maximising of one’s potential.

Dipi

Trustee

With over 25 years’ experience of the financial services industry, Dipi has held Executive and Board roles at Fidelity International, the FCA, Barclays, Deutsche Bank, M&G, Capco and PA Consulting, and is now Chief Controls Officer for the Insurance, Pensions & Investments business at Lloyds Banking Group.

She has operated as a Managing Director, Global Head of Business Risk and Controls, Chief of Staff, Transformation Director and Chief Operating Officer, supporting the transformation, growth and resilience of firms across the globe. Within Fidelity, Dipi was an Executive Board Member, a member of the Global Executive Committees and sat on Fidelity’s Global D&I Leadership Council.

Dipi is also a Non-Executive Director and Board Member of “Progress Together” – a membership body that drives socio-economic diversity at senior levels across UK financial services. In 2022, she received the Freedom of the City of London in recognition for her contribution to the Financial Services industry.

Dom Scott

Trustee

Dom Scott has gained over 18 years’ experience working in the property and financial services sectors, including roles as a member of the Foxtons plc Executive Committee; and as the managing director of Alexander Hall, an award winning directly authorised FCA regulated business. He currently works as the managing director of Lifetime Connect, a UK wide financial services provider; a board member 360 DotNet, a leading financial services technology provider; and a board member of the Association of Mortgage Intermediaries, where he collaborates with other business leaders to improve how the sector works for all stakeholders.

He is an avid believer in empowering the next generation, having started his career working with SEN pupils in inner-city London schools. He continues to drive change by being actively involved in a range of initiatives including; being a founding member of the D&I Finance Forum Steering Committee, where he works to make the financial services sector more inclusive; one-to-one mentoring for young people looking to advance their workplace opportunities; and supporting the Black Young Professionals Network (BYP) as an angel investor and a regular panel host.

His values are hard work, integrity and collaboration which underpins his approach to life and business.

Emma

Trustee

Emma is a PwC Partner with 22 years’ experience; spending the first five years in the audit practice working in the London, Queensland and New York offices and the latter 17 years in tax advising multinational groups and their senior management teams.

Emma is also recognised as a diversity and inclusion leader being a member of PwC’s diverse and inclusive work environment group. Emma is passionate about inclusion and is committed to taking action so that people from all backgrounds can be themselves, progress and succeed.

She is experienced in applying her professional knowledge and skills for wider education and social purposes including participating in the Outreach “Work Ready Programme” which involved delivering skills-based workshops to help unemployed people get back to work.

Emma acts as a mentor to people inside and outside PwC. She has a passion for charitable causes, particularly focused on young people from less advantaged backgrounds and has participated in numerous charitable sporting events.

John Williams

Trustee

John is Head of Sales EMEA at On. He is a globally experienced, commercial and brand building leader, with over 20 years of experience within the sporting goods and fashion sectors, across a global, diverse and multi-channel market. John has previously worked for the leading brands of Puma, Ted Baker and Under Armour, in roles of Sales Director, Managing Director and Regional Director.

First and foremost John is a leader. His priority in business is people and culture. ‘Take care of your people and everything else will follow’, is something he fundamentally believes in. He is also passionate about helping people reach their full potential whether professionally or in the community, including the youth sports teams he coaches at weekends.

Laurence Meehan

Trustee

Laurence is the Corporate Relations Director for Diageo’s Great Britain business, where he has worked since 2017. Previously he held campaigning, public affairs and media roles at the Nuclear Decommissioning Authority, the Local Government Association, and the Royal College of Nursing.

He has also worked in a number of roles across Westminster covering a range of issues including race relations, arms control, homelessness, and gun crime.