The John Smith Centre Minority Ethnic Emerging Leaders Programme was a professional and personal development opportunity for 50 young people between the ages of 18 – 29 from minority ethnic backgrounds across Scotland.
The Programme ran between September 2021 and November 2022.
Funded by the Scottish Government, the programme provided young people with a part-time internship for 9 months with a public sector organisation, a voluntary sector organisation or an NGO.
Participants on the programme also received:
- A National Living Wage equivalent grant.
- An allocated mentor.
- Access to networking and employability opportunities.
- Membership of the John Smith Centre’s Alumni Network in perpetuity.
Participant Testimonials
Participating in the Minority Ethnic Emerging Leaders Programme (MEELP) at the John Smith Centre was an incredibly rewarding experience for me as it allowed me to grow as a young professional through 1:1 mentorship, a placement at a leading human rights organisation, and invites to ongoing events which also offered peer support. Shortly after my internship concluded, I secured a research operations role at Snook, a service design agency working with various public and third-sector organisations. I’ve been able to flourish in my role there using the tools I gained on MEELP, as I now have the leadership skills required to approach project management and delivery with confidence. Being exposed to the workings of public sector organisations during my internship placement has also given me a better understanding of the workings and challenges that face my clients working in, or for, government. Also, as my work at Snook requires research on a range of topics affecting people across the UK, having a peer-support system of other programme participants to consult for their expertise adds ongoing value to my work, which I’m really grateful for. I can’t recommend the John Smith Centre’s programmes enough for fellow young people seeking to develop themselves professionally and shape the future of Scotland’s political landscape.
I took part in the first Ethnic Minority Leadership Programme in 2021, and I concluded my internship experience with the STUC in 2022. It was a challenging period to get involved in work – since we dealt with the barriers of COVID at the time. But overall, this was an amazing chance to make my CV stand out and in truth it really elevated me to full-time employment at Barclays. Your confidence, just over little things like picking up a phone, improves exponentially on this program. You aren’t set aside, and the work experience you gain is meaningful in that it sets you up for future roles. A lot of people in our communities suffer from poor professional networking, in that we go to university and end up with nothing afterward because we don’t know what to do next. This development programme is like an antidote to that. You can go anywhere if you be yourself, turn up, and learn. I think everyone from BME communities, especially those with immigrant parents, knows the meaning of succeeding university and reaching professional employment. The John Smith Centre gave us the opportunity to do just that.
Participant Testimonials
Participating in the Minority Ethnic Emerging Leaders Programme (MEELP) at the John Smith Centre was an incredibly rewarding experience for me as it allowed me to grow as a young professional through 1:1 mentorship, a placement at a leading human rights organisation, and invites to ongoing events which also offered peer support. Shortly after my internship concluded, I secured a research operations role at Snook, a service design agency working with various public and third-sector organisations. I’ve been able to flourish in my role there using the tools I gained on MEELP, as I now have the leadership skills required to approach project management and delivery with confidence. Being exposed to the workings of public sector organisations during my internship placement has also given me a better understanding of the workings and challenges that face my clients working in, or for, government. Also, as my work at Snook requires research on a range of topics affecting people across the UK, having a peer-support system of other programme participants to consult for their expertise adds ongoing value to my work, which I’m really grateful for. I can’t recommend the John Smith Centre’s programmes enough for fellow young people seeking to develop themselves professionally and shape the future of Scotland’s political landscape.
I took part in the first Ethnic Minority Leadership Programme in 2021, and I concluded my internship experience with the STUC in 2022. It was a challenging period to get involved in work – since we dealt with the barriers of COVID at the time. But overall, this was an amazing chance to make my CV stand out and in truth it really elevated me to full-time employment at Barclays. Your confidence, just over little things like picking up a phone, improves exponentially on this program. You aren’t set aside, and the work experience you gain is meaningful in that it sets you up for future roles. A lot of people in our communities suffer from poor professional networking, in that we go to university and end up with nothing afterward because we don’t know what to do next. This development programme is like an antidote to that. You can go anywhere if you be yourself, turn up, and learn. I think everyone from BME communities, especially those with immigrant parents, knows the meaning of succeeding university and reaching professional employment. The John Smith Centre gave us the opportunity to do just that.
Take a look at some of the organisations who took part in Programme:
The Minority Ethnic Emerging Leaders Programme was generously funded by the Scottish Government.
