AYJ Membership Survey: The results
It's been more than two years since we relaunched as the AYJ, and during that time both our organisation and the world we're operating in has changed a lot. We want to make sure we're working in the ways our members find most valuable, so to develop our understanding of what opportunities and updates our members like to see from the AYJ, in April 2023 we conducted a membership survey. The results from the survey are informing decisions about the way we run member events and engage with members in the future.
What we found:
Since the pandemic, we have hosted our Members’ Meetings virtually, and other meetings either virtually or hybrid. Member survey responses highlighted a strong preference for meetings and events to be hybrid whenever possible.
Members’ Meeting Format Preferences: Event Format Preferences:
Members also highlighted that the format of guest speaker presentations could be altered to make the speeches more tailored to the policy interests of members.
“Interviews can sometimes be more engaging than presentations. ”
In terms of the types of events that respondents preferred, the results clearly showed that AYJ members would be excited to have Q&As with decisionmakers, networking opportunities, and parliamentary events.
Respondents highlighted the nourishing connections that they formed when meeting other members:
““From in-person events, we have made some useful connections.””
We are glad to see the vast majority of respondents are happy with the information we share each week in the newsletter, and with how we work with members for them to input into AYJ policy discussions. Members want to hear from each other and work together on particular issues.
Lastly, it was flagged that podcasts are useful ways to share updates and information about youth justice.
How we’re responding:
We are changing the format of our Members’ Meetings to make them more dynamic but just as accessible. We will now aim for all Members’ Meetings to be hybrid, and will be trialling a new interview technique with guest speakers to focus the conversation and maximise the opportunity for members to help shape the conversation. We also aim to support members to build relationships with the decisionmakers after the meeting.
We will plan in-person and hybrid events that ensure members have networking opportunities and access to decisionmakers. For example, next week on 25th May we’re holding a hybrid symposium on policing as part of our ‘Rethinking Policing’ policy priority.
We are due to release the first of our AYJ Podcast series, part of our ‘Reframing Violence’ policy priority, examining social harm.