Interim CEO Saqib Deshmukh reflects on new AYJ Strategy for 2023-25
The AYJ is excited to launch its strategy for 2023-25: Reimagining justice for children and young people. Here, our interim Chief Executive shares thoughts on our work ahead.
It’s been a labour of love producing the new AYJ strategy which is the first one since the renaming of the organisation. After an in-depth consultation with our members and stakeholders and discussions at Board level this was signed off last month, and is ready to share. It has been a period of transition here; I would like to thank Pippa Goodfellow, the previous CEO, for her work on this so she can pick this up on her return from her sabbatical in July 2023.
We have identified five priorities that will help us deliver our mission, bringing together and supporting the strength, knowledge, and skills of our members to drive positive change for children and young people. These are:
1. Improve systems, services, and support
2. Develop evidence-based solutions
3. Strengthen our membership
4. Amplify children and young people’s voices
5. Be a more effective organisation
Our new strategy is key to how the AYJ engages with its mission. With an increased onus on membership engagement, we’ll be increasingly looking to work with organisations led by and for racially minoritised communities, and we want to try and support them to improve capacity to influence and make change around racial injustice. It's also about recognising the new generation of start-ups and SME/non-profits that are now operating in the youth justice space. Many of them are black and/or women led small organisations, and the nature of delivery has changed - something that the AYJ is very much alive to.
Another key area is ensuring that we continue to support children and young people's voice being heard, and continually amplified, in policy circles. It’s important that as a membership-based organisation we are fully inclusive, ensure that children and young people’s engagement with the AYJ is as accessible as possible, and that a range of children’s voices are enabled to engage effectively in policy and influencing work. It’s vital that we ensure that this work is done on an equitable basis and that children and young people have opportunities to gain useful experience and qualifications. In our recent partnership with Manchester Metropolitan University, the Young Advocates from Leaders Unlocked were able to obtain AQA qualifications
Having a diverse range of members has always been important to the AYJ in terms of developing our evidence base - and again, small organisations are key to this, so we can give voice to a range of perspectives including those informed by grassroots activities in the youth justice system. We know there are gaps in the research and that these need to be prioritised.
We know there needs to be systemic change in youth justice, and to achieve this we want to work at a more regional and local level to influence and identify good practice, ensuring that we target the regional and city mayors and Police and Crime Commissioners to hold them to account. We know that in our own work we need to develop a consistent message and language for describing issues of racial injustice. Finally, that AYJ becomes a more effective and sustainable organisation, and we continue to review our own practice when it comes to recruitment at all levels and how our members are representative of those most impacted.
We look forward to working with our members, welcoming new ones and all our stakeholders in 2023 and wish you all a merry Christmas, happy Hanukkah, happy Kwanzaa and a very happy New Year.
Saqib Deshmukh. Interim CEO AYJ December 2022
Read the strategy here.