Introducing Mia Edwards, our new Policy and Communications Officer
“I have long been drawn to a career in which I can amplify the voices of those who often go unheard, and facilitate their empowerment as real changemakers in confronting injustice.”
Issues surrounding social justice have always interested me. Growing up as a woman of colour in a predominantly white town, I wrote about the nuances of race, gender, and class representation in my role as a fortnightly youth columnist for a local paper. I completed a research project on the persecution of my own ancestors as part of my A Level EPQ, which heightened my interest in the impact of circumstance on one’s life trajectory and prospects.
Meanwhile, I worked as a playworker and carer to children with a range of disabilities. I witnessed first-hand the discrimination experienced by the children and young people with whom I worked, and how governmental policy shaped their families’ experiences. I wrote on a freelance basis for numerous journalistic outlets about the systemic discrimination of minority young people, and those with additional needs. I felt emboldened to pursue a career platforming these voices, allowing them to be a shaping force for the policy that dictated their own futures.
I opted to study Politics, Philosophy and Economics at the University of Manchester, to develop a holistic understanding of policy and governance. I focused largely on Postcolonial Studies, and the developing concept of race in our ever-changing political landscape. Whilst studying, I worked as a Mentor for the charity DebateMate, and was selected to work with children on the brink of expulsion. It was within this job that I began to be exposed to the youth justice system, and its intersection with many of the concepts – race, gender, class, education – that I had explored in my journalism and studies. The risk factors of children and young people’s involvement with the criminal justice system were a direct symptom of the societal issues that for years had interested me.
During the pandemic, I worked as a Social, Emotional and Mental Health Support Worker in educational facilities throughout Greater Manchester for children who had been expelled from mainstream schools. Many of them were already in contact with the criminal justice system. The pandemic-driven depletion of the services that ordinarily could have helped them (for example, to be reintroduced to the mainstream system or monitored for their mental health) exacerbated to an even greater extent their disadvantage. I knew that I wanted to pursue a career making a real difference to their prospects, and challenging the processes that left them so vulnerable. I wanted the voices of children and young people to be central to my work.
I am thrilled to be realising this dream as a Policy and Communications Officer at the AYJ; I look forward to putting my skills and experiences to practice, and meeting those whose passions aligns with my own!
If you have any questions or ideas regarding our communications or policy strategy at the AYJ, please get in touch with Mia via email: mia.edwards@ayj.org.uk