Our Areas of Impact
Social Ark has been investing in leaders with lived experience since 2014, equipping young social entrepreneurs from under-resourced and sometimes challenging backgrounds with the skills to develop their own social businesses and access meaningful careers and employment opportunities. We’ve experienced being ‘othered’ and locked out of opportunities in favour of people who come up with 'solutions' to our toughest problems despite never walking a day in our shoes.
At Social Ark, challenging this closed-off mindset is at the core of everything we do. We exist to give young people the opportunities that others take for granted and ensure that young lived experience leaders are supported to be the very best they can be. Our work is rooted in systems change, addressing the root causes of social and economic injustice by placing power directly in the hands of those with lived experience to influence and shape the future.
Social Inclusion
The Social Ark ethos is to support the development of projects and businesses that uphold and insist on our inclusive values. Social Ark was born out of inequality, prejudice, and injustice. We are a truly inclusive, non-political, secular working-class organisation made up of individuals from all backgrounds, races, and faiths. By amplifying the voices of young people who have been historically marginalised, we challenge the systemic barriers that continue to exclude them.
Building Authentic Sustainability
Building authentic sustainability goes hand-in-hand with supporting lived experience leaders to hone the skills needed to be the change they want to see. We provide a programme of workshops, mentoring, and personalised support that enables young people to focus on their assets and talents. By working alongside them to navigate structural inequalities, we build on their goals and create a springboard of positive action that results in them becoming community leaders, shaping long-term solutions from the bottom up.
Empowering Lived Experience Leaders
Social Ark is passionate about supporting determined young people to become grassroots social entrepreneurs and community leaders. From experience, we know that individuals with the lived experience of the inequalities they seek to change will deliver the most impact. We empower young people not only to launch social businesses but also to influence decision-making at policy levels. By embedding systems change into our work, we challenge the power dynamics that have historically locked out working-class communities and create pathways for meaningful, lasting transformation.
Addressing Root Causes and Driving Systems Change
We recognise that actual change is not just about addressing symptoms but tackling root causes. Through our work, we support young leaders in challenging systemic injustice, reimagining policies, and creating alternative structures that benefit their communities. By centering lived experience in decision-making, we are helping to dismantle the cycles of exclusion and inequality that persist in society.
At Social Ark, we don’t just support social entrepreneurs—we cultivate changemakers who redefine the systems that have failed them. Our work is a movement towards equity, where lived experience leadership is not an exception but the norm.
