Throughout 2024, we have stepped up our efforts in delivering our company values. When it comes to diversity and inclusion and our commitment to fostering a workplace that welcomes and supports people of all backgrounds, cultures, beliefs and abilities, we have implemented brilliant new processes and encouraged an open dialogue around the topic through blog posts and in team meetings. But we kept feeling that there was more we wanted to do within the wider community to facilitate long-lasting impact .

After plenty of research, we found The Access Project – a UK organisation that supports young people from under-resourced backgrounds to help them access top universities and achieve social mobility. Students in their final school years get to work with volunteer coaches who help them prepare for higher education and the working world.

We immediately felt that this programme was a great fit for us. Our UK team will document the process and share our thoughts and feelings throughout our coaching journey. We hope it inspires other climate tech professionals to share their expertise with students so that young people become more aware of the opportunities available in the climate tech space while learning valuable skills for any career they want to embark on.

Why did we want to become coaches?

Martha: I was interested in the idea of supporting the same student over a long period of time. I had previously volunteered in schools before, helping younger children become more confident at reading, and seeing their confidence grow over the months was really rewarding.

Sam: The Access Project appealed to me largely because I loved my own university experience so I wanted the opportunity to help others access this and felt the subject of the coaching was something I would already have genuine passion for. I did similar work during my time at university which involved running workshops for under-resourced sixth form/college students so I already have experience and interest in supporting young people to access higher education.

Lucia: Giving a new generation of people with diverse backgrounds a strong overview of the work opportunities available to them is one of the best ways to help young people unfold their potential and, in a much longer term, to change the world of professional work, especially climate tech, to reflect all of our society much better than it does now.

Paige: I’ve always been interested in supporting young people because I remember how challenging it was to head off to university and into the working world without a mentor to offer guidance or practical tools.

I see this as an opportunity for me to be the person that I wish I had access to when I was about to leave school. 

What do you hope to learn and achieve during your time as a volunteer?

Lucia: I want to learn what moves and drives young people and what concerns and fears they have. I want to think about how that matches up with the need of the climate tech industry to start building bridges between the two. I’m hoping to show a young person opportunities and ways of thinking they weren’t aware of before.

Martha: I imagine that as I prepare and deliver the sessions on each of the four skills we are coaching our students in – communication, problem solving, organisation, collaboration – that I will improve my own skills in these areas too. The reason we are coaching in these skills is because they are relevant to all areas of work life, so I would like to make progress in these areas myself.

The main thing I hope to achieve is to support my assigned student in achieving their goal – which is being accepted by the university of their choice.

Paige: I want to learn more about the challenges and fears that young people are currently facing, and I hope to offer them reassurance and support that will encourage them as they move forward. I also want to become a better mentor and leader throughout this process.

Sam: I’m looking forward to developing tried and tested coaching techniques that work. I enjoy being able to give advice and support to people in my areas of expertise, but I’d like to know that I’m doing so in a way that I know is constructive and impactful for the student.

What do you think will be the biggest challenge for you?

Paige: Coaching is not something that I have ever done before so the whole experience, being new, will be a challenge. I’m sure it will be hard to build that initial rapport with my coachee and switch off from work mode but I’m hopeful that it will be a challenge that I quickly overcome.

Lucia: To be very open to their experience and not conflate it with my own.

Sam: I think it could potentially be challenging to switch from our usual day-to-day work at Life Size to coaching, as it’s completely different and requires different skills. I think it will be important to take some time before coaching sessions to prepare and transition properly from my Life Size role to coaching.

Martha: Coaching is a totally new skill for me. I have received and benefitted from coaching in different forms before, whether during education or my career, so it will be interesting to see what it’s like on the coaching side rather than the coachee side. The unknown is of course nerve-racking, but I am sure I will learn a lot about myself in the process.

How do you feel that this opportunity will contribute to our value: To foster a diverse and inclusive culture?

Sam: I think that volunteering with students who are from under-resourced backgrounds will be an important opportunity for us to gain perspective on some of the diversity and inclusion challenges that exist in work and education. Access to higher education can have a huge knock-on effect on a person’s subsequent career, so as Life Size is an employer, it could give us valuable insights that we may be able to take into our recruitment processes and standards.

Paige: For us as individuals and for Life Size, it will provide us with the opportunity to learn more about the specific challenges that young people from under-resourced backgrounds face so that we can find ways to help break down those barriers.
I also think that it will help these students by giving them access to mentorship and support that could be a driving force to accessing universities or jobs in the future. 

Martha: The students The Access Project work with come from under-resourced backgrounds, meaning they experience extra barriers to attending university. By working to remove these barriers, the Life Size team will be helping to create a more even playing field for these students and help improve diversity in UK universities.

Also, something we discuss a lot when working on this value is the fact that as a small business, the Life Size team should focus on ‘small’ but impactful actions in our values work. With this volunteering opportunity, we are each helping just one student but dedicating ourselves to them with regular sessions across six months. I believe this will be more impactful than if we had just one session with multiple students.

Lucia: It’s the one activity we can commit to that will have the most profound impact, in the long run. It’s our opportunity to share our perspectives with the next generation and help make climate perspectives normal among young people.

What’s next?

Our coaching sessions have begun and will continue, once a month, until June so we’ll keep you updated on our progress and the outcome. Make sure that you’re following us on LinkedIn for regular updates. 

Are you interested in becoming a coach for The Access Project? Find out more here: https://theaccessproject.org.uk/. 

What commitments are you making to increase diversity and inclusion in the climate tech ecosystem? We’d love to hear from you via email or LinkedIn.