condefuture pilot 2025 | seeitworking2024

CONDEFUTURE LONDON SUMMER CAMP EVALUATION

In September 2024 we started developing a partnership with Condé Nast to pilot a youth engagement project in London – as part of a collaboration between Taking Shape Association, Be Heard As One, SEEit Working Trust. The CondéFuture London pilot is a genuine collaboration between community-led and mainstream arts and media organisations to create quality, relevant, creative education and employment opportunities with progression pathways for young people in marginalised communities. It focuses on developing more accessible and inclusive media and publishing industries by integrating an innovative careers pathway, working with Youth Work organisations on training for creatives on working with young people, recruitment, mentoring and ongoing support.

TIMELINE

September 2024 – March 2025

We started developing a partnership with Condé Nast to pilot a youth engagement project in London

April - May 2025

Planning around safeguarding, policy etc, RoEL sessions with the whole project team, Training of Youth Work leads on Conde Nast and publishing industry and criteria for programme. Training for Conde Nast and Creatives on working with young people.

June - July 2025

Recruitment of young people and offers.

August 2025

Delivery of 10 days of workshops, field trips, creative sessions, mentoring, homework assignments, and presentations (detailed schedule below)

September-December 2025

Evaluation & reflection

January -February 2026

Planning CondeFuture 2026 for May/June

This project supported the following:

Increased diversity in the UK’s media and publishing industries
Increased access to media and publishing employment for young people from East London
Increased knowledge for Youth Workers in East London about the routes into employment in the media and publishing for the young people they are supporting
Increased representation of stories and creativity from East London in the UK’s media and publishing

OUTPUTS

Participants include young people, delivery team, and mentors/speakers:

People gaining access to jobs 8
Accessing lifelong learning opportunities (early learning and schools through to late career, and post retirement. 21
Participation in career workshops and related learning offers 21
Bespoke career and higher education path support. 11
One to one careers and relevant coaching/ mentoring 11

ACTIVITIES

Day 1 – ALL Team Planning and Rules of Engagement Learning Session

Thursday, Aug 14th from 12:00PM-3PM (lunch provided)

@ Conde Nast London offices

Day 2 - Orientation and Introductions w. Students

Friday, Aug 15th from 10:00AM-2PM (lunch provided)

@ Forest Gate Youth Zone

Staff Introductions
Group discussion about expectations and Ideas for the project?
What are the students hoping to get out of the programme and any questions they might have? What are we hoping to build together? What is most exciting for us all about this programme? What values do we want to bring to this work?
Introducing Condé Nast

Day 3 – Careers in Publishing FIELD TRIP: CONDÉ NAST OFFICES

Monday, Aug 18th from 10AM-2PM (lunch provided by Condé)

Objectives

Understand the different career opportunities within the world of Condé Nast.
Show how teams collaborate together and a breakdown of their different roles and responsibilities.
Visit the Condé offices and meet with staff.

Tutorial Session

We look at the scope of roles and responsibilities that are required when creating original content and running a global publishing company. We look at how staff collaborate with different departments at their publication, connect with various brands in the industry, and learn about their key roles and responsibilities.
Panel discussion with Condé staff with ntroduction from Adam Baidawi, Deputy Global Editorial Director of GQ and Head of GQ Britain.
Lunch mixer in the boardroom with Condé staff and mentors.
Office tour, photo opportunity

Day 4 – Brand Identity: Concept + Cover

Tuesday, Aug 19th from 10AM-2:00PM (snack provided)

@ Forest Gate Youth Hub

Objectives

Define media and its role in today’s media landscape, and how you will capture current times and your community with your project.
Understand the roles of an editor before you begin creating your issue.
Start thinking about who or what will be on your cover!

Tutorial Session

In the tutorial session today, we walk through the final project and get into small groups. We discuss the significance and responsibility of reflecting the current times through past, present, and future storytelling while building an audience. We begin ideating our final

project concept – the theme that will bring our issue together.

Day 5 – The Editorial Shoot Alaina Vieru: Director, Media Licensing – guest speaker

Wednesday, Aug 20th from 10AM - 2PM

@ Forest Gate Youth Hub

Objectives

Learn about the importance of mood boarding.
Create a production plan to make the most of your tomorrow. What kind of images do you need to capture?
Learn about editorial shoots (fashion or beauty or design) and how to tell a story with visuals.

Tutorial Session

We learn about the editorial shoot, how to create a mood board, and how to build a story using only images.

Day 6 – Photo Sourcing: Mood Board + Editorial Shoot

Thursday, Aug 21st from 10AM - 2PM

@ Forest Gate Youth Hub

Objectives

Sourcing original images that you can draw inspiration from.
Use original photographs that connect to our project and build a visual moodboard.
Images can also be used for editorial shoots, cover stories or community articles.

Tutorial Session

Fashion Shoot in and around Forest Gate Youth Zone Immersing ourselves in inspiration from our friends, family and community and noting what speaks to us, how it moves us, and how it could support our final project concept. We will art direct and capture original

photographs that can be used to complete our mood board, or source images for our editorial shoot.

Day 7 – Photoediting + Cover Story Drew (Creative) and Alison (Business Development/licensing)

Friday, Aug 22nd from 10:00AM - 2PM

@Forest Gate Youth Hub

Objectives

Select, edit, and finalize images for moodboard and cover for your magazine.
Build a compelling cover story that dives into your cover subject.

Tutorial Session

We discuss written content for the media landscape, and the different types of articles that one can find in a magazine such as features, interviews, and lifestyle topics. We also look at how written content is adapted for different channels. We begin working on our cover story.

Day 8 – Community Feature Article PHOTOSHOOT Timi and Shannon Leads

Tuesday, Aug 26th from 10AM - 2PM

in and around Forest Gate Youth Zone

Objectives

Highlight and showcase our local community in a feature article.
Create the headline and outline the story you plan to tell.

Tutorial Session

We spend the morning exploring our surrounding community for inspiration, and building an article pitch idea that highlights and features what we have seen. How do we take our surroundings, and build a feature that is true to the area but aligns with our concept and

brand that we have selected. We capture images and content to reinforce our mood board, and strengthen our pitch presentation.

Day 9 – Writer’s Workshop + Post Production Daniel (from GQ Spain)

Wednesday, Aug 27th from 10:30AM - 2:00PM

@ Forest Gate Youth Hub

Objectives

Students will draft their original article that highlights their community. The article should include:
- Captivating headline
- Word count between 200-250 words
- Min. of 3 original images
- Layout completed in Canva
Students organize their presentations in a deck, ready to showcase their work and have their original issue greenlit
Final presentation decks should include:
- Introduction to brand + concept + mood board
- Mock cover, headlines, cover story
- Editorial spread with min. 6 images
- Community article layout

Tutorial Session

Our community field trip transforms into an original editorial feature, highlighting what we

explored and crafted for our brand's audience. Students will work together to finalize the

copy, edit the article, complete layout with images, etc.

NOTES:

All young people committed to and attended Learning sessions and carried out homework tasks (research, interviews, writing articles etc) in their own time
As well as the project task, the young people and mentors working in groups:
- Talking about roles, recruitment and pay
- Hard work and the long hours
- Software and AI
- Fashion start ups
Massive improvements in the young people eg:
- Confidence
- Written work
- Images
- Team work
- On time
- Respectful
- Asking questions
- Engaged and learning
- Conversation/interaction with all Conde Nast staff great

Day 10 - Rehearsal + Summer Showcase

Thursday, Aug 28th from 1:30PM - 6:00PM (refreshments w. Showcase)

@ Forest Gate Youth Zone – last practices

@ Conde Nast Offices – Showcase to invited guests including family

Objectives

Highlight and feature our community in an editorial feature.
Pitching your idea and getting it “greenlit.”
Highlight one piece of inspiration from the museum in 100 words.

Tutorial Session

Our final full day together prepares students for the showcase as they finalize their presentations and complete a full run-through.

Students will be responsible for the “pitch” to Condé staff, workshop team and Forest Gate Youth Zone team as they receive their final greenlight to bring their special issue to life.
Final Showcase
- Original issue pitch with brand and concept.
- Mood board for the whole issue and explaining why you chose the concept, and how it connects to both the brand, the audience, and yourself.
- Mock cover with headlines.
- (1) completed editorial spread.
- (5) Headlines for additional articles + mood board for each article.

VIEW FINAL PRESENTATIONS in POWER POINT:

Vogue Bon Appetit

OUTCOMES

Participants gained technical/sector- specific and/or creative skills
Participants gained essential skills
Participants gained confidence in their potential and self-initiative
Participants are better equipped to process difficult emotions
Participants are equipped to act as agent of change in their boroughs
Organisations exposed to creative approaches to wellbeing
Supported increased diversity in the creative/entrepreneurial sector in the boroughs
Supported more diverse audiences engaged with the cultural sector
Participants act as agents of change within the local community
Organisations integrate creative approaches within their projects
Increased employability of participants
Increased capacity for innovation and entrepreneurship
Participants act as agents of change within the local community

Conde Nast free course offering for the young people 2026:

“Once these courses are live, we will have the full details. There will be two course offerings, and a student's current age will dictate which track they are enrolled in. The essentials courses are a series of skill based certificate courses for students 17 or younger.

They will launch in early 2026. We also plan to launch credit bearing and certificate focussed courses for students 18+ with more details to come. All are scheduled to launch in 2026.“

What did CondeFuture get out of it and what did the Conde Nast mentors get out of it…and did meeting the youth workers and going to the youth centre add to the experience/help connect with the young people?

“Our community programs allow staff to share their creative skills and personal career journey with a group that represents the future talent pool. This employee engagement opportunity directly correlates with employee retention and overall satisfaction. It's always an incredible opportunity to work alongside and learn from a younger generation, and our staff are motivated to increase these opportunities.

Being able to visit the community and have students visit and present in our office made the exchange more meaningful as we came together as peers - each group learning a great deal from the other.”

Feedback from Shannon Ghannam, Director of Development and Programming, Peter Marlow Foundation.

“Overall I think the project was hugely beneficial for the young people we worked with, and Conde Nast wanting to work with us all again is a good sign that they also had a good experience. I think this project highlighted some of the power dynamics that come up in

partnership working, and for grass roots organisations/charities working with large corporations or institutions. A learning for me is the need to build in much more time (and fund this time) in order to have conversations about power dynamics and to create systems within a collaboration to overcome these. This project has strengthened my understanding of and commitment to, the need to partner with lived experience-led organisations and for them to lead on design of the work, and to actively discuss barriers to that happening.”

Dr Ian Joseph Senior Lecturer in Youth Studies at the Open University, also joined the project

Previously, he was a Lecturer in Criminology at the University of East London. He has over 30 years of policy/applied research experience that provides him with a grounded mix of practice-based teaching, policy-related scholarship, knowledge exchange and co-production through collaborative partnerships. His career contains an extensive body of qualitative and quantitative research covering a wide range of policy/ applied issues, with a specific focus on race and inclusion. Ian has been the principal investigator and/or had a leading role on several large-scale research and evaluation projects that focus on policing, youth justice, and gang violence intervention to name just a few. He is currently the principal investigator for the evaluation of a community-based public health approach programme that is focused on mitigating youth violence in London.