Community and Communications Associate - Youth Years

Ashoka’s vision is of an Everyone a Changemaker society, where every person — and young people in particular — have the confidence, ability, and support to be changemakers for the good of all. In a world defined by rapid change, interconnectedness and uncertainty, and where our social problems are deep and urgent, changemaking must become the new literacy. Such a shift is significant and will require a movement that fundamentally re-examines how young people grow up and learn — in and out of school — and how we see and support them today as change agents. It will require more than any specific curriculum or skill set, but rather a new mindset and new priorities.

This London-based role sits at the intersection of youth empowerment, community building, and strategic communications. You will help nurture a vibrant Generation Changemaker network—young people leading change across the UK and Europe—while also supporting Ashoka UK & Ireland’s broader communications strategy to strengthen visibility, storytelling, and engagement across our ecosystem.

This role is a 1-year fixed term contract, with the possibility of extension.

Closing date: Please submit your application before January 2nd, 2026.

Interviews will commence the week of January 12th, with an ideal start date is February 2nd, 2026.

• Youth Years / Generation Changemaker (70%)
• Nurturing and Building Relationships in the Youth Ecosystem
• Build and sustain authentic relationships with young changemakers, social innovators, educators, youth-led organisations, and ecosystem partners aligned with Ashoka’s mission.
• Act as a key connector within the Generation Changemaker network—creating opportunities for collaboration, peer learning, and mutual support.
• Understand and respond to the evolving needs, motivations, and journeys of young changemakers to shape meaningful opportunities for engagement.
• Represent Ashoka UK & Europe at youth gatherings, events, and partnerships to amplify the Generation Changemaker movement.

• Partnership Development and Support
• Support the Youth Years team in identifying, establishing, and maintaining partnerships that enhance impact and visibility for young changemakers.
• Work alongside Fellows, educators, and ecosystem partners to co-design initiatives that create long-term change in education and youth systems.
• Track partnership activity and report progress to ensure alignment with shared goals and impact outcomes.
• Stay informed on sector trends (education, youth leadership, social innovation) to identify new partnership opportunities.

• Opportunity Identification for Young Changemakers
• Conduct research and mapping to identify opportunities, awards, and platforms that can accelerate young changemakers’ impact.
• Identify barriers and co-create solutions to enable young people to take leadership roles in shaping society.
• Support delivery of flagship initiatives such as innovation challenges, accelerators, and storytelling projects. 

• Community Engagement and Communications
• Co-create and implement an engagement strategy to build visibility, connection, and belonging within the Generation Changemaker network.
• Develop engaging content (social media, newsletters, blogs, video scripts) that amplifies youth voices and celebrates changemaking stories.
• Support the design and delivery of events and campaigns that connect young changemakers with Ashoka Fellows, educators, and partners.
• Gather insights and feedback to continuously improve how we communicate and engage with our youth community.

• Ashoka UK & Ireland Communications (30%)
• Ashoka UK & Ireland Communications and Marketing (20%)
• Develop and implement Ashoka UK & Ireland’s communications and marketing strategy to strengthen visibility, brand positioning, and stakeholder engagement.
• Produce high-quality content for social media, newsletters, and web platforms that communicates Ashoka’s impact and community stories.
• Lead the coordination, design, and publication of Ashoka’s Annual Report.
• Monitor and evaluate communication KPIs to inform strategic decisions.
• Contribute to global and pan-European communication initiatives to ensure alignment of messaging and visual identity.
• Support the UKI team in refining key narratives, visual assets, and messaging for events, new Fellow launches, and ecosystem storytelling.

• First Book 2025/26 Showcase Challenge Communications (10%)
• Lead the communications strategy and delivery for the First Book 2025/26 Showcase Challenge.
• Work closely with the partnership team to ensure clear alignment in storytelling and messaging.
• Build and execute a communications plan that reaches key audiences, drives engagement, and achieves showcase KPIs.
• Support the knowledge manager in framing sessions, crafting the core Challenge question, and distilling insights into compelling messaging.
• Develop digital content (website copy, announcement materials, newsletters, and social media assets) to promote participation and share impact stories.

• You are passionate about youth empowerment, social innovation, and systems change.
• You have strong communication skills and enjoy crafting inspiring, human-centred stories.
• You're highly organised and able to balance multiple projects and timelines.
• You thrive in a fast-paced, collaborative environment where creativity and initiative are valued.
• An eye for design and a curiosity for digital engagement and storytelling trends.
• You're motivated by Ashoka’s mission to create a world where Everyone is a Changemaker.
• As this is not a visa-bearing role, successful candidates must have the right to work in the UK.

• Entrepreneurial Quality: Compelled to take creative initiative and ownership (e.g. founding an organization or company, starting a movement, or re-shaping the work of an existing organization). Demonstrates relentless and realistic how-to-thinking and passion for seeing their ideas come to life. 
• Understanding and Belief in the Everyone a Changemaker: Understands and believes the Everyone a Changemaker vision at a gut level. To be able to innately ‘get’ this, candidates should have a broad and inquisitive intellectual and a thinking pattern that connects the dots between historical trends and current social context. 
• Emotional and Social Intelligence: Ability to work efficiently and respectfully in teams, putting organizational/team goal first (personal glory second). 
• Ethical Fiber: Exceptionally strong ethical behavior. Is self-reflective and has strong empathy skills. Trustworthy. 
• Self-Definition: The person expects that changing the world in big ways and on a continental scale is what he/she will do in life.

About Ashoka:

Ashoka is the world’s largest community of leading social entrepreneurs, having pioneered the field of social entrepreneurship over 40 years ago. We support a robust network of more than 4,000 Ashoka Fellows in 90 countries who have successfully implemented systems-changing solutions to human and environmental problems globally. By learning from and collaborating with our Fellows and other social entrepreneurs, Ashoka identifies patterns and key levers to help society gain a new framework for living in the world as a changemaker. 

Our current work is centered around the "Everyone a Changemaker" (EACH) movement, which stems from our belief that everyone has the potential and responsibility to make positive change in an ever-changing world. We continue to grow a global movement of social entrepreneurship, recognizing that the rate of change is accelerating and our problems are growing faster than our solutions.