In tackling the challenge of COVID19, world leaders face more scrutiny and more questions from the people than ever. Did they react in time? Did they have to hand, or provide, sufficient information for the rest of us? Did they have enough supplies of the kit that is needed? Have they saved lives or lost them when the outcome should have been different? The response to the leadership we have seen so far has been mixed. This is an extremely difficult situation and I do not envy those in charge.

But there was one message broadcast in April, a voice of leadership that resonated around the world and one that was almost universally admired. The messenger? Her Majesty The Queen. Her short address, broadcast on the BBC on April 5th 2020 had an audience of almost 24 million people in the UK alone. Her message that we will meet again hit exactly the right note. Hers were the words of “a truly remarkable human being” as Alistair Campbell put it so well in his response published in the Daily Telegraph the same day.

Great leaders bring clarity, certainty, a sense of resolve and an honesty that brings teams and organisations together. The same leadership brings families, communities and nations together in times of trial – walking together towards a common goal, often through dark days and great personal hardship. In her speech, The Queen showed this so clearly when she said “Together we are tackling this disease, and I want to reassure you that if we remain united and resolute, then we will overcome it”.

COVID19 messages are governed, it seems, by lists of what we cannot and must not do. The Queen, in her bright green dress that April evening, carried to us instead a message of hope in our shared humanity. We can be united, we can be resolute, we can overcome this. Hope is the most valuable currency in circulation these days, I think, and it is this hope that I see every day at work.

In my professional life, I have led two organisations working in The Queen’s name and to her example. The Queen’s Trust, a grant-making trust with the aim of helping young people help others and The Queen’s Commonwealth Trust, an organisation that exists to champion, fund and connect young people driving positive change around the world.

Both share a strong sense of The Queen’s belief in young people and all they can do just given a fair chance. At The Queen’s Commonwealth Trust, our approach is to get behind young people, looking for the potential that is there right before our eyes if we only look properly. It is optimistic, based on the expectation that, with the right support for all, the world can be better. Our President and Vice-President, The Duke and Duchess of Sussex, actively support our work, too and really understand the difference young people make.

In my twenty-three years in youth work, I have seen what happens when young people are given a chance. The effects are extraordinary – with lives transformed, broken relationships rebuilt and communities strengthened.

The young people I have worked alongside have often faced disadvantage on a huge scale.
Despite this, I always see in them three things – optimism, a drive to keep going no matter what and a burning desire to tackle injustice to help others. These are leadership qualities I admire and respect.

I see this leadership more and more in the work of The Queen’s Commonwealth Trust, which is in effect a growing network of young people who are changing their communities through their strong social purpose.

They have the lived experience at the grassroots that I believe really matters in international development – they know poverty, lack of access to education, the day to day effects of climate change and injustice – all this makes them well placed to know the local problems their communities face and the local solutions needed to address them. They are a huge global resource – yet less than 0.07% of the international aid budget goes to fund their ventures*.

Through our grant-making we fund them where we can and through digital channels, we share their stories, their insight, their experience and their advice. The plan is to unleash this potential, inspire millions of other young people to join in and see so many more communities transformed. We have discovered a big and fast growing audience for our messages.

Our social media following tripled in the last year. Our content reached over 42m people and the statistics show that people engage with our online content 5 times more than the industry average. There is a huge audience and interest in our work – that is, the promotion of young leadership that passes hope, like a baton, from hand to hand, around the world.

This leadership is rooted in a desire for fairness, for helping others, and in doing so providing jobs and resources to boost communities in a sustainable way. It is collaborative not competitive. Its only enemy is injustice. These leaders, these entirely relatable role models sharing their knowledge and experience, give others the confidence to believe they, too, are welcome to try, to lead, to join in as active participants in the pursuit to make the world a better place. The potential for this work, community by community, country by country, is enormous. Is it too much to dream that this leadership might in time to bring about a world where no-one will ever be so vulnerable again?

The young people working with us are not the target of impact investors. They run small operations, mostly at the grassroots, serving the communities around them, meeting the need they see. The difference they make, though, is profound.

In December 2016, The Queen’s Christmas address spoke to the value that is found in this kind of leadership, the value for each and every one of us, no matter where we live.

“…it’s understandable that we sometimes think the world’s problems are so big that we can do little to help. On our own, we cannot end wars or wipe out injustice, but the cumulative impact of thousands of small acts of goodness can be bigger than we imagine”.

This sentiment inspired the vision and mission of The Queen’s Commonwealth Trust. We show what happens when young leaders step forward to make a difference – and the positive chain reaction that follows. Join us.

*Firetail, Landscape research into youth-led development, 2018 and OECD ODA figures, Jan 2020