London, March 2026 – After 13 years of backing young people to lead change in their communities, The Agency is now an independent charity.
Since 2013, more than 900 young people across the UK have taken part in The Agency, launching 277+ youth-led social enterprises and community projects, creating 167 jobs and reaching 41,000+ people. These initiatives have addressed challenges including knife crime, social isolation, mental health, unemployment and representation — each one designed and led by Agents responding to the realities of their own communities.
The Agency model was brought to the UK through a partnership between Battersea Arts Centre, Contact and People’s Palace Projects, inspired by a methodology created by Brazilian theatre maker and activist Marcus Faustini in the favelas of Rio de Janeiro, Brazil.
Photo credit: Victor Oderinde
“The Agency was born from a belief that young people are not problems to be solved but creators of new futures. What began in the favelas of Rio was an invitation for young people to recognise their potency and act on it. Seeing my idea travel across countries and cultures, and now stand as an independent movement in the UK, is a powerful reminder that creativity and courage can transform communities anywhere.”
– Marcus Faustini
What began as an invitation to young people in Rio has grown into a national model of youth-led change. Today, Agents are leading impactful projects in Belfast, Bolton, Chester, London, Manchester and Southampton. All projects address locally identified social challenges.
“What Marcus Faustini created in the favelas of Rio was not a local solution to a local problem; it was something the world needed to see. A proof that young people facing the sharpest edges of inequality are not in need of rescue; they are generators of change. The Agency becoming independent, led by the very people it was built for, is not a surprise to us. They are no longer the future of this movement, they are running it.”
– Paul Heritage/ People’s Palace Projects
A new chapter of leadership
Independence marks the transition from a programme to a standalone organisation with national reach and long-term sustainability. Alumni Agents now sit on the board, ensuring lived experience shapes decision-making. In each location, alumni are employed within the programme, creating clear progression pathways into paid leadership and facilitation roles. Around half of all delivery budgets continue to go directly to young people and their ideas.
Saad Eddine Said joins as Chair of the Board. A cultural leader known for advancing citizen-led governance and institutional transformation, he will help drive the organisation’s next chapter.
“The Agency of Change has demonstrated what becomes possible when young people are trusted with real responsibility and supported to lead. The task ahead is to embed that trust structurally, so that youth leadership is not dependent on a programme or funding cycle but becomes part of the civic infrastructure of our towns and cities.
In the years ahead we should see alumni shaping policy, leading institutions and mentoring the next generation, with The Agency recognised as a national framework for intergenerational leadership.”
– Saad Eddine Said
Also new to the Board are Alumni Agents Henrietta Imoreh and Aaron Omotosho who join as Trustees, ensuring lived experience shapes decisions at every level. Alongside Rosie Hunter, Executive Director of Peoples Palace Projects and Tarek Iskander, CEO and AD of BAC.
“Joining the board of trustees feels like a natural next step in a journey that began when I first became an Agent.”?- Aaron Omotosho
“I entered The Agency lacking confidence, tools and stability. Receiving funding and support gave me power for the first time — the power over my story, my project and how I wanted to create change.”?– Henrietta Imoreh
A Moment of Gratitude
Thank you to the artists, project managers, panellists and mentors, the partners who have hosted the programme, and the funders who recognised the importance of trusting young people with real agency. Most of all, the Agents whose ideas, courage and creativity continue to define what we stand for.
We look forward to working with new funders and partners as we continue building this movement together.
Independence is not the end of a journey; it enables us to scale the model, deepen impact and strengthen long-term delivery.
Creativity is power. The next chapter of The Agency of Change starts now. We invite partners, funders and collaborators to work with us to grow this model nationally.