Hi, my name is Agno and I am a 22 year old who is a member of the WWF-UK Impact Committee which I joined in October last year! After graduating in Natural Sciences, I knew I wanted to make a tangible impact on the environment but wasn’t sure where to begin.

Joining the WWF-UK Impact Committee as a young person was a big leap, but it’s been an incredibly rewarding journey. The passion I saw during the application process and being able to interact with people working at WWF-UK really cemented my desire to join the committee and it has been a wonderful experience so far. One thing that stood out to me was how much thought had been put into catering to young people and making sure everyone had a fair chance to interview and be considered in the process.

A little bit about what WWF does: the World Wild Fund for Nature (WWF) is the world’s leading independent conservation organisation. WWF has developed a science based strategy that focuses on the links between food, climate and biodiversity loss and emphasises the importance of good governance in helping them deliver this in the best way possible.

The WWF-UK Impact Committee is a key governance structure put in place to help do this. Its primary purpose is to evaluate, assess and contribute to strategies that WWF-UK takes for science, communication and public engagement. It works to help advise the governing Board of Trustees on the effectiveness and future direction of WWF’s work.

I was actually enrolled onto the Board Boost programme by WWF-UK as part of their onboarding process when I joined the Impact Committee. It was a very thoughtful gesture that reflected their commitment to meaningful youth involvement in governance, and I’m really glad they made that investment.

It is a daunting space to come into when you are new and the Board Boost programme works to enable young members to be well equipped to engage meaningfully in governance. I think the way that Board Boost is set up enables the participating young people and their charities to really make sure they think about their needs and the purpose of being on the board/committee. It provides a valuable space for reflection on what is being done well and what the points of improvement are. I felt very lucky to be a part of an organisation like WWF-UK, that made sure we felt comfortable in understanding the structures and in asking the right question.

At first, I came in thinking the sessions would be very formal and perhaps detached from real experience. But the opposite was true, Board Boost was one of the most welcoming and thoughtful spaces I’ve been a part of. The programme had structure but also felt personalised and took into account our individual needs and was flexible and understanding to our individual situations.

At the time of the first Board Boost session, I was excited to be stepping into this role but also a little unsure of what to expect. I knew I wanted to make a contribution, but governance structures can feel quite unfamiliar if you haven’t been in those spaces before. Board Boost offered a grounding in the practicalities of trusteeship and, more importantly, a space to reflect on how to navigate that space as a young person.

I was surprised by how holistic the programme was. It went well beyond just the technical side of governance - covering more than just legal duties or how to read financial statements (although those were covered and very useful!).

One of the most impactful aspects for me was the space given to reflection. Rather than rushing from one piece of content to the next, there was a real encouragement to pause and think about what the material meant in the context of our own lived experiences and the organisations we were involved with. The programme was comprehensive and made sure to address how we show up in these spaces, why our perspectives matter, and how to challenge ourselves and others constructively.

The Action Learning Sets were a particularly powerful part of that. They provided a confidential and supportive environment where we could bring real challenges we were facing, whether that was uncertainty about a decision or difficulty understanding a complex paper. As a group, we worked through each person’s situation together, exploring different ways to approach the problem. Often, we’d discover that an issue one person raised was something others had also experienced, which meant we could share strategies and reassurance.

Knowing you’re not alone in those moments, and hearing how someone else overcame a similar challenge was a great part of these sessions.

My favourite part was definitely the cohort experience through being in a space with other young people navigating similar roles across different charities. It created this sense of collective reflection: realizing that the challenges I faced (like not knowing when to speak up in busy discussion with limited time) weren’t just issues I faced but shared across many people stepping into governance for the first time.

The action learning sets were incredibly grounding, we weren’t just learning about governance; we were applying that learning to real situations and thinking together about how to respond.

The biggest shift has been internal: I now contribute with more clarity and calm. I understand the context better, both in terms of charity governance structure and organisational dynamics, and that’s helped me engage more confidently in meetings.

I still don’t have all the answers and I think it’s instilled that it’s normal to be learning over time. But I feel far better equipped to ask the right questions, and to know when my perspective might add something useful.

It’s also helped me prepare for longer term engagement. I now know what being on a board entails, and I’d be open to taking on future roles where I can keep learning and influencing how decisions are made.

Even if you’re not sure whether governance is something you see yourself doing long term, Board Boost is a valuable space to explore that. It gives you tools, language, and confidence but also invites you to reflect on how your perspective can shift a room, challenge assumptions, and help organisations grow.

Whether you’re already in a board/committee role or just thinking about it, Board Boost gives you both the technical grounding and the reflective space to develop your own leadership style. It helps demystify governance, but more importantly, it helps you see yourself as someone who can be a part of these spaces.

The programme isn’t about showing up as a finished product. It’s about exploring, learning, asking questions, and realising that your perspective matters. You’ll meet others who are at different stages but facing similar questions and that solidarity is powerful.

The decisions that are made by today will shape the world that young people will live in tomorrow. Young people bring different lived experiences, we ask different questions and can notice things that others might miss. However, I should note that this is not a trait exclusive to young people, each person has distinctly different experiences and perspectives. Diversity in boards is exceptionally valuable for an organisation to inform their decision making process. This is why representation within a board is so important in my opinion, but it’s not just about having a ‘young person’s voice’ in the room. It’s about broadening what leadership looks like, and making governance more accountable, more curious, and more human.

Boards are also a great way to develop future leaders. When young people get exposure to decision making at this level, we can gain valuable skills and insights that shape leadership styles. It also fosters an environment of mentorship and knowledge sharing, blending experience with fresh, innovative ideas.

I think WWF-UK did an exceptional job in explaining this in the application guide for the Impact Committee and this particular part really spoke out to me:

“It is young people and future generations who will inherit a world whose urgent mission must be to tackle climate change and restore nature. And it is also your long-term perspective that will help us ensure our conservation, policy and campaigning work is fit for the challenges ahead”

This really resonated with me. When organisations are thinking about including young people on their boards, they should take the time to really consider how they present the role to potential candidates and onboard them. It’s about more than just filling a seat - it’s about giving young people the chance to shape the future.

📌** Register today and take your first step into shaping the future of leadership.**