By Joanna Finlay- Consulting Manager in Financial Wellbeing, Inclusion & Vulnerability, Sopra Steria Next UK
Following the launch of our corporate partnership with Villiers Park Educational Trust, one of our experts looks back at how Villiers Park supported her own career aspirations more than 20 years ago.
Today, Joanna Finlay, an expert in customer vulnerability and inclusive service design, helps service providers – such as banks and utility companies – to better identify and understand the needs of people in vulnerable circumstances. Her role as Consulting Manager, Customer Inclusion, means she supports vital strategic thinking in this area and influences change that benefits the lives of people across the UK.
But, to get to where she is now wasn’t without its struggles and Joanna’s story can help inspire young people today who face additional barriers or, for a variety of reasons, feel they don’t fit in. As a bright and academic child, Joanna promised great potential but also faced a difficult school life due to being bullied. Other children picked on her for being bright, which was compounded by anxiety and differences in how she thinks and communicates – something we’d now call neurodiversity. This meant she was always striving to be more like ‘someone else’.
Joanna naturally developed a keen interest in psychology and between school years 12 and 13, was offered the chance to go on a residential development programme for ‘promising psychology students’, run by leading social mobility charity, Villiers Park. In Joanna’s own words, it was a ‘game-changing moment’ in her life.
“I had a wonderful time at the Villiers Park residential. It was like someone had opened a door to a parallel universe where being smart was ‘cool’, and I felt like I belonged,” describes Joanna.
She continues, “I’d always been aware that some people have connections which open doors for them; or have the self-assurance to believe that doors should be opened for them. And while I didn’t, Villiers Park helped me to realise that we all have potential; that I could open doors for myself if I chose to – and that there are people ‘out there’ who can help.”
Joanna’s story shows it’s possible for every young person to reach their potential, given the right support, despite any barriers to success they may experience. Her unique story demonstrates the virtuous circle. She was once a young person offered support, and now she is passionate about helping others – and ensuring vulnerability isn’t a barrier to people accessing essential services.
Moreover, Joanna has signed up to be a mentor to young people supported by Villiers Park and will be helping the charity’s leadership team on accessibility and inclusion.
And knowing that, 22 years on from her own experience of being a young person supported by Villiers Park, her employer is now the charity’s principal corporate partner means Joanna is even more proud to be part of our organisation, as the partnership helps thousands of others to break through barriers and fulfil their potential.
She sums it up: “We’re reinforcing the message to diverse young people that we believe in them; that we’d love to have people like them on our team one day. It’s subtle, but that’s different to saying: ‘you could be like us one day’. Villiers Park helped me see that I was good enough to walk through some doors and do some stuff I could be proud of.”
Along with Villiers Park, we have already helped more than 1,200 young people break through barriers and fulfil their potential. One of the key features of our partnership is the Opportunities Fund, which was launched in response to the cost-of-living crisis and the disproportionate impact this has had on many young people in the UK.
The partnership also offers access to career guidance, office visits and mentoring. Meaning that more young people have access to experiences they otherwise would not have had. By helping to level the playing field for these brilliant young people, our partnership is helping to create more diversity in the next generation of leaders.