“I wanted to gain more diverse professional experience, and work in a way that would accommodate my family.”

What work were you doing previously?    

I worked in community development in Bradford, working with young people to help them develop leadership skills.

I’m originally from Nigeria, so before coming to the UK for my masters, I was involved in community advocacy and policy, particularly in youth-led campaigns that sought to shape change.

What are you doing now?    

I’m involved in a few different ventures! 

I now work as a consultant supporting organisations with their grant-making process. Here I really try to focus on the needs of the ‘beneficiaries’ and the true shifting of power within grant making.

I’m also a peer reviewer for grant applications to The Baobab Foundation, an organisation that wants to give £3 million to ‘black and brown’ charities working towards racial justice.

The foundation focuses on supporting organisations less centred around London and the South East and really wants to put money in the hands of those who need it most, which I firmly believe in.

Finally, I'm part of an initiative called the Community Leaders Programme, run by the West Yorkshire Combined Authority.

As the inaugural Admin Manager/Chair, I support the community leaders in West Yorkshire through the network to advance the priorities of the Violence Reduction Partnership (VRP) unit of the West Yorkshire Combined Authority.

Why did you change?    

I wanted to develop personally and professionally. 

I wanted to gain more diverse professional experience in a UK context, and I also wanted to work in a way that would accommodate my family. 

How did you go about making the shift?    

I’d known about the On Purpose Associate Programme for a few years and always followed it closely. 

I decided to join for a few reasons. I wanted to learn from others! Joining the programme meant being part of a cohort of people from very different professional backgrounds, often from for-profit, more commercial organisations.

Having the opportunity to benefit from their perspective and experience, very different from my own, was exciting to me.

And I realised I’d receive access to regular mentoring and coaching, which I knew could be incredibly expensive otherwise.

My first placement was at the Dudley Building Society, where I supported the organisation to reposition itself as a community building society and strengthen the recognition for its environmental work.

As part of that, I led Dudley’s B Corp certification process and also supported the development of the organisation’s community fund. I helped increase the number of really impactful Black Country charities the Society supported through this fund which was incredible.

My time with Dudley also gave me experience in a rather large organisation, which I previously hadn’t had.

My second placement was with The B Team, a global collective of business and civil society leaders working to create new norms of corporate leadership today, for a better tomorrow. I supported a number of research projects, on topics such as leadership, business and democracy.

This placement allowed me to work in quite a collaborative environment with a number of different teams and it really improved my research skills.

When I finished my year on the programme, I had quite a clear idea of what I was looking for with a whole list of types of jobs that would suit.

I then used various job boards, LinkedIn and the On Purpose Slack to find those positions.

How did you handle your finances to make your shift possible?    

I became a bit more strict with budgeting as well as saving money.

While on the programme I managed to save a bit of money which I didn’t touch until after the programme.

My family and I also reduced eating out from around once a week to once a month.

What help did you get?    

I got a lot of support!

The programme's community and cohort were a really important support network, especially as I hadn’t lived in the UK for a long time.     

The On Purpose London core team was great and always around to guide me along. I also found the coaching really helpful.

What have you learnt in the process?

That I am enough. 

That all of the experiences and skills I gathered before and throughout the programme are enough to move onwards and succeed.

And also the value of friendships. Within my cohort we truly became friends and are always supporting each other. Even today, six months after the programme, we’re still organising meet-ups and other events, which is amazing.    

What would you advise others to do in the same situation? 

Just do it! 

Be open and flexible to new experiences and perspectives.

To learn more about the On Purpose Associate Programme, visit https://onpurpose.org/en/associate-programme.

Also, find out more about On Purpose in our Retraining Directory.

What lessons could you take from Joshua's story to use in your own career change? Let us know in the comments below.