About
I Can Be is a registered charity that brings disadvantaged 7- and 8-year-old girls into the world of work, broadening their horizons and helping them to discover the breadth of opportunity around them.
Run through schools, the programme gives primary school girls the opportunity to research, visit and interview a wide range of women in their workplaces, during their working day.
Targeting inner-city primary schools, I Can Be enables girls to explore jobs they otherwise may never be exposed to, building their curiosity and confidence along the way. I Can Be is funded entirely by charitable donations and is free for schools.
Within the UK, we are currently working in inner-city London. We choose the areas of Greater London we work in very carefully, identifying where there are high levels of disadvantage and there is less likelihood that children will be exposed to a variety of jobs or visit neighbourhoods outside their own. Alongside our main programme, we also run a small project for boys, ICB Boys.
We have previously run programmes in the Birmingham area and in Great Yarmouth, and in collaboration with the British Council, we ran a vacation programme in Tunisia in 2019.
While COVID-19 prevents pupils from travelling to workplaces, we are running our programmes virtually. Instead of meeting professionals in person, the children take part in live ‘virtual visits’, via Microsoft Teams.
what happens on i can be…
Maple and Frida, who took part in I Can Be, explain how it works and what children will do throughout the programme.
Who we are
Our Trustees:
Brikena Muharremi (Chair) is a UK qualified barrister with several years of experience in the legal sector. Brikena is passionate about giving back to the community and in addition to her I Can Be role, she is also Founder and Chair of the British-Albanian Lawyers Association and a member of Albania's Diaspora Coordination Council, which represents the interests of the Albanian Diaspora around the globe.
Will Millard (Secretary) is Head of Engagement at the Centre for Education and Youth. He has extensive experience designing and implementing research projects, and above all strives to ensure this research leads to action that will improve the lives of young people. Will has led major projects on careers education and work experience, assessment, oracy and the achievement of disadvantaged groups. He is a qualified teacher.
Judith Pepper (Treasurer) is a family law barrister at Coram Chambers. She has specialised in this area for more than 15 years and most of her work consists of complex care proceedings. She has a particular interest in siblings in care proceedings, and adoption, and has written articles on these and other subjects. Having a professional interest in the outcomes for young people and families in the family justice system, she is passionate about I Can Be and the difference it can makes to the lives of children. In her spare time she enjoys Krav Maga, experimental cooking and is currently learning French.
Our Team:
Anastasia de Waal is Director of I Can Be. She was previously Deputy Director of think tank Civitas, where her research and broadcasting focused on education and family policy. Chair of parenting support charity Family Lives, she is also a qualified primary school teacher.
Claire Daley is Deputy Director of I Can Be. She has previously worked in editorial, research and project management roles in a national charity, a medical royal college, an education publisher and the civil service.