Springboard
Providing opportunity for young people to tackle the world’s biggest challenges
Advancing social mobility through innovation
Since 2018, our Springboard programme has given young people from all backgrounds access to work experience, mentorship and support from our diverse teams of experts. Working together in small groups, the students devise ingenious, technology-led solutions to the world’s most pressing challenges.
Springboard has now provided more than 250 young people in the UK and the US with an opportunity to experience consulting and find innovative ways to speed progress towards the UN Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs), the 17 global targets to promote peace and prosperity while protecting our environment. Ingenious solutions devised by student teams have ranged from nutrient packed infant formulas to decrease child mortality to a ceramic water filtration device for areas affected by humanitarian disasters.
Our inaugural programme in our London office was Highly Commended at the 2018 UK Social Mobility Awards.
In 2022, after two years of virtual sessions due to the COVID-19 pandemic, we once again opened our doors to participants.
Springboard 2022: Supporting student success
Springboard UK 2022
In August 2022, we welcomed 30 young people from across the UK to our London office to engage in a week of hands-on learning.
Supported by PA colleagues through a series of consulting skills sessions, the students worked in groups to develop solutions for a range of client problems. These technology-led solutions included an app to support employee wellbeing, a roadmap and accreditation to enable tech giants to protect vulnerable people online and improving biodiversity in residential areas.
Presenting these solutions back, the students demonstrated exceptional understanding of a series of complex issues and the clients and PA leaders in attendance were hugely impressed with how much had been achieved in such a short space of time.
Springboard US 2022
In July 2022, we held a five-day program for 29 high school students across four of our US offices.
After learning the fundamentals of sustainable development, they presented ideas such as creating a government programme to develop abandoned land into affordable housing in Southern California, developing a community farming blueprint to address food deserts in low-income communities outside of Boulder, Colorado, and many others.
The students received valuable mentorship from our expert volunteers and pitched their ideas to PA leadership and participating clients. The results were inspiring, and one group is already working to bring their ingenious idea to life within their school district, improving accessibility for athletic training by pairing elementary students with high school athletes.
Normally on programmes like this we only get to observe but on the first day at PA, we are already meeting with clients and I’ve learnt so much.”
I absolutely loved every minute! As each day went by I felt a boost in my confidence and now have a much clearer understanding of the world of work.”
Throughout the week, I was able to find out more about what consulting actually is and what a career in it could look like. Not only that, I was able to meet so many fantastic people and make friends that l remain in contact with after the programme was completed.”
Springboard has really thrown a spanner in the works. I thought I wanted to be a journalist and now I just really want to be a consultant.”
It really opened my eyes to the ways of problem-solving. I will be able to then use these skills in other parts of my life.”
Our US participating partners
Our UK charity partners
