Meet the 17-year-old who is a CEO of his own charity

He wants to advance education and relieve unemployment


Kieran Goodwin is one of the youngest CEO’s of a UK registered charity.

The young CEO told us the World Youth Organisation is all about advancing education and relieving unemployment for young people between 13 and 25.

They run educational workshops in schools about mental health, sex education and politics, with inspirational speakers. The charity also helps young people find work experience opportunities to help relieve unemployment. You can even write for Buzzfeed through his website.

Kieran, who works from his parents’ house, has always done charity work. He swam the English channel in a relay team when he was just 15 for Cancer Research and EFDS. He said: “It inspired me to do charity work and start something of my ow. I want young people to feel proud of themselves and to have achieved something as well.”

After dropping out of college after his first year, where Kieran was studying Health and Social Care with the intention of becoming a nurse, the young CEO now has over 30 people working for him, four of whom are paid.

They even have a fundraising manager and have just had their first fundraiser, with someone rowing 24 hours straight to raise money for them. Three quarters of his employees are under 25. “I wanted to focus on a youth organisation that’s mainly run by young people.”

The charity was officially registered in January, and just one week afterwards Kieran hosted a launch at the Houses of Parliament. “We had a few MPs speaking, we had 150 people come along, and everyone was wearing suits and dresses. It was really pretty and nice. I gave an overview of what we do and how far we’ve come, talked about the journey a little bit. We had a performance by two singers too.”

Kieran at the Houses of Parliament – photos by Tawhid Ar-Rahman

Towards the end of the year the charity will be hosting workshops called ‘My ID’, visiting 100 schools across the UK.

“Our workshop focusses on the transition from child to adult, which is obviously a massive transition. So we talk about the different things which affect our personality, what makes us unique. I’m still trying to work it out, but my mum has given me a few ideas.”

It doesn’t stop with secondary schools though. They’ve just run some workshops in Dubai and Morocco, and Kieran says “we definitely want to expand into universities.” After all, that’s where panic about unemployment is rife.

He hosted an International Women’s Day summit too, with a panel of speakers talking about their struggles and experiences as women.

The charity’s International Women’s Day summit – photos by Starnie Photography

They’re launching an app too. It’s already online and on the android store, and Kieran felt that because the charity seeks to help the young their outreach would be better.

In the interview Kieran is modest about his achievements and goals, despite just winning a Diana Award for being a young person changing the world for the better. Eventually he wants to become independent and earn a full salary, and have offices for the charity, but for now he’s just focussing on helping as many people as possible with education and relieving unemployment.