Empowering the next generation

Young people everywhere have stories worth telling. The following programs in the UK support youth in sharing their voices, building their confidence, and sharpening their creative skills in writing, audio production and more.

• Future Stories Fund: We provide grants to organizations that empower youth from historically marginalized communities to share their stories and increase their confidence in language and expression.
• Inside Stories: Working with the National Literacy Trust and National Prison Radio, young people in custody learn how to write, perform and record a podcast, giving them transferable skills for their future as well as broadcasting their finished productions on National Prison Radio to 80,000 prisoners across the UK.
• National Literacy Trust’s Power of Voice: Students develop skills in writing, editorial feedback and communication that will help them throughout their chosen professions, working closely with teachers and change-maker authors from their communities.
• Barbican Young Poets: Underrepresented youth study and learn to write poetry, including crafting it for audio, to better develop their voice and their critical instincts.
• Rise Up Rebel: In this writer development program, in collaboration with the nonprofit Capoeira for All, Black creatives gain career-defining experience by evolving an original idea for an audio drama, writing the pilot and series outline, and pitching it to industry professionals with two top projects selected for production.
• Gaydio Futures: Through intensive audio bootcamps, LGBTQIA+ creators from underrepresented communities learn podcast production and storytelling to gain confidence and share their lived experiences.
• Renaissance Foundation: Young people with chronic illnesses and young caretakers gain workplace skills and opportunities for networking, increasing their access to careers in audio and their belief that they have a place in the industry.

We also collaborate with ZULA Tribe in Berlin, a digital project aimed at building an accessible library that gives voice to underrepresented communities and increases the availability of inclusive content for young readers in Germany, Switzerland and France. And we support research by leading organizations, like the National Literacy Trust, on the role of multiple sensory modes for learning, including audio, in promoting youth literacy.

We give young people an inside look at the working world – offering the mentorship, professional development, and networking opportunities they need to gain real experience and excel in their future careers.

Audible’s Future Leaders program is the cornerstone of this work. It provides a years-long paid internship opportunity for high school students in Newark and other Audible hubs, such as Cambridge and Los Angeles. Future Leaders work across teams at Audible, gaining invaluable professional experience while enriching our culture and deepening our employees’ ties to our local communities.

Our career exploration program also enables high school students to gain professional experience by connecting with Audible employees in the classroom and at our offices to learn about jobs in areas like audio production, content creation, marketing, tech and more. Access Aspiration provides sixth form students in the UK with similar exposure to the audio industry, including skill workshops, workplace experience, and time at Audible’s hub in London.

And our employees volunteer in Newark as mock interviewers, professional mentors and leadership coaches for Braven, which empowers underrepresented college students with the skills, experiences and networks necessary to transition from college to meaningful careers.