So, who exactly Am I?

I've been occasionally blogging here for under a year but who I am and what I have achieved I have never really explained, even in the 'About Me' section of this blog.

So, I am going to take a few moments, so sit right there and I'll tell you the story of who I am and what I have achieved.

My name is Sabian Muhammad. I am a 22 year old award-winning youth advocate, public speaker, presenter, social entrepeneur, Olympic Youth Panelist, school worker and soon-to-be author

That's the easy explanation anyone can do that, but there is more.

I have worked with young people for the last 7 years, in schools, colleges and youth clubs around the country. My work, at first, was primarily with young people working as a stop-gap between adults in their schools and youth clubs helping them to understand each other. I have always been passionate about helping adults understand the young and find ways to communicate with them. I started in my local youth club at 15 years old helping out with organising activities for young people. I was there for 5 years as a volunteer before I moved on. In the years I was there I had a variety of jobs elsewhere including the role of play worker in a primary school.

But you don't really need to know all this, you want to know where the light switch moment is, at what point did I begin to start making real waves, and that occurred on 10th July 2009 when I spoke in the House Of Lords.

This was the third time in history non-Lords were permitted to speak in the Chamber. The topic was 'Education vs Talent: Is education responsible for developing talent?' - I was the closing speaker for the event and opened my statement by saying: "The educational system is not designed to develop talent, the educational system is designed to ensure that society is kept running in future." The rest, they say is HISTORY. See the video below for snippets of the speech.



Just prior to that speech I had been working as a Student Support Officer going around the UK delivering confidence building workshops to secondary school students. As part of my job I worked with many government organisations, such as Edexcel, Ofqual, Partnerships for Schools, Building Schools for Future and more.

After I spoke in the House of Lords, I was offered a work experience placement in Media Trust's Creative Department, where I learned about the production and PR processes, as well as working on a consultation for an organisation called 11 million.

While working with Media Trust they asked me to put forward an idea for social change, that affects communities and young people. I came up with the idea to find a way 'to bridge the generation gap' - This idea was then given to O2 Think Big, an initiative part of mobile network supplier O2, helping young people around the UK make their ideas reality. My idea beat 50 other ideas and was created into a national campaign called 'Why Do' you can have a look at the website here http://www.whydo.co.uk

[caption id="attachment_231" align="alignleft" width="300" caption="Homepage of www.whydo.co.uk"][/caption]

The idea came from my 7 years working with young people and adults, observing that the two did not understand each other and this at times negated the effectiveness of services delivered with young people in mind. So 'Why Do?' was developed on that basis. I worked with high ranking PR and Advertising agencies to make this campaign happen, it was not easy but it was fun.

The website was launched in October 2010 and has since gained over 80,000 hits, which makes it in my opinion a success.

On the basis of this campaign I have been contacted by the London Mayor Boris Johnson to sit on a Public Consultation panel on 30th November 2010 answering questions from members of the public about 'creating opportunities for young Londoners' - I do not mince my words here, I believe myself to be a specialist on understanding young people and I have helped many organisations achieve this through my advice.

As a sign of the campaign's effectiveness the Why Do campaign idea also received an accolade for 'Young Social Entrepeneurism' awarded by Social Enterprise 'Striding Out'. The Future 100 Awards profiles young entrepeneurs aged 18-35 who are demonstrating entrepeneurial flair and innovation in progressing a responsible business venture.

[caption id="attachment_233" align="alignright" width="300" caption="Sabian Muhammad with 'Future100' certificate"][/caption]

On the back of the 'Why Do' campaign I am writing a book called 'Why Do for Parents'. I have been observing the questions parents and adults have been asking on the website and put them into categories which I then go into in detail.

I am writing this book, ideally to help reconnect adults to their children and what they may be going through. What parents and adults get out of the book is down to them remembering what it was like to be a child and putting themselves in the shoes of young people.

I will now be going into schools and delivering inspirational lectures, workshops and consultations with School Speakers, an organisation that hires out inspiring speakers to schools on, Enterprise and entrepeneurism, Harnessing gifts and talents, and motivational lectures. Have a look at my School Speakers profile here.

I also work with parents and children as a consultant, helping to put together the pieces in homes where parent and child do not get along, for what ever reason. The method is all in getting the two parties to see things from each others point of view.

Alongside all of this I am sitting on London Organising Committee of the Olympic Games youth panel, advising them alongside other young people, how they can make the games effective and engaging for young people.

Along the way, I have worked with and met various celebrities and influential people such as, Tim Campbell, Larry Lamb, Boris Johnson, Ken Livingstone, Sarah Brown, Tulisa Constostavlos, Alistair Darling, the Children's Commissioner and more.

I have been invited to sit on many panels discussing education and youth opportunities. My aim is simple, to provide a better future for young people by not only educating young people but by also educating adults. I believe that the future cannot be, if those who are meant to provide it are not doing what is required of them. So, I specialise in finding social solutions and applying them.

So, that is who I am. I am always on the look out for new business opportunities and clients. So get in touch!

Twitter: TheRealSabian

LinkedIn: Sabian Muhammad

Skype: sabian.m

email: s.m.muhammad@live.co.uk

For more info about a few of my services please click here