Rubbi Bhogal-Wood and Reddy Lenge On Helping The Next Generation Of Leaders Develop Purpose-Led Tech Skills

Reddy Lenge and Rubbi Bhogal-Wood, Co-Directors of Skills 4 All, lead various STEAM-led projects.

Reddy, focusing on robotics and coding, boasts 10+ years of teaching experience and is a dynamic filmmaker, inspiring both students and teachers. Rubbi, leading social media + mental health, and film-making projects, brings over 20 years of digital marketing expertise, advocating for young women in business and enterprise while leaving a lasting impact.

Together, they spearhead initiatives that empower youth from underserved areas with digital skills, making a significant difference in their lives and communities.

Rubbi and Reddy discuss the impact of ensuring underprivileged communities receive education and training around digital literacy and how system’s change can be sustainably accelerated through businesses embracing the social impact mindset.

Highlights from the interview (listen to the podcast for full details)

[Indio Myles] - To start off, could you both please share a bit about your background and what led to you working in education and empowering communities?

[Reddy Lenge] –I started off as a classroom teacher and everything was fine. Certain changes happened in my life, and I went from being a good teacher to being not considered a good teacher. From that moment on, I felt as if I was failing the children, and that led to my mental health deteriorating.

I was off sick from work for six months, but during that time, I started asking myself, “what could I do free of charge that I know would make a difference to other people's lives?” From this thinking my first limited company idea came to my mind, which was based on helping teachers become more confident with using technology in the curriculum.

As a result of that business, I was then asked to organise technology at a TED talk, which was happening in my local town. That's where Ruby and I met.

[Rubbi Bhogal-Wood] - My background is in marketing and sales, so I've worked for Microsoft, Facebook partners, and other big global billboard companies. I left the industry after I suppose my passion for it was extinguished, and I always said to myself that I would move on to something new the moment I couldn't get out of bed and start the day thinking I was able to make a difference in what I'm doing.

That moment eventually came, but then I was at a TED talk happening in our local town. II was lucky enough to be one of those people giving a talk, and Reddy was drafted in last minute to provide the technical support. As the whole event had finished, my daughter had said hello to Reddy. I asked her, "who is that person you were saying hello too?" She said, "Mr. Lenge teaches me IT at school.” We had also come across each other through our business community locally and we both happened to have the same idea separately, which was developing impact with young people in our local hometown through a tech vehicle.

We then grabbed coffee after contacting each other through LinkedIn, shared our ideas, and by the end of that first or second coffee, Reddy asked if I wanted to join him in creating a or developing a social enterprise that could help young people better understand their place in society and the impact they could have used STEAM technology.

I said yes, and then suddenly we were working together. Six years later, here we are doing what we do, creating an impact with young people across Greater Manchester.

[Reddy Lenge] - To make it more exciting. After I popped the question, a month later COVID happened!

As the co-founders of Skills 4 All, can you please share more about this organisation, its purpose, and how you're empowering communities?

[Rubbi Bhogal-Wood] - Our purpose is to shift the horizon for underserved young people, so whether that's because of their race, class, they’re neurodiverse, or they have special educational needs.

We want to shift the horizon for them so that they can recognise their talents, and often in the educational system they are told for whatever reason it is they are not good enough or they do not have a place.

We are essentially helping them to recognise their talents and fulfill their potential educationally but beyond as well, it’s about how do I recognise that I have a special capability to make a difference to myself, my family and my community?

That's our purpose, and the vehicle we use is technology, robotics, coding, computing, graphic design, film, and photograph. You name it, we use that vehicle to be able to inspire you people to recognise their talents.

[Reddy Lenge] - As a result of this work we've done, some of our young people have gained national recognition for their films. We've travelled to London for an award ceremony where they got to meet film stars and walk the red carpet.

It’s about young people learning new hard skills and then taking these skills and creating something that enables them to have a voice. that's

[Rubbi Bhogal-Wood] - It's a big part of what we do, centring the voice of those who have previously been silenced or have experienced that exclusion generationally. Referring to the London visit we had, we worked with a group of young people for around 12 weeks.

The brief was that we would share technical filmmaking skills and they could then create a project based on whatever issue they felt they had. They needed to be able to voice their opinions and provide a solution for as well. Of the young people we worked with, I'd say 90 percent of them had never been to London, so this was not only their first trip to the capital, but it was in recognition of their skills and their impact. They’ve then got a voice, so they can make a difference. They’re being recognised and heard, and then the event itself was mind blowing.

We've [Reddy and I] been fortunate enough to go to London several times, but to walk down the red carpet and meet the likes of Eddie Redmayne from the spin-off of Harry Potter and Lashana Lynch, that was important for us, exciting and inspirational. To have done that with young people and to have followed our impact and purpose through was more special. There are lots of outcomes we’ve been able to create for our young people over the last six years.

What barriers have you identified around digital literacy education today, and what consequences will emerge if that inequality of opportunity is not addressed?

[Reddy Lenge] - Speaking from my education background (which I still do today), there’s still a massive need for training teachers.

For young people, the people who they're depending on for their education haven't got the training and schools don’t have the funding to be able to provide that training so they can empower these young people within the community.

As a result of that, a lot of young people are still using the technology at home, but they might not necessarily use it in the safest ways. As a result of that you might then have issues coming back into the school, and teachers are having to deal with these problems because we haven't tackled this in the first place.

[Rubbi Bhogal-Wood] – You’re the teaching side of the equation, so you're teaching the teachers to be able to help bridge that digital literacy gap. The work that we do within the organisation is the other way around. We’re providing access to the actual technology like laptops, iPads and MacBooks. With both sides, we can say, "here's the equipment and here's how to use it with purpose.”

Then it’s about developing their career aspirations they otherwise may not have access to due to lack of funding, educationor because of their economic background. A prime example of that was when we said we set up the organisation just before lockdown, and one of the primary difficulties within our neighbourhoods we discovered through conversations with senior leaders was the youth literally didn't have laptops to conduct their homeschooling on.

We quickly had to pivot, and because we had the technology, we were able to give out these pieces of equipment to young people. We wanted them to take our equipment, borrow it, or have it; we sought out laptops where we could from our community and gave them to them.

There were a lot of organisations in this area as well who were trying to provide dongles to allow Wi-Fi access. A lot of us take Wi-Fi for granted; we walk into an office, or our home and our devices automatically connect.

A lot of the young people didn’t have devices, but even when we were able to provide those, they didn't have Wi-Fi access. They were missing out on foundational bridges for widening their opportunities because they simply lacked the equipment and a safe, purposeful understanding of how to use it.

What are the keys to creating systemic change and how can communities and organisations choose to engage in making an impact?

[Rubbi Bhogal-Wood] - It's multifaceted. It must have the component of government (or local authorities as we call them), so that individual regional agency from council bodies who are able to start making monetary investments.

They can also time train leaders within the educational system who are able to acknowledge the change and then start to make a difference with it from I suppose a political point of view.

Then you've got the educational point of view, and to follow through with that, connectivity is crucial. We can't do it ourselves; the change must be fully community based, you have organisations like us being able to receive funding or be given agency to create that impact, but also local businesses can help. There's a big SME community within Greater Manchester that we're very proud of.

When you've got organisations who themselves are making great profits, they're giving back to communities through their corporate and social responsibility. It is this full circle of agents within the system who are circling the young people centred within that.

It’s about being able to work together to make a difference from an investment or a political point of view; acknowledging that there is an issue and that in working together lies the power to be able to make a grassroots difference.

[Reddy Lenge] - I think there's a massive need for representation on the ground where we are. Talking from my own personal experience, I didn't see another black business owner until I was in my mid-twenties. For me when I was younger, owning a business was something I wouldn't even have dreamed about because I didn't see any of that. The role models are completely different.

Black role models are usually in the sports or music industry, so for us going into a school where we've got a lot of young people who are black, Asian and from other ethnic minorities, they want to see more representation. They want to see more people like them doing what we're doing. There's also another level to this, where with the decision makers we need to have more people of colour sat at the table influencing those decisions and not just following decisions made for us.

[Rubbi Bhogal-Wood] - It goes back to what we were saying before in terms of creating a platform and space for these voices to be heard, acknowledged and then acted upon.

How is Skills 4 All increasing representation through specific practices in your business?

[Reddy Lenge] - One of our projects is called Girls in the Lead; it was a filmmaking project just for girls. We did a similar thing to what we described before, where we gave them the skills, but they had to come up with films that meant something to them.

With some of our STEM for robotics activities we've seen an almost 50/50 split with girls and boys in coding. The girls are very good in this field, but something happens when they reach secondary school. They start dropping off from these subjects because they become ‘boy subjects.

Maybe it's because these girls are not seeing people like them when they get to that stage, so they go back to doing what they've done in the past. We are offering our projects and then encouraging those girls, or people of colour so they know they can do this, and they are doing it as a matter of fact. I'm learning a thing or two from them while doing this!

[Rubbi Bhogal-Wood] - It's also about the practical side and doing what we can to raise the profile of our work. We do PR, create news coverage, appear on podcasts and have conversations to make those people who are in decision making positions in government, councils, and senior leadership roles at schools to identify potential projects, the worth of young people within those communities and the impact that they can have.

It's teaching, but it's also helping them to do what we can to raise the profile of the work they’re doing while also working with other organisations. We love working with other local impact companies and combining our different projects, because again, we cannot do it alone. We are not an Island, we need everybody on board and working together, because that's where the power lies.

What advice would you give to an impact led individual who wants to create a positive change through starting a business or an organisation?

[Reddy Lenge] - Whilst off work through my mental health issues, the question I had to ask myself is what can I do free of charge that would make an impact on someone else? There were times that I had to do a lot of this work free of charge, but what it didn't feel like a job because I'd walk away knowing I've impacted someone positively.

The question for anyone who wants to start a business is what are you looking to gain from this experience? Are you just going for the monetary return or are you going for the impact that you could potentially have on other people?

If you want to create an impact led organisation, it has to be about the impact, and you need to know you might not get paid a lot of money for this work. Hopefully you will, but either way you are still going to do this job and be the difference someone else needs in the world.

[Rubbi Bhogal-Wood] - Adding to that, you need to be crystal clear on what your purpose is, but also lead by developing that purpose in alignment with what is needed in your community, organisation or your target audience.

Who are you trying to make a difference for and what is it they need? You can assume a lot, you can assume that they want to learn a particular skill or that they have a particular problem, but that's your perspective.

I would encourage focus group work early on to help cement your assumptions or challenge them. Think "these are my biases that I've brought to this particular purpose, but is it actually needed? What's happening at ground level, and how do I marry what I can do, the skills that I can bring, and the people I can bring to help make a difference?"

[Reddy Lenge] - There are times you're encouraged to not share your dreams because someone might put you down, but in this instance share your dreams. Speak it out loud, share with as many people as possible, because through that sharing you will then start getting contacts.

You will see when there's a massive need in a community, so make sure you go there because they need you. Don’t be afraid of failure, you're looking at this black hole, but you're going to dive into it knowing that you're going to make an impact on someone else's life and be successful.

[Rubbi Bhogal-Wood] – Purpose is important. We’ve found by talking with entrepreneurs or people who've set up social impact organisations that it's tough. We’ve felt that our purpose because it's crystal-clear acts as an anchor when life gets rough. During it you may wonder, “why am I doing this? Is this going to end? How are we going to pay the bills this month?”

Having purpose is a wonderful way to anchor you, because you think, "you know what, I'm doing this for this reason." That belief and that passion can carry you forward through anything, and I know it can because we've lived it.

[Reddy Lenge] - Our purpose has always been larger than our fear, and that's what's kept us going.

What inspiring projects or initiatives have you come across creating a positive change?

[Rubbi Bhogal-Wood] - There are loads of brilliant things going on in our community. We just wrapped up an 18-month project kindly funded by the National Lottery Heritage Fund which is a massive charity here in the UK that helps to distribute funds to much needed organisations who are creating impact like ours all across the UK. We were lucky enough to be able to secure a significant amount of money to create this project with a group of young black and brown people to be able to centre their voices on lockdown memories. This came out of doing a lot of focus group work with young people. As we were emerging out of lockdown, we were going back into schools and there were lots of young people telling us COVID was difficult. We also received mixed responses people said it was great, it was difficult, it was challenging, and it was beautiful. What we didn't find (or what we couldn't see or hear) were voices from the black and brown community. Where were they? Yes, there was the big second wave of the Black Lives Matter movement, but aside from that, where were the young people's voices? We thought we should give them a platform. Let's give them, the tools, creative writing skills, spoken word, photography, and filmography, to be able to centre, celebrate and curate their experiences. We designed a project specifically around what was funded, and it was wonderful in so many ways. One of the key aspects or outcomes from that project was being able to have several of their projects and outcomes archived in Manchester Library forevermore. Their grandchildren and their great grandchildren will be able to head to the library, pop in the name of their heritage project and hear and see first-hand the experiences of their families and communities during this historical moment.

[Reddy Lenge] - As an impact organisation, we always must think a year or two in advance, so we've got quite a few projects lined up now.

[Rubbi Bhogal-Wood] - As part of our legacy of impact we've created a cohort of Young Digital Leaders or YDLs as we call them. These are young people we've encountered through our six-year history of projects and curriculums who we’ve identified have a wonderful and extra special je ne sais quoi about them, whether it be through their role modelling, tech capabilities or empathetic skills.

We've created this cohort, and they help to co-facilitate and co-design our holiday club projects and clubs. There are around 15 of them aged between 13 and 18, and they come and help co-facilitate and design summer digital skill projects. These might be in graphic design, coding, filmmaking, sports or arts and crafts, but we give them the platform and agency to design these wonderful 45 minute to an hour-long lesson.

They're not really lessons, they're activities that primary aged young people (those who are aged between 4 and 11) can participate in during the school holidays.

We're moving these young people on from receiving an impact from us through our project to creating impact in their local community with younger peers. They're gaining work experience and can get work references from us. We pay them because it's important they understand their worth, that you don't always have to do things for free, and that your impact is valuable.

They can then take all that good stuff and apply it to college applications, university, apprenticeships, and work experience, that long term pathway is important for us to design. It goes back to our purpose, which is how do we help young people from underserved communities recognise their potential and live an impactful life?

To see those young people in their bright orange Skills 4 All t-shirts with staff written on the back and then the little people running up to them every morning when they're taking the register or being welcomed into the venue is beautiful. They’re hugging each other and giving their teachers little bracelets or pieces of art to acknowledge the impact they are having on them, and that's special.

To finish off, what books or resources would recommend to our listeners?

[Reddy Lenge] - There's a book I love reading, and I do so maybe twice a year, and it's How to Win Friends and Influence People by Dale Carnegie. I just love that book, and every single time I read it I get something from it.

Even better, I get something different every single time, and I think I apply it to my everyday life in terms of how I approach different situations, people in the boardroom, people on the ground and within the communities, and how I speak to young people. I would definitely recommend How to Win Friends and Influence People by Dale Carnegie.

[Rubbi Bhogal-Wood] - I can testify to the fact that wherever we go, there will inevitably be a child or the parent of a child who has been taught by Reddy, and their reaction when they see him is wonderful. They'll be like, "Mr. Lenge!” They will tell him everything they’ve done since, what they learnt and what they are doing now since he taught them. I stand back in awe, because your impact and influence are so deep and impactful.

I would probably add a podcast. We both love listening to podcasts, but at the moment I'm listening to Good, Bad Billionaire on the BBC. They talk about a particular billionaire each episode and understand their pathway from their background and upbringing right through to making their first million and then their first billion. The impact and legacy that they have on people around them, and communities is huge.

I love listening to that podcast because we are in a world full of entrepreneurs, but these people are distinct in how they are as actual human beings and the impact they have on people. I find that fascinating for a variety of reasons; you learn ways in which not to lead, ways you should lead and ways you can be inspiring. Very entertaining as well as informative.