Breaking Barriers

Our vision We're Breaking Barriers so every refugee can access meaningful employment and build a new life. Our mission We welcome refugees into meaningful employment with advice, experience and education. We believe in the power of responsible business to change society for the better through our innovative partnerships. Our values Our values underpin everything that we do at Breaking Barriers; and our organisation strives to be: Mission-led Welcoming Entrepreneurial Collaborative Governance Our CEO and Founder, Matthew Powell was recognised in Forbes top 30 under 30 social entrepreneurs and is supported by a diverse team bringing together extensive experience from across the private... read more Our vision We're Breaking Barriers so every refugee can access meaningful employment and build a new life. Our mission We welcome refugees into meaningful employment with advice, experience and education. We believe in the power of responsible business to change society for the better through our innovative partnerships. Our values Our values underpin everything that we do at Breaking Barriers; and our organisation strives to be: Mission-led Welcoming Entrepreneurial Collaborative Governance Our CEO and Founder, Matthew Powell was recognised in Forbes top 30 under 30 social entrepreneurs and is supported by a diverse team bringing together extensive experience from across the private, charity and refugee sectors. But ultimate responsibility for our work lies with our Board of Trustees comprising of 14 well-networked, experienced individuals who are highly motivated by our cause and between them have expertise across a variety of sectors, including banking, wealth management, law, media and fundraising. With guidance and backing from our early corporate partners, Breaking Barriers was designed with robust governance systems in place. The full Board of Trustees meets quarterly, with delegated authority to a series of subcommittees meeting quarterly or monthly as appropriate: fundraising, finance, audit & risk, programmes, and renumerations. We are committed to being an organisation that celebrates its diverse team and clients, as well as actively tackling racism and inequality, and have committed to delivering a full D&I strategy with a focus on how we better include people from a refugee background in our work next year. 40% of our trustees are from a refugee background. Our programmes are managed daily by our wider team, of which one in six is from a refugee background, including former clients. Our Employment Advisers are, between them, fluent in many languages our clients speak including Arabic, Amharic, Dari, Farsi, Pashto, Turkish and Urdu - and they have extensive knowledge of living and working in the same city as those they are supporting. All our work is directly informed by our Ambassador Council - a group of current and former clients who advise on the project's development and design.