ABOUT | MLMS 2.0

My Life My Say is a youth-led, non-partisan movement on a mission to change the culture of democracy and get every single young person voting.

No matter who you are or where you are from, politics affects us all and there has never been a more critical time for young people to be engaged in decision-making processes. We understand this. That is why we work with young people to ensure that the world of politics is accessible and that our voices are heard at every stage.

Working together with international leaders, we equip our generation with confidence and skills to lead change in their communities and across the globe.

We’re recognised as one of the leading drivers of youth engagement in the UK reaching over 2 million young people with some of the biggest names in the world of politics, including the UK Government, Mayor of London and United Nations.

Since 2013, we have developed our Theory of Change and summarised it in a four-step programme of engagement that aims to engage young people in democracy. And we’re just getting started.

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Step 1: Creating the space for conversation through our globally renowned Democracy Cafés, and the UK's leading youth summit; the Common Futures Forum.

Our globally-renowned Democracy Cafés are our reinvigoration of the 17th-century coffee house tradition where members of society would come together and discuss local issues. We’ve taken this tradition and modernised it to take place in your local Starbucks with a bit more fun and frappuccinos!

We have organised 500+ Democracy Cafés reaching over 40,000 young people, with more than 80% taking place outside of London. These include Aberdeen, Blackburn, Cardiff, Derry, Portsmouth and many more towns and cities across the UK.

Alongside our Democracy Cafés, we host the UK's biggest youth summit, the Common Futures Forum, which brings together leaders, activists, and academics who engage with young people and the issues that they care about.

The Forum was first launched in 2018 by the Mayor of London, Sadiq Khan. We have had more than 1,500 young people in attendance at the Forum with more than 120 speakers, platforming those from the world of technology, business, politics, and influencing. Our previous conferences have been widely successful in inspiring the next generation of change-makers.

Our Democracy Cafés and Common Futures Forum have been endorsed by leading international institutions such as the United Nations, European Commission, and the United States States Department.

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Step two: building 'the squad'

We know that young people care about the issues that affect them. But, too often, they are overlooked when it comes to key decisions. That’s why we equip young people with the skills and confidence to lead change in their communities.

The Squad is a leadership programme designed to support young people with the skills and confidence they require to organise their communities to create conversation and encourage their fellows to take action by registering to vote.

Members of the squad are part of a UK-wide network of young leaders who have been accredited to lead conversations.

If you would like to take the step to be part of the Squad, please apply here.

Step three: get every single young person voting

We know the most effective way to demand change is through the ballot box. However, voter turnout amongst young people is still low. That’s why we lead voter registration initiatives with the aim of getting every single young person to vote.

Almost one-third of eligible young people (18-24) in the UK are not registered to vote, which means that young people are often left out of, or overlooked in, political decision making. We want to change that and turn young people into an essential part of democracy. That’s why My Life My Say, in partnership with Shout Out UK, will be coordinating National Voter Registration Day 2022, which involves a mass campaign that includes celebrities, businesses, third-sector organisations and cross-party support.

Last year we hosted National Voter Registration Day. Over 85,000 people registered to vote on April 19th. Through our social media channels alone, we reached over 565,000 people. With the help of social media users, we surely reached many more people!

Mete Coban MBE

Founder and Chief Executive

As Chief Executive of My Life My Say, Mete is best known for contributing to the increase of turnout for young people at the 2017 and 2019 UK General Elections.

The youngest ever elected Councillor in the London borough of Hackney, he is currently serving the administration as the Cabinet Member for Environment and Transport. Previously, he worked on the Mayor of London Sadiq Khan’s election campaign, leading on youth engagement.

Mete holds a bachelor’s degree in Politics and a master’s degree in Public Policy and Practice, both from the University of Greenwich.

In the New Years' 2020 honours list, Mete received an MBE for services to young people recognising his efforts to make politics more accessible for the younger generation. He also received the UK Government’s National Democracy Change-Maker of the Year Award in 2018. Mete has been shortlisted for One Young World Politician of the Year 2019, which celebrates the most impressive, impactful young politicians around the world.

Melisha John

Operations Manager

Melisha is the Operations Manager at My Life My Say. That means she works on any and everything in the background that supports the organisation to run effectively, from finance and payroll to HR, policies and processes - that's her!

Through Melisha's career history, she developed strong skills in personal and professional development training, program development, policies and procedures, complaint resolution, staff training, planning, payroll processing, budget allocations, VAT returns, annual accounts and all things business management.

Career development is something she's been passionate about for a very long time, having spent most part of the last 10 years working with organisations that explore different methods of supporting young people with personal and professional development.

She's met thousands of young people over the years from different backgrounds, cultures and lifestyles that have all faced issues that they may or may not have solutions to, so being involved in an organisation that helps to create the space to discuss them is very important to her.

Hayley Biley

Engagement Manager

Hayley is the Engagement Manager at My Life My Say. That's a fancy way of saying she oversees strategy and leads event execution for all of the activities My Life My Say is part of.

Hayley's passion for change-making comes from her own experience and core belief that those who aren't usually given a voice, should be. She's worked in a load of activist spaces, that have touched on some key issues we face as a society: intersectional feminism, community building and networking for people of colour and creating intergenerational connections. Hayley finds it truly enjoyable to be able to nurture spaces where more diverse voices can be heard and amplified.

Zekia Salmon-Hall

Social Media Officer

Zekia is the Social Media Officer at My Life My Say.

Career-wise, she comes from a marketing and communications background. She studied Advertising at Lancaster University. After graduating in 2021, she was unsure about her next career steps; She worked in PR for a while, but this never fulfilled her passion for building communities and exercising her democracy... which led her to work for My Life My Say.

Zekia's advice to anyone trying to get into politics would be to join different communities and speak to everyone about their life experiences. It is crazy how much you can learn from asking a simple question.

Dan Lawes

Strategic Partnerships Associate.

Dan is responsible for establishing and nurturing relationships with key stakeholders and partners.

He plays a crucial role in mobilising their participation in our upcoming election campaign, fostering collaboration and cooperation towards our shared goal of empowering the youth voice in the political landscape.