Jonathan Miller, UK sales director at insurance brokers Partners&, has recently taken on a new voluntary role following his appointment as Chair of the Volunteer Advisory Board for Working Options in Education.
Working Options in Education runs a Career Pathways Programme that has helped more than 20,000 young people to fulfil their potential.
Jonathan already volunteers with three other organisations, KidsOut, Birmingham Food Council and the BPFS Black Leaders Network.
The Volunteer Advisory Board is a group of business volunteers who provide input into how the charity can help students understand the employment skills needed and where the opportunities exist for young people.
Explaining why he has chosen to take on a third voluntary position working with children Jonathan, who is married with three children of his own
My parents both came to the UK from Jamaica in the 60s. My mother was a teacher and so is my brother and both have taught in some pretty challenging schools, so I know I have been privileged in both my upbringing and my education, attending a Grammar school and university.Even as a well-educated young man, with both parents in professional careers, I wasn’t fully aware of the options available to me in the working world. My volunteer work allows me to share the benefit of my knowledge, experience and career, with young men and women who may not have had the same benefits as I have had, or access to the broad range of careers often reserved for those with inherited networks or high-level education. It’s just about me letting them know what options are out there for them, I’ve got a few experiences to share, and I hope to make a difference.
One of the things I try to explain to the young people I meet is that at no one expects them to have a clear career path at 17, and that if they can bring together what they love doing and what they are good at doing, then it will hardly feel like work at all.
Jonathan says he would be delighted if his voluntary work guided some young people into working in the insurance industry: “Very few kids say, ‘I want to be in insurance’, but I then explain to them the realities of the working world. I tell them about my day, the huge range of businesses I get to work with every day, the strategy behind our work and how, in the insurance industry, we help businesses get to where they need to be. Suddenly it becomes a lot more interesting.’
Our industry volunteers are the backbone of our work in inspiring students. Jonathan has been a volunteer for a while and has not only raised the aspirations of the young people we work with, but he's also supported us in developing our work and reach. When we set up the new Board, he felt like the perfect Chair to steer this group.
He concluded: “I am honoured to have been appointed to the role of Chair of the Volunteer Advisory Board and can’t wait to start making a difference in some young people’s lives.”
At a recent company-wide event, Working Options in Education was voted by Partners& staff to be the company’s charity of the year 2022.
About Partners&
Partners& is a Chartered insurance broker providing specialist insurance, employee benefits, risk management and claims advice to businesses and private clients. As a next generation insurance advisory business, Partners& combines the best traditions of broking, such as technical advice and client service, with modern thinking and intelligent use of technology, to enhance the client experience and create a dynamic workplace for its talented team.
For more information, contact Malia Brown at malia.brown@partnersand.com or visit www.partnersand.com
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