Meet our Community Partners

See the companies shaping Education Estates®

Community Partners bring the education estate's wider network into the room, connecting Education Estates® with the organisations and initiatives working to make the sector more open and representative. Each partner contributes something distinct, and in return has a permanent presence across the event and its communications.

This year's programme includes partners actively shaping who gets to build, design and manage the education estate of the future, including through free delegate places for students, graduates and new starters entering the industry.

 

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Education Estates® 2025

Career Conversations Stand

At Education Estates®, we're proud to support the Career Conversations Stand, where you can meet the charities and not-for-profit organisations working to support career development across the education estate. This year's stand brings together our Community Partners, including Class of Your Own, Common Ground, Construction for Women, The Talent Foundry and The Harmony Project, each bringing a different route into the sector for the next generation to explore.

The stand connects directly with our Future Leaders Programme, giving the sector's future talent the chance to engage with these organisations face to face, hear from them directly and take part in workshops and conversations focused on career pathways and progression.
 

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Class of your Own Logo Common Ground Construction for Women Constructive Futures The Talent Foundry

    

Our Career Conversations Programme

Hear how experienced professionals shaped their careers in education estates and take away practical advice for your own next step.

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11:15
  1. Speed Networking
    Career Conversations Stand
    30 mins

    With an introduction to networking and how to do it, join Common Ground for 30 minutes of fast-paced, informal networking with senior professionals from across the property and built environment sectors. A brilliant opportunity to make new connections, discover career pathways and practice your networking in a safe environment.

     

    Sponsored by:
    Common Ground
13:15
  1. Designing the Future Workforce: Meet the Experts
    Career Conversations Stand
    30 mins

    Design Engineer Construct! (“DEC”) was born from Building Schools for the Future, connecting young people with the professionals designing and delivering their own schools. Seventeen years later, the challenge of building the future workforce remains just as urgent.

    Free lunch provided to those registered under the Future Leaders Programme, provided by Arcadis

    Sponsored by:
    Class of your Own       Arcadis
15:15
  1. Introducing Emerging Leaders: Building the Next Generation of Female Leaders in the Built Environment
    Career Conversations Stand
    30 mins

    Join Construction for Women for an informal introduction to the Emerging Leaders programme and discover how it is supporting women during the first five years of their careers across construction and the wider built environment.

     

    Sponsored by:
    Construction for Women
10:50
  1. Talent Foundry
    Career Conversations Stand
    30 mins

    Reds10 has been a valued partner of The Talent Foundry, supporting young people through both our education programmes and participation in three of our cycling challenges. Through the new Reds10 Academy, launched in 2025, we are working together to inspire the next generation of construction professionals. Focused on students at Driffield School and Sixth Form, the programme provides hands-on experiences, industry insight and tailored support to raise aspirations, build confidence and encourage uptake of the new Construction T-Level launching in September 2027. We will speak with Reds10 about the partnership, its ambitions and the impact it hopes to achieve.

    Sponsored by:
    The Talent Foundry
12:45
  1. Building Better Minds
    Career Conversations Stand
    30 mins

    Building Better Minds brings together young people, employers and industry role models to explore the challenges of navigating recruitment, managing anxiety and building resilience. We'll discuss practical coping strategies, the importance of mentoring and how employers can make recruitment more inclusive, lead with empathy and create supportive workplace cultures.

    We will also be running a "Discover your unseen career" activity on our stand and will be joined by various mentors to network with students and offer careers advice.

    Free lunch provided to those registered under the Future Leaders Programme, provided by Morgan Sindall Construction

    Sponsored by:

    Constructive Futures      Morgan Sindall Construction

Class of Your Own Logo
Class Of Your Own is an education social enterprise helping young people understand, experience and progress into careers across the built environment. Its flagship 'Design Engineer Construct!’ (DEC) learning programme was born out of the Building Schools for the Future programme, giving students the opportunity to learn through the very buildings, places and communities being created around them. 

Since 2009, DEC has connected schools, teachers and employers with real projects and professional practice, introducing young people to surveying and geospatial, design and engineering, project and programme delivery and the wider teams who turn ideas into reality. 

Today, Class Of Your Own works with education, industry and government partners in the UK and internationally to build long term talent pipelines, strengthen employer engagement and help young people see a future for themselves in shaping the built and natural environment.

Common Ground Logo

Common Ground is a brand new type of campaigning company. We use income from our industry-leading property consultancy to challenge the status quo in property and built environment careers.

As a Community Interest Company, we provide commercially focused property and project advice to public and private sector clients, helping them make better use of land and buildings. We also support organisations to deliver credible careers, work experience and outreach programmes.

Profits fund paid internships, mentoring, APC support, work experience and pro bono consultancy. By reinvesting revenue into people and communities, Common Ground creates lasting social value and opportunity.

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Construction for Women Logo

Construction for Women is an award-winning national CIC working to create a more accessible, inclusive and representative construction industry. Through industry taster days, mentoring, early-career development, employer engagement and a regional delivery model, we support women and girls to explore construction careers, build confidence and develop lasting professional networks. We work with employers, education providers and industry partners such as UKREiiF and MIPIM to remove barriers, improve visibility and help build the workforce the sector needs.

Constructive Futures Logo

Constructive Futures CIC provides high-impact social value opportunities, giving students hands-on exposure to industries they rarely encounter, whilst embedding crucial green and digital skills into their learning journey.

For industry partners, it’s a way to give back meaningfully, by mentoring the next generation, supporting future recruitment, and shaping a more inclusive, skilled, and sustainable sector.

Whether it’s inspiring a young person to pursue a career in the built environment or simply giving them the tools to believe in themselves, this is social value that lasts well beyond the classroom.

Empower. Include. Build the Future

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The Talent Foundary Logo

The Talent Foundry is a charity that increases social mobility for young people aged 7 – 18 from under-served backgrounds. Our purpose is to support young people to discover their amazing talents, think big about their future and build their skills and confidence to take their next step into higher education or the world of work. We also encourage and support employers to value young people's talents (not their background) and connect them to exciting career pathways. We do this by delivering inspiring, skills-based, facilitated workshops led by a The Talent Foundry facilitator and supported by industry volunteers.

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