Josh is the Founder and Chief Executive of Cracked It, an award-winning social enterprise that trains and employs at risk young people aged 16-24 in smartphone repair.  He established the organisation having worked with disaffected young people in East London, many of whom turned to crime after feeling excluded from the mainstream.  Cracked It’s mission is to provide a positive and credible route away from crime and towards employment.

The organisation does this by harnessing the alluring elements of group offending – the prospect of gaining income, belonging and self-worth – and positively incorporating them into its tech repair training programmes.  At the same time as equipping young people with new, exciting and lucrative skills, Cracked It’s programmes support young people to take responsibility, realise their potential, and take their first steps towards the labour market.

Cracked It was designated a global Changemaker by Ashoka; won a Tower Hamlets Community Safety Award, and sits on the Employers Forum for Reducing Reoffending, supplying advice to Ministry of Justice policy makers on youth offending.  The Shackleton Leadership Award will enable Josh and his team to deliver programmes with 72 young people across five London Boroughs, at the same time as professionalising the smartphone repair services that Cracked It graduates are equipped to offer the public.

Award Date: July 2016

Watch Video