I found myself thinking about Jess on Tuesday morning (25th March), the day after I stood at the podium at St. James' Park to launch the **Society Matters Foundation**. For those of you not in attendance, Jess's story is sobering - a 12-year-old with dreams of becoming a hairdresser who's facing school exclusion not because of behaviour or ability, but because she **shares** a single pair of shoes with her working mother.

When one goes to work, the other cannot leave the house.

It's an impossible choice between education and keeping a roof overhead - the human reality behind cold statistics about "working poverty."

The contrast struck me powerfully as I reflected on our launch event - in a stadium broadcast to millions worldwide every weekend, we gathered to address a region with extraordinary potential that remains frustratingly untapped. A place where aspiration meets impossibility, not through lack of effort, but through systems that need reimagining.

The Opportunity Ahead

The North-South divide isn't just a moral challenge—it's Britain's greatest untapped economic opportunity. When Northern children born today will live up to 15 years less than their Southern counterparts, we're not just facing an injustice; we're wasting human potential on an industrial scale.

Our launch speakers articulated this clearly: effective policy must be built on lived experience. When 58% of people believe the economy has worsened despite macroeconomic improvements, we're witnessing a crucial disconnect. Until policies translate to tangible benefits "in people's pockets," government initiatives will always feel like something happening to communities, not for them.

The Society Matters Foundation exists to bridge this gap—not just to highlight problems, but by leading transformative conversations to pioneer solutions that recognise the North's unique strengths and challenges.

From Analysis to Action

The theme for Monday's launch was "From Challenge to Opportunity," and this is precisely the journey we're embarking on together. While we must acknowledge the reality—that 38% of Universal Credit claimants are working, that 58% of people in poverty have at least one employed family member—our focus must be forward.

What do these statistics mean for real lives? It's Jess sharing shoes with her mother. But more importantly, it's the opportunity to lift our heads up and reimagine systems so stories like hers become unthinkable rather than commonplace.

Our much-touted "growth sectors"—digital technology, green industries, life sciences are much needed and welcomes — but we must guard against creating islands of prosperity that many communities can see but not reach. The Society Matters Foundation will work to build bridges to these islands, ensuring that prosperity isn't just visible but accessible.

Building the Northern Engine

What would economic development look like if it started with Jess's reality? It would recognise that opportunity isn't just about creating jobs—it's about creating accessible jobs with clear pathways from current skills to future possibilities, employers that build inclusion wellbeing and flexible working into their DNA. Jobs that allow people to be feel included, to do what they can when they can. A job that keeps people well, that allows them to care for children and elderly relatives, to increase their earning potential through further education, and to have time to pursue their aspirations and health goals beyond the workplace. A job that allows them to be happy and well - imagine?

I myself am a four day working week employer, this means my staff deliver 100% productivity over four days in return for 100% of their salary - yes, this is 30 hours labour for 37 hours pay (assuming productivity remains at the prescribed level). If this is something that interests you then do check out the podcast about four day working week on my website www.alisondunn.co.uk

Our Mayor Kim McGuinness has just this week launched a local growth plan that shows what's possible when development is rooted in community understanding. The Foundation's role will be to collaborate and to amplify this work by providing the evidence, stories, and connections needed to scale success.

Education: The Gateway to Change

Education emerged as a critical focus at our launch event this week. A child from Hackney is nearly twice as likely to attend university as a North East child with identical grades. This isn't about ability—it's about environment and opportunity, something I talk to often in my podcast series This is the North.

Our autumn event will focus on practical solutions to this opportunity gap, using Sir David Bell's framework of "talent is everywhere, opportunity isn't" as our organising principle. We'll work with schools, businesses, and cultural institutions to create the visible pathways to success that make ambition feel achievable.

Northerners Leading Change

As I emphasised at our launch, "we cannot wait for the central Government to realise our potential, because let's be honest, if that were going to happen, it would have happened a long time ago."

The Society Matters Foundation is built on this principle of self-determination. As devolution progresses and elected mayors like Kim gain greater powers, we'll provide the data, insight, and stories that make the case for change irresistible. We'll convene conversations, encourage civic participation, and ensure that decisions about the North are informed by Northern voices.

This isn't about complaining—it's about claiming our future. The most successful regions worldwide have taken control of their narratives and built prosperity on their own terms. The North has everything needed to join them: innovation, determination, and now, a platform to unite these strengths.

Join the Journey

What makes the Society Matters Foundation different is our commitment to both truth-telling and solution-building. We won't shy away from difficult realities, but neither will we dwell in diagnosis when treatment is what's needed.

We're seeking reflections from everyone who participated in Monday's launch—what resonated, what you value in our work, and how you envision partnership moving forward.

This region has weathered industrial revolutions, economic collapses, and profound social transformations. The resilience is here. The talent is here. The determination is here.

Remember Jess and her mother, sharing a single pair of shoes between them. Their story isn't just a tragic anecdote—it's a call to reimagine what's possible when we harness the North's greatest resource: its people.

Our work must ensure that in the future, no child misses school and no parent misses work because they cannot afford basic necessities.

If you care for a brighter future, please care to connect with us. The North is rising, and this time, we're writing our own story—not of grievance, but of possibility and progress.