The Impact and Improvement Standards were developed by the Centre for Youth Impact (YMCA George Williams College) in 2023, following a deep review of existing tools and our experiences of supporting youth organisations to use them. This included:

• Project Oracle Standards of Evidence (2018 – 2020)
• Asking Good Questions (2018)
• Confidence Framework (Realising Ambition 2012 – 2015 and then #iwill Fund Impact Accelerator 2019 – 2022)
• Youth Programme Quality Intervention (2018– 2021)

From this review, we identified a need to develop a framework, process, and support offer for ongoing reflection, relational practice, realistic and actionable evidence building, and consistent high-quality delivery. In response, we developed the Impact and Improvement Standards with a revised and refined focus on organisational practices and processes for ‘impact and improvement’, low stakes accountability, and organisational context. We also developed a stronger and tighter emphasis on embedding values-driven practice, including:

• Equitable design and evaluation;
• Organisational learning and sharing; and
• Youth consultation, participation, and voice.

For information on how you can use the Standards from a licensing perspective, please see Creative Commons licensing.