Leadership lessons from transforming young lives

It is October 31, 2016. The Pride of Britain Awards are at the Grosvenor House Hotel. More than 4.5m people watch Prince Charles take to the microphone and utter the words: “Francesca's remarkable story demonstrates the importance of my trust’s work and the impact such support can have in changing young people's lives … Well done, Francesca, and many congratulations on this outstanding achievement.”

The Prince's Trust Young Achiever award was an acknowledgement of the work Francesca Brown had done with Goals 4 Girls, a football and personal development programme transforming the lives of girls aged 11 to 16.

Since 2016 more than 4,300 girls have been on the programme, many from some of the most deprived communities. Outside of the charity, Brown is an international speaker, King’s Trust ambassador, activist and a UEFA C qualified coach. Her story is one of overcoming adversity, mastering strategy and the importance of mentorship.

Brown’s early life was steeped in sport. She was born in Manchester to a father who was a talented athlete, running alongside Darren Campbell and Dwain Chambers. Her aunt is Diane Modahl, the Commonwealth Games 800m gold medallist. Brown excelled as a 100m sprinter, representing England on the track, but her love for football was strong.

She was scouted by and played for Manchester City youth football team but, with a lack of female football role models, doubted whether this was a viable profession. She was invited to play in the US before a serious injury ended her dreams of a professional playing career.

Having suffered mental health issues and chronic depression in the past, she found this setback devastating. “I didn’t realise at the time that sport was the natural endorphin keeping me afloat,” she says. “When it was taken away, everything I’d suppressed came to the surface.”

At the age of 16, Brown attempted to take her own life. “It wasn’t a cry for help,” she says quietly. “I didn’t want to be here. I didn’t know I could speak to somebody who understood the feelings I was going through at the time.”

It is not an isolated story. Over the past decade, hospital admissions due to mental health concerns have seen a 65 per cent increase, with the number of girls aged between 11 and 15 admitted rising 112.8 per cent.

“I was one of those statistics,” says Brown. “And that’s why I now advocate so strongly for sport as part of mental health support.” Her lowest moment, and the years of healing that followed, would eventually fuel a mission far bigger than football.

At 18, Brown made a bold decision. “I left Manchester with £10 in my pocket,” she says. “I knew I couldn’t get better if I stayed in the same environment.” After months of couch-surfing and hustling for work, she found her calling in youth work. It was during a session in East London that the seeds of Goals 4 Girls were sown.

“A group of girls came in and said, ‘The boys get everything. We get nothing’,” Brown remembers. She handed them pens and paper and asked them to dream big. Among the outlandish wishes for Disneyland trips and US tours, she spotted a blueprint for something powerful: a programme by the girls, for the girls.

From a pilot group of seven, the initiative grew rapidly. “Before we knew it, we had over 200 girls involved,” she says, “and everything we built was based on what they asked for.”

Today, Goals 4 Girls operates on two levels: mental well-being and football development. Workshops, mentorships and qualifications build confidence and life skills, while development centres offer UEFA-licensed coaching in communities often overlooked by professional academies.

Crucially, the programme provides access to opportunity. Partnerships with organisations such as Sky, Adidas and leading law firms give girls a glimpse of industries and careers they might never have imagined. “Representation is key,” Brown says. “It’s about showing them they can be seen in these spaces.”

The results speak volumes. A fifth of those who join Goals 4 Girls sign to a professional football club and many alumni have gone on to college football programmes, coaching roles and higher education. However, despite its success, it still faces significant challenges. Only 1.8 per cent of UK charitable funding goes to women and girls’ organisations.

Brown has formed key strategic partnerships to help. This includes launching the Alessia Cup with England striker Alessia Russo and Sky. The tournament targets girls at the critical dropout age of 14 to 16 and aims to tackle systemic barriers to participation.

Her leadership philosophy is rooted in her sporting past. “It’s not over until you win,” she says, a mantra she applies as much to business as to athletics. Brown recalls losing her title as 100m champion. She went back to the drawing board with her coach, wanting to change training techniques to regain her title.

“We worked consistently day in, day out,” she says. “Every day going into that track and running and consistently doing 20 sprints or 40 sprints, changing the technique, going to rehab and coming back in. When I went back on that track again, I reclaimed my title.

“Having someone in your corner as your champion is definitely one thing I've learnt. In business, having that mentor to guide you is so important. The most successful in business always have a mentor who’s better than them, and they’re striving to get to that next step. I’m always asking who can I surround myself with? Who’s better than me? So that I can become my best version of myself.”

The power of saying no is something that is front-of-mind for Brown in a sector where the temptation is to snap up every opportunity.

“It can be difficult for the team to say no because they're on the ground working with these girls directly all the time and they’d love to take up certain opportunities,” she says. “But I always keep very focused on the strategy. Is that going to benefit us? Does it fit in with our strategy? If not, it’s not a ‘no’, it’s a ‘no right now’.”

Leadership also requires space to reflect and reset. Brown is candid about the risk of burnout and the emotional weight of leading a mission-driven organisation. She builds in regular moments of reflection, writing down her thoughts, walking in nature and spending time with loved ones.

“I constantly write down my thoughts. ‘This week I could have done this’ or ‘what are the next steps to this project’, etc. It’s like a problem-solving book and I keep myself grounded that way.”

For Brown, the future is clear. Goals 4 Girls will continue to expand its reach, deepen its impact and fight for resources. But beyond this lies a deeper mission: creating a world where every girl can see herself as an athlete, a leader, a changemaker.

“We’re not just building footballers,” she says. “We’re building futures.”