Patta Academy: opening doors for talented young people

Not everyone has the means to go on holiday every summer. Young people from priority neighbourhoods often spend this time gaming or hanging out on the streets. On top of that, many youngsters missed out on school during the Covid-19 pandemic in 2020. After realising how much talent and creativity go untapped, a group of social workers employed by B&A Groep, which carries out social work for Dutch municipalities, recently decided to do something about that.

Last year, the organisation teamed up with the streetwear brand Patta to create a summer school in Amsterdam’s Zuidoost district. For just over three weeks, young people and young adults attended workshops focusing on entrepreneurship, creativity and personal development.

Fatima Elatik, who works for B&A Groep, knew right away that she was on to something special. “Over 300 young people attended from all over the country,” she recalls. “They were so enthusiastic that we thought, ‘Why don’t we take this initiative to the next level?’ That’s how the Patta Academy was born.”

Impressive

Fatima, who is now the director of the Patta Academy, says that since last summer, it has launched an annual programme, which includes an intensive two-week training course for young talent from priority neighbourhoods. Successful candidates must write a letter of application, submit a letter of recommendation and pitch themselves to the organisers. Participants include entrepreneurs just starting out and even ambitious secondary school pupils. The summer programme is followed by a winter programme offering monthly workshops and coaching. Subjects include entrepreneurship, marketing, finance and presentation skills.

For its training course, Patta Academy has partnered with ABN AMRO, alongside its main sponsor, Nike. Daniëlle Notenboom, a relationship manager at ABN AMRO, says the first meeting with the organisers struck a chord with her: “Among the things the academy founders told us was that the banking world, and a head office like ours in the Zuidas business district of Amsterdam, is very remote from the experience of their participants. That really made an impression on me.”

Tracksuits

The bank decided it was time to change that and is now supporting the Patta Academy through ABN AMRO Foundation. Employees have given workshops, and the bank’s head office, together with Circl, have been serving as the academy’s home base. While the Patta Academy is in the lead and oversaw the more creative and life skills part of the programme, fourteen ABN AMRO employees taught classes in business, marketing and practical entrepreneurship. The young participants learned about marketing strategies, combining sustainability and entrepreneurship, and arranging finances. More practical skills like giving a good pitch were addressed as well.

Fatima says, “Each morning, the participants would arrive at the office at 9.00 a.m. The young people were dressed in trendy tracksuits and the bank’s staff were all in suits, but they had such a good rapport with one another! What’s interesting is that the young people learn that underneath the suits are people with a story, too, for whom not everything has just fallen into their lap. As a result, they start to come out of their shell. The most important takeaway from this experience is that because the bank opens its doors to them, the young people think, ‘A person like me can work here, too. This world isn’t closed off to me.’”

In-depth discussions

By the same token, ABN AMRO staff have learned a lot from these young, talented participants. With a measure of caution, Daniëlle says, “It’s a target group we don’t see at the office every day.” The bank’s staff answered questions they’re normally not asked – questions about what it was like for them growing up, about diversity and about the financial system as a whole – all of which led to in-depth discussions.

Daniëlle continues, “It really opened our eyes. An initiative with a local focus like this one can really make a difference, especially when you see how many staff at the bank are signing up on their own to volunteer to help out and share their knowledge. That fits perfectly with the bank’s purpose of ‘Banking for better, for generations to come’.” ABN AMRO employees were happy to share their expertise and an insight into the banking world.

At the moment, the young participants are continuing to develop their plans by attending monthly return sessions. The next one, scheduled for the end of October, is also being organised by ABN AMRO and Tikkie. Daniëlle says she will be volunteering again. “Graduation day” is being held at the head office in February, when the participants will be presenting their final plans and the results of the last six months. The young people all have different areas of focus ranging from commercial business plans in fashion to solutions to social problems like easy access to help for those with debt and health problems.

Other stakeholders, such as House of Denim and Shopify, have also joined the academy and are giving workshops. Fatima says enthusiasm for the project is unprecedented: “The workshops are very popular, and there’s a strong sense of involvement and belonging. Participants also want to stay in touch with one another after the academy is over. Plus three previous participants have since been taken on at House of Denim as designers.”

The real deal

The Patta Academy isn’t about looking at the world through rose-coloured glasses, though. Fatima explains, “Participants don’t just want to hear about how others have made it big. They want the real deal. House of Denim, for instance, suffered many setbacks before becoming a major brand. These are the stories young people can learn from and be inspired by.”

The academy has proved so successful that there are already plans for a second “department” in Rotterdam. Opportunities are also being explored in London. ABN AMRO and the Patta Academy are looking into possibilities for future growth and the role the bank could play here. Fatima says, “As people from priority neighbourhoods ourselves, we know better than anyone what we missed out on in our youth and what these young people need now. For the most part, that’s access to knowledge and to a network. It’s all well and good to say that young people are the future, but the truth is, you have to invest in them first, especially in those who are often so quickly written off by the outside world. We see the talent they have and are thrilled that ABN AMRO is opening doors for them.”