Impact UK: Driving change
We interviewed Jason Arthur as part of Impact UK: The sizing and the story of the impact economy.
Jason Arthur is the man behind the wheel of F1 superstar Lewis Hamilton’s foundation Mission 44, helping young people succeed regardless of their background.
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In 2008, Lewis Hamilton made history as Formula One’s first Black world champion. Yet at 15, his dreams nearly ended when he was wrongly excluded from school—an experience of injustice that stayed with him. In 2021, it inspired him to launch Mission 44 and his team recruited Jason Arthur as CEO, a former teacher with a background in nonprofits and London politics.
In just four years, Mission 44 has invested nearly £9 million in more than 40 organisations, influenced UK education policy, and opened pathways into Formula 1 and STEM for hundreds of young people. Key to their success, explains Arthur, has been the power of their storytelling—using Lewis’s and Mission 44’s global platform, brand, and partnerships to amplify stories of change.
The Spark
I started as a teacher, driven by my experience growing up on a council estate in North London as the son of Ghanaian immigrants. Alongside my supportive parents, I was lucky enough to have a few teachers who invested in me, and I wanted others to have that same chance. My professional journey – from teaching to local government to leading nonprofits—strengthened my belief that to help young people succeed, we must think systemically and act collectively.
When I was approached by Lewis and his team in 2021 to set up and run Mission 44, I was a director at Youth Futures Foundation. I wasn’t looking for it, so I feel very fortunate that they found me. I was excited about building something truly systemic in focus.
The Choice
Before launching our work, we spent significant time consulting with young people, charities, and academics to understand where Mission 44 could add the most value.
We were advised not to become just another grant-maker funding the same usual suspects. Our goals were to invest in under-represented and under-funded organisations, especially those led by people of colour.
We ensured our own structure reflected our values—83% of our board and nearly 70% of our team are people of colour. That was an intentional decision because UK philanthropy tends to lack ethnic diversity.
We wanted young people to be a core part of how we would operate. All our decisions are made in collaboration with a group of young people—our Youth Advisory Board.
Ultimately, we want to use our platform to showcase the impact of these organisations and the voices of young people to drive change. We do this by giving grants to small and large organisations. We then amplify our work with storytelling and content that includes Lewis.
A strong example is our Preventing Exclusions initiative. We funded 13 organisations, worked with a learning partner to assess impact, and convened partners and young people to co-create a campaign for inclusive education reform. We then engaged with Lewis around the campaign, leading to a meeting with the Prime Minister and Education Secretary at Number 10 and to policy commitments now being implemented with the Department for Education.
What drives change is not just evidence or even resource, but the stories we tell.
The Impact
We’re only four years old and we’ve already invested nearly £9 million across more than 40 organisations and reached over half a million young people—but what really matters is the impact we’re starting to see.
One of the biggest impacts has been in education policy. Following our campaign on school inclusion, the UK government made concrete commitments to publishing a national framework for inclusive practice, expanding data collection on pupil experience, and improving the recruitment and retention of teachers from ethnic-minority backgrounds. These pledges, announced at a Downing Street roundtable with Lewis Hamilton, mark a step toward embedding inclusion and representation across the education system.
At the Co-op Multi Academy Trust in Yorkshire, our grant has helped reduce exclusions among Gypsy, Roma and Traveller students—attendance is up, and teachers have received specialist training on cultural inclusion.
Through our scholarships with the Royal Academy of Engineering, every member of the first cohort secured a job in motorsport and the automotive industry. Cohort two have already started to secure jobs, including roles at Red Bull Racing and Aston Martin F1 Team.
Our partnership with My Life My Say has driven an increase in youth political participation and voter registration.
The Future
We’re now increasingly becoming an international organisation—with recent grants in Austin and São Paulo, both locations where there is a Grand Prix, so we’re using that as a hook to get young people into STEM. In the UK, we’ll continue our focus on education inclusion and policy influence. We’ll also lean further into our investing, convening, and campaigning model—using Lewis’s global platform, our brand, and our partnerships to amplify stories of change. As Lewis was recently named the world’s most marketable athlete, our ability to use that visibility to drive systemic impact is unique.
Emotional ROI
Setting up an organisation like this isn’t easy. It’s been demanding for both of us. Lewis has personally donated £20 million while balancing his F1 career, fashion ventures, and film projects. It’s been a lot of hard work developing the strategy, building the team, integrating the voices of young people, especially as there’s lots of visibility on Lewis—so there’s pressure that comes with that.
It’s a tough job, but I love it. I wouldn’t do anything else. Just last week, I got a lovely email from a young girl we met in Austin through GirlStart, saying how much the experience meant to her and that she wanted her sister to take part too. I draw energy from that.
Giving Forward
Being able to invest in others is a huge privilege and having that power can be challenging for some. So be thoughtful and don’t just default to the same organisations.
Listen to the organisations you’re trying to support and share that power. Try to talk about what you’re doing and where you’re making an impact. Tell that story, because what drives change is not just evidence or even resource, but the stories we tell.
Read the full Impact UK report
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