Purpose Lab x the Wise Group: Prevention in Practice
At Purpose Lab, we connect emerging talent with organisations that don’t just deliver products and services - they redesign how support works. This month we welcomed the Wise Group, a long-standing Purpose Coalition partner, to share how they turn mission into measurable systems change.
Chaired by Victoria Carson of the Wise Group, students from eleven universities and colleges explored what prevention-first looks like on the ground. The Wise Group’s Relational Mentoring™ model and data insight operate as infrastructure for prevention - an integration layer that wires local services together so families move out of poverty for good.
What stood out most was the scale and fidelity of the approach: around 400 mentors working side-by-side with people navigating complex transitions - back into work, through the justice system, and across housing, health, and energy challenges. The work is human and practical: building trust, identifying barriers across life areas, and connecting people to the right support at the right time. The philosophy is simple and powerful: people need to be believed in - and backed by a coherent system.
We also heard how this system lens starts internally. With targeted wellbeing support and regular colleague engagement, the Wise Group invests in an inclusive culture so social impact starts from within.
Student questions went straight to the heart of systems change: How are communities identified? What does a mentor actually do day to day? How do you make sure partners share the same values? A lively debate on the phrase “lifting people out of poverty” underlined something we value at Purpose Lab too - language that reflects partnership, agency, and dignity, not rescue.
When we asked what would help the Wise Group connect with people like them, one theme dominated: connection. Storytelling, campus presence, and amplifying lived experience matter. As one student said, “Even a short 10-minute presentation at university could give someone hope.” Another called for genuine partnerships - not top-down programmes.
For Purpose Lab, this session exemplified our mission: bringing purposeful organisations and emerging leaders together to accelerate change. The Wise Group shows how to move from managing poverty to preventing it - by combining trusted relationships with data, integrating services around families, and making prevention accountable for outcomes.
What’s next? We’ll keep creating spaces where students can engage with real system redesign - and where organisations like the Wise Group can meet the talent ready to build what comes next.
