Brighton’s Brightest: Meet Kaia Allen-Bevan, Brighton Girl of the Year 2025 🌟

You know when you meet someone and it just clicks? That’s exactly what happened when Connected Brighton’s founder, Lyndsey Clay, met Kaia Allen-Bevan — the inspiring force behind Youth The Gap and Brighton Girl Network’s 2025 Girl of the Year. The pair had met briefly before, but it was at the Sussex Business Awards where they properly connected — one of those moments where you meet someone and instantly feel like you’ve known them for years.

The content from this blog has been taken from Connected Brighton Podcast - Episode 40 - The one with Kaia Allen-Bevan

“Can we just stop the shade?”

Kaia is on a mission to change the way we talk about and treat young people. At just 22, she’s already an award-winning speaker, community leader, and the founder of Youth The Gap — a ground-breaking organisation focused on making education inclusive and accessible.

“When I talk to business owners, they often say they’ve had bad experiences with interns or apprentices,” Lyndsey shared on the episode. “But Kaia completely flips that narrative. She’s shouting about the brilliance of young people — and rightly so.”

Kaia’s own experience growing up in Whitehawk plays a big role in her story. “People hear my voice and think I must be from somewhere posh,” she laughed. “But I’m from Whitehawk, and proud. We had real community there — kids knocking on doors after school, playing football, reading books. It was wholesome.”

Her passion for advocacy began young. At 17, Kaia organised Brighton’s Black Lives Matter protest. She saw a gap — no central voice representing young people of colour in the city — and created an account called Official Brighton BLM overnight. Within hours, she was invited to speak at the protest, and the rest, as they say, is history.

Education, Reimagined

What sets Kaia apart is her vision. Youth The Gap isn’t just another consultancy. It’s a multi-award-winning CIC that works hand-in-hand with schools, families, and communities to tackle systemic inequality in education.

From anti-racism training to decolonising the curriculum, Kaia’s team approaches schools holistically — working with teachers, governors, parents, and most importantly, young people themselves.

“We don’t want to be outsiders coming in to fix things,” she said. “We want to be partners. We want to get to know the school, the students, the community — because that’s how real, sustainable change happens.”

And the impact? Within just two weeks of becoming a CIC in November, Youth The Gap won its first award (Rising Star at Plus X), secured funding, and began working with its first school. Not bad for a brand-new organisation with a big heart and a clear mission.

Celebrating the Wins

In true Kaia fashion, March and April were a whirlwind of milestones. She was back on the TEDxBrighton stage, this time not as a speaker, but as a co-host and curator of a youth-led section of the event — bringing fresh, urgent voices into the spotlight at one of Europe’s biggest TEDx platforms.

What’s Next?

Kaia shows no signs of slowing down. Youth The Gap continues to grow, with plans to expand their team, build out a Youth Advisory Board, and secure ongoing funding to support their work in schools across the region and beyond.

She’s also up for multiple awards — including Community Hero, Future Talent, and Best New Business — and was recently named a winner at the SME Awards, with even more announcements on the way.

But as Kaia herself says: “It’s not about the awards — they’re amazing — but what matters most is making sure people know we exist, and that we’re here to help.”

How You Can Support

Youth The Gap is currently looking for:

• Non-executive directors

• Youth Advisory Board members

• Partners and collaborators

• Funders and sponsors

• Stages to speak on and spaces to connect

  
  

If you can help open a door — through introductions, donations, collaborations or opportunities — now’s the time. Kaia and her team are doing the work that changes lives, and they need the city behind them.

Follow @youththegap on Instagram, or connect with Kaia directly on LinkedIn.

As Lyndsey said on the podcast:

“She’s not just inspiring the next generation — she’s inspiring those of us in our 40s too.”

Kaia Allen-Bevan: Brighton’s Girl of the Year — and a changemaker to watch.

The content from this blog has been taken from Connected Brighton Podcast - Episode 40 - The one with Kaia Allen-Bevan