Diversity, Passion, and 57 Applications: Amber Reflects on SIDCN's Trustee Search
- izzyelton2
- 1 day ago
- 5 min read
Updated: 13 hours ago
You may have noticed that SIDCN has recently been on the look-out for new trustees. Amber Shotton, SIDCN's Chair of Trustees, shares insights, encouragements and lessons learned from the process...
SIDCN’s trustees serve a two-year term, renewable up to three times, and as I approach the end of my second term as Chair, succession planning is at the forefront of my mind. One of the key priorities for me is ensuring SIDCN continues to have a diverse mix of Trustees as well as future Chairs.
SIDCN is made up of around 2,500 small not-for-profits working globally and so it is essential that our board is diverse, to reflect the mix of staff, trustee, volunteers, partners, and communities our members serve. We also understand that UK charity boards have a long way to go to reflect the country’s demographics with fewer than 7% of trustees being people of colour. But with most of our members working with global majority communities, we are trying to ensure that we have more voices and perspectives at a strategic level.
Whilst we are still in the final stages of the recruitment process, it seemed timely during Trustees' Week and the Festival of Trusteeship to share some of our learnings and insights so far!
People Love Smalls - Especially Global Ones!
You may be wondering why I am so confident of this, against a backdrop of so much negative rhetoric. Well, it's partly because SIDCN, a micro charity, received 57 applications to our Trustee and Vice Chair roles! And one of the things that really stood out was how much the applicants value and recognise the importance of small charities.
The overwhelming message? “People are passionate about supporting others and spreading love around the globe!” Don’t let anyone tell you different.
The diversity within the applications has been another really encouraging part of the process.
Over 60% of applications were from women, showing steady growth in gender parity at governance levels. However, only 46% of Vice Chair applications were from women, so there’s still work to do when it comes to leadership representation.
More than a quarter (28%) of applicants were under 30 and 50% were people of colour.
Organisations such as Young Trustees Movement and Board Racial Diversity are clearly helping to move the dial in this space, which is amazing.
Why So Many, and So Diverse?
We recognised our role as a board in creating greater diversity and were intentional from the outset about accessibility. We stated clearly: “No past trustee experience needed”. So, it’s no surprise that 98% of applicants had not been a trustee before, but clearly articulated their desire to take on a trustee role.
Yes, but what are they like? Excellent! The calibre of the applicants was very good. Many have senior charity leadership experience, or are senior leaders in corporates or government that are also volunteering for small charities. Some have decades of international development experience and others have specialist skills in areas like law and HR, but all with a common passion for global solidarity.
How did you do it?
Whittling down the applications was tough, but we finally held interviews for 21 amazing candidates (23 were offered interviews).
To ensure accessibility, we shared interview questions in advance to help candidates prepare. We aren’t all the same, and some of us need to know what’s coming to feel comfortable and perform at our best.
It makes the interview experience more meaningful and helpful for everyone involved and we received positive feedback from candidates for taking this approach too.
The candidates were so strong that we knew we couldn’t lose the energy, potential, and resources used, so we engaged our membership! We asked them, “Anyone looking for trustees right now?” Within 24 hours we had 12 member organisations signed up to share their details with applicants.
Overall, our team invested around 15 days’ worth of volunteer hours during the recruitment process. I am incredibly grateful to the whole SIDCN board for giving up their time to help consider and interview applications, as I could not have done it without them! A huge thank you to them – you guys rock!
Lessons Learned and Looking Ahead
We also learned some other important lessons, such as ensuring the platforms we use are genuinely accessible and reach a wide spectrum of potential trustees. We may have missed some excellent candidates along the way, but as a young charity, we’re always learning as we go. Next time, we’ll use international (not just UK-based) volunteering platforms to ensure we’re not inadvertently limiting the pool of responses from across the globe. I look forward to sharing some of our other learnings once we have completed the final selections.
My challenge to our small charity members: give newbies a chance. It doesn’t have to be difficult or costly to upskill them, and your investment will strengthen the sector as a whole.
But how can we support newbie Trustees? At SIDCN, we’re supporting new trustees through a buddying system, access to sector training (we’ve chosen Association of Chairs membership, but there are others), bespoke onboarding, and peer support through SIDCN’s Trustee Space. We’ve also shared the plethora of opportunities available this week in Trustees' Week!
So, I know times are difficult. Aid is being cut and the media narrative is divisive – focussing on what makes us different rather than what we share and have in common. On the face of it you may think people don’t care about the world beyond their nose, but I say NOPE! We’ve seen more than 50 people – many who’d never heard of SIDCN - wanting to be part of our story of working towards Global solidarity! This excites and encourages me for the future of SIDCN, the wider sector and the world generally. There are so many eager and qualified people looking to join boards. You just need to give them a chance.
I know my reflections here won’t change the algorithms of negativity, but if it encourages just one small charity to consider its approach, or lifts its spirits as it embarks on trustee recruitment, then it's one step closer to change.
As Lemn Sissay writes:
“How do you do it?” said night. “How do you wake up and shine?”
“I keep it simple” said light. ‘One day at a time."