What is often missing?
‘Professional’ skills – finance, PR, fundraising, legal, digital, HR and marketing skills.
Young people – the average age of a trustee is 57 and only 0.5% of trustees are 18-24.
People of colour – 6% of trustees are from BAME backgrounds. This compares to 8% of FTSE 100 company directors.
Service-users or those with “lived experience” – 59% of charities said that their boards were not representative of the communities they serve.
Women – Charity Commission research November 2017 found that the ratio of men to women is 2:1.
Other minority groups – disabled people and other minorities are likely to be under-represented.
When recruiting for trustees it is important to be open and inclusive in your process, make sure to make it clear in the application that you welcome and encourage people from a range of backgrounds. Make sure you advertise to your community as well so that service users know that you are recruiting and can also apply. If you are interviewing in person make sure it is in a building that is accessible and that meetings are also held in accessible spaces. A more diverse board will bring more different perspectives and life experiences and will often be more effective and successful in the long run.