Building Inclusive Trustee Boards

In today’s fast changing social landscape it’s vital that charities, CIOs and other not for profits act to prioritise inclusivity and diversity within their governance structures.

It’s important for many reasons. Not only does an inclusive trustee board reflect the communities it serves and embeds relevant lived experience in the decision making of an organisation, but it can also bring valuable, varied perspectives, to enrich thinking and inform decision-making and increase the impact and relevance of your organisation.

Despite knowing this, many charities still lack diversity, and progress to improve remains slow. In the It starts from the top guide, 2024, it states that 51% of charities do not have a single minority ethnic woman on their board and 92% of trustees are white, older, and above average income and education. These statistics are not necessarily surprising when only 10% of trustee vacancies are ever advertised.

In this article, we’ll delve into best practices for inclusive trustee recruitment and highlight steps that you can take to build a more inclusive board, and how to better support new trustees once they have been recruited.

The importance of inclusive governance

As highlighted above, inclusive governance embeds diverse backgrounds, experiences, and perspectives into decision-making. The Charity Governance Code emphasises that addressing equality, diversity, and inclusion (EDI) helps boards make better decisions and ensures that charities remain relevant to those they serve.​

Such diversity can foster innovation, enhance problem-solving, and strengthen the legitimacy of the organisation in the eyes of its stakeholders. Diversity at the most senior level can ensure that your organisation authentically lives its values. 

More than this, it can support your organisation’s ability to fundraise effectively. A growing number of major UK trusts and foundations now actively ask charities how they embed lived experience into decision-making. For example, the National Lottery Community Fund includes questions in applications and reporting about how organisations involve service users and communities in shaping their work; and Lloyds Bank Foundation asks how charities include people with lived experience in leadership, including in trustee roles.

This shift reflects a growing recognition that authentic inclusion of people with lived experience leads to better-informed strategies, more effective services, and greater accountability.

How can we attract and support a diverse board?

To begin, the structure and support systems need to be planned and implemented to make the process as smooth as possible.

This is especially important as 40% of survey respondents to the Association of Chair’s EDI survey 2024 said they had experienced barriers to inclusion to being on a charity board. This shows there is much work to be done when it comes to making charity boards more diverse and inclusive.

Taking the time to identify the barriers that people from diverse backgrounds face in becoming a trustee of your organisation will support you to better overcome them. You could do this with your organisation’s networks and local community to gain unique insights and build connections.

There are further considerations we can explore to support both existing and new trustees to thrive in their positions:

• Offering a training session on EDI as well as unconscious bias, cultural competency, and inclusive practices for all board members increases awareness and fuels healthy conversations
• Inviting candidates to observe meetings to see how the Board operates can allow potential trustees to build familiarity informally and gain a better understanding of how meetings are run.
• A buddy system where all new trustees are paired with experienced board members can help with onboarding and integration into the wider board. Training, mentoring and/or coaching may also be beneficial for all trustees.
• Compensating for trustee’s time, expenses or lost salary due to attending trustee meetings and other events can help ensure financial inclusivity.
• Regularly seeking feedback on people’s experiences of being on the board ensures positive engagement and relationships. In the spirit of constant improvement, implement changes to meet the needs and expectations of your trustees.   

Once you have the support systems agreed, there are also a number of steps you can take to make trustee recruitment more effective:

1. As with any trustee recruitment you want to start by assessing the current board's skills, experiences, and diversity. This could include scoring your board’s performance against key areas in the Charity Governance Code to identify areas that need attention.
2. Based on the finding above, define the role, responsibilities, and desired attributes of new trustees. Make your advertisements engaging, inclusive and tailored to the diverse communities you seek to reach.​
3. Promoting trustee vacancies through various platforms, including those that target underrepresented groups such as the Trustee Leadership Programme, Reach Volunteering, Young Trustee Movement, Black Trustee Network, and local volunteer centers will support you to reach candidates more effectively.
4. Once you are ready to shortlist, best practice suggests implementing an unbiased selection process, to ensure that all candidates are assessed fairly. This can include anonymising applications, using standardised questions and using a scoring system to minimise biases during the selection process.​
5. Once you have chosen your preferred trustee(s), invite them to observe one or two meetings. Taking on a trustee position is a big step and it’s worth taking the time for both parties to get it right. Once they are ready to start, provide comprehensive inductions to new trustees, introducing them to the organisation's culture, operations, and expectations and consider pairing new trustees with an experienced ‘buddy’.
6. Seek feedback on trustee’s experiences to review the recruitment process and regularly review the board's composition and diversity to ensure it supports the needs of the organisation.

You can read more on inclusively recruiting and inducting trustees by NCVO, Trustee Recruitment Cycle, Young Trustee Movement, and Action for Trustee Racial Diversity.

For more resources and trustee training, visit the Trustee Leadership Programme.​

Building an inclusive trustee board is an ongoing commitment to EDI. By adopting structured recruitment processes, valuing lived experience, and continuously reflecting on board composition, it can support your organisation’s relevance, impact and success for years to come.​

Have you seen inspiring governance stories that reflect best practice in EDI? Share your thoughts with us @TrusteeLeaders