Case study: Diverse and balanced charity trustee recruitment

Ensuring the right mix of people were brought in to represent the people of Cornwall on the board of Cornwall Voluntary Sector Forum, June 2024.

The Client

Formed in 1992, Cornwall Voluntary Sector Forum (CVSF) exists to connect, support and promote the voluntary, community and social enterprise (VCSE) sector in Cornwall. It is the umbrella organisation for the VCSE sector, and has undergone a period of significant expansion, in importance, remit and staffing, over the last five years. CEO Emma Rowse has been in post since 2022, and prior to that was a Trustee for over two years, including during the pandemic. She has built on the strategic direction and enhanced profile that were developed during that time, and was keen to update the membership of the Board of Trustees to be more representative of the user groups supported by CVSF.

The Challenge

Emma had worked with Anna both as co-trustee of CVSF, and in other roles, so she knew that Anna’s experience and connections would be invaluable in this task. Much of the previous trustee recruitment had been done by word of mouth and personal approach from the CEO.  However, Emma felt that with several vacancies on the board, a more focused approach was needed, and that this was also the perfect opportunity be proactive around increasing diversity.

She explains “It felt like we were at a point, in terms of the organisation’s development, to take stock and think about what we need and want, in terms of breadth of skills, expertise, experiences… and demographics.  We were really keen to encourage interest from people who bring different life experiences, but also a different age profile.”

The Process

Anna worked closely with Emma and her executive and board team to put together an information pack about the organisation, and focussing on the skills, backgrounds and experiences they were looking for in future trustees. Anna then led a search campaign to identify and establish who might be both a good fit for the organisation, and interested in exploring the opportunity.

Underlining the importance of Anna’s involvement, Emma was emphatic: “That’s the kind of gold that you pay somebody like Anna to bring. We could have simply put out an advert and hoped that people would see this and apply.  With Anna you are paying for a thorough and targeted recruitment process and crucially her network of clients” Removing the element of ‘advertise and hope’ is well worth the money, in her opinion.

At around this time, and purely by coincidence, Ellie Trebilcock connected with Anna on LinkedIn. Ellie was brought up in Cornwall, is in her twenties, and identifies as working class. She was interested in returning to work in the public sector, but unsure of her direction, and thought that Anna might be a great person to jump-start her career development.  On speaking with Ellie, Anna realised that the CVSF opportunity might align very well with Ellie’s ambitions to make a difference and bring her lived experience to bear in useful ways. After their conversation, in which Ellie expressed interest in finding out more about being a trustee, her perception was that she was a whole person, to Anna, more than a collection of ticks in demographic boxes.

Anna recommended Ellie to Emma and the CVSF Board, and worked through a selection process with her and their Chair, followed by a round of interviews. These brought some people to the head of the list, and ruled out a few others, but the final choices were based on the balance that CVSF wanted to create in the board.

The Results

VSF appointed six people at that time, including Ellie, utilising Anna’s skills again to help with their onboarding and training. Emma explains “That’s the benefit of going through someone like Anna – you can do it once, and do it really well!”

Emma and the Board are very happy with the breadth of age, lived experience, and class represented in their Trustees, as well as there now being a better gender balance on the board.

Ellie also says Anna checked in with her regularly, to ensure that she was settling in to her role, and happy, in addition to the trustee training she attended which is delivered by Public Leaders Appointments and funded by CVSF through their Learning Academy.