Emrys Green, Chair of The Institute of Leadership, shares a personal reflection on two decades of involving younger people in governance. How to engage young trustees, and why anyone can go from free school meals to chairing a global charity.
My journey to charity leadership
I am delighted to be sharing a little about why I’m an advocate for diversifying boards, particularly bringing in those with less experience of board roles. And it starts with passion, a great foundation for finding people willing to give time and expertise to an organisation.
I started exploring opportunities to influence governance and organisations as a teenager, having the opportunity to join youth advisory boards of local and national projects. I was fortunate enough to access great youth work provision, have council-funded creative opportunities, and the support to travel by train to London and take part in projects with the National Children’s Bureau and similar organisations.
I am one of thousands of young people over the years who have had the privilege to engage in influencing opportunities, and did so without any financial backing. Just the fortune for local council support, the educational maintenance allowance and free school meals along with a supportive single parent who could give me the freedom to travel and engage.
Opportunities, support, and barriers
I was able to access support and opportunities. But not everyone has the confidence to do so, or is eligible. And often there is a lack of availability in local areas.
Sometimes there are barriers in terms of willingness to be involved. Some think they must only engage if opportunities pay (a consequence of campaigns to end unfair internships – which I totally support when they’re exploitative); however relationships can be built on so much more. A young person can benefit from genuine experiences; training and non-cash benefits. These are the type of opportunities trusteeships often bring. And it should be up to young people as to whether they feel they can take these opportunities and commit to an organisation.
In terms of what support might be available, there are a lot of free and funded learning opportunities online. In some areas young people can access much more career support through Careers Hubs at schools, and there are many universities looking to ensure their graduate outcomes are as good as possible by providing enhanced careers skills and opportunities.
The past five years have also thrown many young people into new experiences, a need to be more independent and a real focus on being adaptable and developing transferable skills. This means there’s a cohort of young people coming through that have so much to offer organisations.
Missing out on valuable views
These young people who have so much to offer – whether from self-directed learning and opportunities, or from career-enriching opportunities from education providers – could be helping charities and other organisations to deepen their engagement with communities, and better serve the needs of their users, beneficiaries, and customers.
I believe young people always have been able to do this, but now it’s clear that organisations who equate decades of experience with quality of experience or value of voice are definitely missing out.
Young people’s perspective of the world can be ‘out of the box’ or ‘a new approach’ which is often avoided for fear of not staying true to the original intent of an organisation. I believe for the survival and effectiveness of organisations, they must evolve and empower the influence of diverse voices to ensure they meet their objectives in the world as it is today, not whenever the constitution was made.
Accessibility
It’s a whole other blog to discuss payments to those with lived experience or to support those who may not be in full employment or in financial positions to volunteer time, which can be a barrier in its own right. However, all boards should be as inclusive as possible, regardless of age, to offer expenses at a minimum, and to improve access by scheduling meetings at times that are convenient to the widest possible set of people.
What are some of the other tips I’ve learnt over the years? They include:
- Ensuring clear papers (using plain English) are shared in advance of meetings: With enough time to ask questions, or allow meetings between any board mentors/mentees/buddies, and making use of graphics and graphs where relevant.
- Creating mentorship or buddy schemes: An experienced board member can support less experienced board members in fulfilling their roles.
- Clarity on board, committee and ‘special appointment’ roles: To help anyone fulfil a role the expectations must be clear, appropriate training must be available, and reviews should take place to ensure effectiveness is well monitored.
- Ensure meetings are defined: The purpose and structure of a meeting should be set out in advance. Ideally with named individuals on points and timings given – to help people know what to expect and to plan ahead. It also provides a level of psychological safety for those that might need to be curtailed if points drift and time moves on.
- Meeting formats: Consider what works best for your organisation and the board members – does hybrid work? Should certain meetings be in-person only? And can virtual meetings be used effectively? A part of the considerations should be travel times and modes (Do attendees need to drive? Is public transport readily available and safe for returning late evening for example?). Another consideration is whether good data and technology is available.
- Are actions clear and well communicated to staff for implementation, and to board members – whether present or not? Potentially providing debrief opportunities or structured follow-ups will help less experienced board members understand the ‘what’s next?’ – it’s also great governance to ensure things happen in the way intended.
There’s a whole host of other practical recommendations that I have, indeed I’ve crafted guides for inclusive chairing, running hybrid meetings, and accessible facilitation training for clients. But I hope these points provide some initial steps to helping you diversify your board with less experienced members – whether they’re career veterans who’ve never been on a board, or young people fresh out of school.
About Emrys Green
Emrys is currently chair of The Institute of Leadership and vice-chair of The Mighty Creatives – both boards he joined in his twenties. By day he runs consultancy-led digital & engagement agency Cloud Artisans who have worked with 100+ organisations to improve communications, processes and engagement. He also co-founded Voice – a charity that champions youth voice and leadership and that runs training for organisations on how to engage young people in governance and influencing.
