Changing the face of trusteeship
We exist to make trusteeship more accessible, effective and inclusive by raising awareness of trusteeship, particularly within under-represented communities, and by helping trustees to have impact.
Helping aspiring trustees
Getting on Board supports people to become charity trustees, particularly those who are currently under-represented on trustee boards. The aspiring trustees we support include young people, women, people of colour, disabled people, LGBTQ+ people, working class people, and people with lived experience of disenfranchisement.
62% of the top charities, by income, had all white boards while 92% of trustees are white, older, and above average income and education (Taken on Trust, Charity Commission 2017) We help bring new perspectives to boards.
Helping charities transform
We help charities in their mission to become more representative of the communities they serve by recruiting and retaining trustees from a diversity of backgrounds and lived experiences.
This is fundamental because charities need access to the broadest possible talent pool to function at the highest level. This is only possible when diversity is enshrined in every aspect of the trustee recruitment and retention process - not seen as a box ticking exercise that equates to lowering the bar.
Partnership working
Since its foundation in 2004 by Sarah Hodgkinson, Getting on Board has supported thousands of people to become trustees, and worked with numerous organisations to raise awareness of the role of trustees and to train them to become trustees.
Working in partnership with other charities, businesses and myriad other organisations is still at the heart of what Getting on Board does. We are proud to be working with Action for Trustee Racial Diversity, Young Trustees Movement and Reach Volunteering amongst others to achieve the common goal of changing the face of trusteeship.
Changing trusteeship today
Today, Getting on Board’s mission continues to change the face of trusteeship by bringing diversity to charity boards. Many charity boards lack the diversity essential to good governance and growth, in part because they do not recruit trustees openly by advertising available trustee roles.
We believe that charity boards need to better reflect their communities and society as whole. Good governance comes from appointing trustees who represent a diversity of ethnicities, backgrounds, relevant skills and lived experience to a board. Equally importantly, all trustees should feel supported and empowered, and confident that their opinions will be listened to and taken into account.
We believe anyone who wants to become a charity trustee should be supported in their journey. This works alongside our aim that charities should be supported to recruit new trustees openly. This in turn widens the playing field for future trustees.
Our Mission
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Making trusteeship accessible to everyone who wants to become a trustee by providing resources, programmes and advice
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Connecting people who want to become trustees with suitable trustee roles and opportunities
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Supporting charities to recruit and retain diverse trustees on their charity boards
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Working with employees in the private, public and third sectors to support their employees to become trustees
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