1. Who is on the board currently?
- You can find out more about our current trustees here
2. What drew other trustees to join the Arts Emergency board?
- Our panel outlined their passion for creating real opportunities for underrepresented young people and their understanding that many opportunities are hard to reach.
- A key theme from the panel was around bringing their expertise to the table and being able to give something useful back to a charity.
- We also acknowledged that the current climate is difficult for young people and charities and therefore the expertise and experience of the board of trustees is more important than ever.
3.What is the background of the founders of the charity, where do they currently sit within the charity and what is their relationship to the board of trustees?
- Arts Emergency was founded by activist Neil Griffiths and Comedian Josie Long. Neil is the current CEO of the charity. Josie was on the board of trustees, and continues to have an informal relationship with the charity.
- Neil works closely with the board of trustees attending quarterly board meetings with other members of the SLT (Director of Programmes, Director of Fundraising and Marketing and COO).
- Neil has done an incredible job of building the charity to what it is today, placing the urgent need for the work we do at the heart of decision making.
- There is a very positive collaborative relationship between the board of trustees and the SLT. The priorities always focus around young people themselves and Neil is always receptive to ideas and learning.
4. What are the key opportunities and challenges over the coming year?
- From a board perspective there are upcoming changes on the board that present great opportunity to build on the skills and expertise we currently have. As outlined in the pack we’ll be looking to appoint a new treasurer and are also looking for candidates who have experience in fundraising, law, PR and / or press relations.
- There has been a lot of growth for the organisation in recent years, and there is a wealth of ideas to expand and improve our service to young people. One of the roles of the board is to analyse and challenge the wealth of ideas generation and ensure there is a focus on where we can make the most impact. It’s a challenging time for charities and we need to prioritise sustainability without losing the spark that makes Arts Emergency so special.
5. What does the board see as the main challenges and opportunities with the new government?
- There are opportunities to grow the organisation; expanding mentoring regionally is an opportunity we are actively planning for. In programming we really listen to our audience to find out what they need and place this alongside research and evidence as to where our work is most needed.
- The change in landscape is a challenge with potential funders and individual donors reassessing their ability to give. This therefore means careful prioritisation on which areas we can focus on.
- The current team is an asset to Arts Emergency. A lot of attention and care has gone into finding the right people who are bringing their very best to the organisation. We take this really seriously, and this puts us in the best position to maximise opportunities and approach challenges.
6. What is the most important attribute for applicants to have? Passion, experience, skills?
- It’s a combination of all these things, whilst we are very keen to build on the amazing skills and experience of our trustees, we acknowledge that this is a voluntary position and therefore a passion for the cause has to be a key factor for trustees to be involved. There are many opportunities to get involved with Arts Emergency events, fundraising and other aspects - the more you are able to do, the better the experience you will have.
7. What does success look like, how will you know whether you’ve achieved it?
- Under our current chair’s tenure, we have created a three year business plan, which includes measures of success not only for fundraising and finance, but also for the impact the organisation has. We are very pragmatic in our approach to measuring success, and the business plan and KPIs are reviewed on an annual basis, with updates on successes, challenges and risk presented to trustees on a quarterly basis.
- On a less formal note, one measure of success that is very important to trustees, staff and volunteers is just seeing the amazing things that young people who are on or have been on our programmes achieve. It’s always a measure of success to see what our young people are doing and in many cases how they give back to Arts Emergency and our young community.
8. What does Arts Emergency’s alumni programme look like?
- When young people join our mentoring programme they become part of our Young Community, where they can access support until their 26th birthday. Our Youth Collective feeds into the programme for our Young Community, developing programme ideas, events, and other support.
- We encourage our Young Community members to join our network once they turn 26, to remain part of the Arts Emergency community and support incoming Young Community members.
9. What specific areas of the organisation do you feel most enthusiastic about?
- The panel spoke about the moments of connection between young people and our network; for example we have our introduction event coming up,where we introduce new mentees to their mentors. This is always a highlight of the Arts Emergency year.
- On a more practical level, the panel also spoke about the investment that has been made in systems to manage finances and risk; this allows Arts Emergency to do more, and the maintenance of these ways of working will feed into the impact we can make.
- Inclusivity is at the core of everything we do; diversity and inclusion are a really important aspect of the organisation and the board.
10. How does the board deal with disagreements?
- When there are disagreements or challenges, trustees discuss these, and everybody on the board is encouraged to voice their opinions, ask questions, and explore the issue at hand.
- There is then a vote in order to make decisions.
11. The pack mentions reading time - what does this specifically involve
- A week ahead of each board meeting we will send out an agenda, with related papers. The content will vary depending on the current situation, but trustees can always expect:
- A directors’ report outlining progress against our business plan
- A finance report including our financial position (including where our reserves sit against target) and any key variances to expenditure budget or income
- A risk report, highlighting live or new items on our risk register
- The agenda will be clear on what decisions need to be made in the meeting, alongside areas for discussion. Trustees should make the time to read all the papers and be prepared to come to the meeting with questions, opinions, and suggestions to ensure an effective and collaborative session.
We hope this is useful and if you have any other questions please do get in touch with our Head of People and Culture Sanj Samani