Making space for diversity on the board
Action for Business (Bradford) Limited: Ensuring an inclusive Board
Action for Business Limited (ABL) does not have a diversity policy as such but works under the ethos of trying to be as inclusive as possible to all the local community. The Trust is based in the heart of Manningham, a district of Bradford with high concentrations of people from ethnic minorities, mainly Pakistanis and Bangladeshis and small Indian and African-Caribbean communities. Asian migrant communities arrived in Manningham in the 1950s and 1960s to work in the prosperous textile industry and hence lived around the mills.
The Asians settled in Manningham formed distinct groups around cultural and religious identities. Division within the Asian Community kept groups separate not just from the white community but also from other ethnic groups. As a result the white community started to move out to surrounding areas. Manningham has remained divided by race and religion. Pakistani and Bangladeshi women are often very isolated and are excluded from the rest of the indigenous community due to language and cultural differences.
With the support of government’s Inner Cities Task Force ABL was initiated by local people in 1992 with the key objective to create community cohesion by bringing the segregated ethnic groups together and help them to move into the mainstream economy. ABL Board took a concerted decision that there would be no membership base other than the Board; and that the Board would be made by selecting directors from the mix of the local community living or working in the area.
A resolution was passed that the Board would be made up of 15 members from the main five 1991 census groups including Pakistanis, Bangladeshis, Indians, African Caribbean’s and White Europeans. The resolution further stated that to maintain an equal number of directors from the mix of the community, there would only be up to 3 members from each group. This would ensure that no one group would dominate the decision making process and bring diversity on the board that would give equal opportunity to minority groups to participate fully in governance of ABL. The Board would also ensure that there is a balanced gender mix of directors.
The Board has the power to appoint new members or reappoint retiring members based on the ethnic groups and skills required to manage the enterprise (i.e. solicitor, accountant) but all live or work locally. This approach is a deliberate attempt to achieve stable social cohesion in an area where political and family ties are hotbed.
ABL admits that it is not a fully democratic system, but they are known for what they do and they have achieved a stable, independent Board and operate in an open and accountable manner. ABL has been instrumental in building community cohesion. Manningham, once a no go area for outsiders now attracts over 40,000 visitors from all communities irrespective of race, colour, creed or gender.
Contact: Jenny Pupius (Chief Executive), Action for Business (Bradford) Ltd (ABL); Tel: 01274 223 203, Email: jenny@abl-cbc.co.uk, Web: www.abl-cbc.co.uk
PLANED (Wales): A sophisticated approach to partnership
Because of the long experience of partnership working, PLANED (Pembrokeshire
Local Action Network for Enterprise & Development) takes a sophisticated approach to partnership and networking. The composition of its board/management committee illustrates this approach. The PLANED Board consists of representatives of a variety of stakeholders in the area of Pembrokeshire including:
- Special interest groups (Tourism, Business and Farming)
- The Public Sector and Development Agencies (Pembrokeshire County Council, Pembrokeshire Coast National Park Authority, Welsh Development Agency, Education Learning Wales, Pembrokeshire College)
- The voluntary sector including arts and environmental organisations.
The Countryside Council for Wales (CCW) and Pembrokeshire Association of Voluntary Services, (PAVS) are observers. The size of such an inclusive Board (35 members) is considered as a benefit and not a hindrance to effective partnership working, the aim being, that all of the individuals and organizations on the Board play a key role in supporting local communities and networking with key partners to develop and implement Board policies. The overall responsibility for ensuring community support and participation in an integrated approach to local development is the responsibility of the Board of PLANED.
Contact: Joan Asby, PLANED; Tel: 01834 860965, Email: joana@planed.org.uk, Web: www.planed.org.uk
Pepys Community Forum (PCF): pros & cons of a truly democratic board
Anyone living in the area is a member and can stand or vote for the Management Committee, regardless of whether they have registered with the trust or not. There has been a core of residents who have stayed with the Board for at least four years, and during that time there have always been some new members – a sign of a very healthy interest. The Trust currently has ten Board members who were elected from community residents and one co-optee who has helped to address a gender and ethnicity imbalance on the board. A key driver behind this structure is that power stays with the residents and they make decisions. Lewis Herlitz (the Trust’s Director) feels that they are lucky as there is honesty about people bringing personal agendas to the board“We are trying to create an ethos of openness and transparency and many people are buying into it.”In terms of the board linking into the community, language is a real issue. PCF has tried asking for volunteers from the community to help translate and represent their communities, but only two came forward. They were invited to observe and report back on Management Committee meetings, but PCF finds it hard to guarantee that the message gets back. One of the problems of having a resident-led board is that it does not always operate strategically. The Trust has tried to address this by having away days with and without staff, to help them bond as a group and focus more; as Lewis puts it, “to stay on the bridge, and not keep coming into the engine room”. This has remained a source of continuing tension and debate. The organisation has largely remained staff-led which questions its democracy. Lewis points out that there are different arguments around ensuring the right skills match versus a truly democratic process: “It affects competing in the commercial world. However if you want the community to be truly involved you need to be democratic. If you want to be truly democratic you need to be prepared to manage and live with the tensions that arise around where power resides, with the staff or with the residents.”
Contact: Lewis Herlitz (Director), Pepys Community Forum; Tel: 020 8694 3503, Email: lewis@pepyscommunityforum.org.uk, Web: www.pepyscommunityforum.org.uk
Tips from practitioners:
Why not visit other organisations and find out how they do it?Ffind a model you like and amend it so it’s fit for your purpose.
Ask yourself how your Board can reach a balance between community representation and expertise?
How does your Board feed back to the community?
Other resources on diversity in management committees:
The Governance & Participation Project (at Co-operativesUK) offers practical advice and guidelines on operating an effective management committee.
The Charity Commission Website (www.charity-commission.gov.uk) offers guidelines for Charities and their trustees.
The Governance Hub (www.governancehub.org.uk) is a partnership of voluntary and community sector associations, working to improve governance.
Development through Diversity (2005), bassac, available online at: www.bassac.org.uk/publications
Good Governance: A Code for the Voluntary & Community Sector, the National Hub of Expertise in Governance (2005), available online at www.governancehub.org.uk
Boards that Work (2003), David Fishel, ISBN: 1903991161
