Case Study: Recruiting Trustees Who Bring New Perspectives

What is this case study about?

This case study was produced on behalf of Historic England by Dr Ambreen Shah, Associate at Getting on Board. It draws on the experience of the Council for British Archaeology (CBA).

The CBA is an educational charity working throughout the UK to help people of all backgrounds experience and participate in archaeology. It champions all forms of archaeology, bringing together community groups, commercial units, academics and heritage organisations, to create and share opportunities to discover, take part in and be inspired by archaeology.

To find out more, visit the Council for British Archaeology website.

What are the key points?

What was the challenge?

The CBA did not have a very diverse board and felt board practices could be more inclusive. The average age of trustees was 60, and most were white, had an academic or professional background, and were retired. The organisation realised that current generations face different barriers to engagement to the traditional membership; it was important to understand what these barriers were and to address them.

The challenge was not seen as one of 'diversifying archaeology' but rather of opening up archaeology to different voices. The feeling was that "being welcoming would lead us there."

What actions were taken?

The CBA took several steps to diversify its board. The organisation began by looking at its mission, vision, core values, and existing board practices, changing them to be more inclusive (see our case study 'Changing Board Practices to Be Inclusive and Welcoming to All'). The CBA also undertook other work in parallel to reach out to and recruit more diverse board members.

Setting the right foundations

• Skills audit. Each trustee was asked to complete a questionnaire about their skill set, followed by a 1-to-1 meeting with the chair. This process identified skills gaps on the board, enabling the CEO and chair to have open conversations with people and be clear about what they were looking for
• Board effectiveness review. The CBA sought external expertise to conduct an assessment and accompanying training on board effectiveness. The aim was to determine what the board's roles and responsibilities should be, how people could feel a greater sense of belonging, and how to harness lived experience expertise better
• Expanding networks. Rather than waiting until it was clear what actions on IDE were needed, the CEO started to expand his own network early on in the process: "I put myself in the way of people I wanted to talk to." When the CBA was ready to recruit new trustees, it could reach out to these people (in this case, the European Society of Black and Allied Archaeologists)

Recruiting inclusively

• Open recruitment. Following good practice, the roles were openly advertised – at the same time, this was supplemented with a "hit list of people to have a conversation with"
• Clear recruitment pack. The information in the recruitment pack made it explicit that you did not need to be an archaeologist to apply

Supporting a good induction

• Induction pack. A new induction pack was developed to align with the staff induction process, which included briefings and introductory meetings with key personnel and members – it included training on what a trustee's legal requirements are that was freely accessed from Getting on Board

What was the outcome?

The result of all this work is that the board now contains:

• 4 men and 8 women
• Only 2 retired/semi-retired members (the rest are all working)
• 2 founding members of the European Society of Black and Allied Archaeologists

Views of people who identify as LGBTQI+ and neurodivergent are present, and a wide age range is represented, with people from their 30s to their 60s and every decade in between.

The CBA recognises this is a journey and that it has laid the foundations for an even more diverse board in the future.

The next step is to update the Articles of Association, which are long, complex and unclear, and restrict CBA's ability to appoint members of the board with the skills needed. Currently, they state that trustees need to be nominated by the organisation's membership (either 7 individual member nominations or a single organisational member nomination); if there are any vacancies after the nomination process, the board may co-opt trustees who then serve until the next Annual General Meeting, when they may be confirmed in post by the membership. They also assume all meetings are conducted in person, and they do not set any terms of reference for board committees or management rules for the organisation.  

There are also plans to set up a mentoring programme, where trustees mentor youth advisers, and to write up all the work the CBA is doing and refresh its 'inclusion and equity plan'.

What lessons were learned?

• Don't feel like you need a finished IDE action plan before taking action. Make a personal decision to start the journey. For the CBA, it meant reaching out to more diverse organisations, identifying people who would be interested in becoming a Trustee, investing time in having a conversation with them, and supporting them to get the nominations they needed to be appointed; while this approach was very resource heavy, it is what the organisation needed to do to address the skills gaps identified sooner rather than later
• Start with the question, "How do we want people to belong and thrive?" Having open conversations is one thing, but carrying on when people don't want to come with you is challenging. Be prepared for some people to part ways with you

Key contact

Neil Redfern, Executive Director and Company Secretary, Council for British Archaeology: [email protected]