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21 July 2024
Hi there, my name is Priscilla and I am the Administrative Assistant for the Young Trustees Movement - and I have decided to become a trustee! In this blog, I will share with you the start of my trustee journey.
Why did I decide to become a trustee?
Although I have only recently decided to apply to become a trustee, I have been an aspiring trustee since my second year of university. As mentioned in my introduction blog, I discovered trusteeship by accident, through a mentorship programme that put me in touch with an individual working to support charity boards become more effective. I was surprised to find out trusteeship was open to people like me: a young ethnic-minority woman still at university and with limited work experience beyond a few internships and part-time jobs. Discovering that I could be involved in leading the strategic direction of a charity was a very welcome surprise.
I immediately knew being a trustee was something I wanted to do. But, like majority of people, I felt like I did not have the skills to sufficiently contribute to a charity’s board. Since then, I have learnt how my thoughts were guided by a misunderstanding of what trusteeship is and what skills are necessary - which I very helpfully learnt from the Model Boardroom Series online course. Being a trustee is more than applying ten or twenty years of professional experience to a charity problem. Being curious and willing to dive deep into a complex problem is really all that trusteeship is about. And young people do have those skills. Becoming a trustee is, to me, an opportunity to demonstrate how my voice is important and valuable to a charity’s cause.
So… what next?
Having decided to apply to become a trustee, I had to brainstorm what kind of charities I wanted to be a part of. I knew I had to aim for a charity that I would feel deeply connected to so, after a quick brainstorming session, I made a list of the top causes I would like to contribute to:
- Dismantling gender and racial inequality;
- Supporting vulnerable people with experiences of displacement;
- Improving the lives of young people through education.
Onto writing applications and finding vacancies
Considering I have never applied to trustee positions before, I decided to create an inventory of resources to guide my applications. Being part of the Young Trustees Movement, I come across a lot of free resources, which you can also receive in your inbox by signing up to our mailing list. But to make sense of everything that is out there, I made a short list of how I intended to use these resources. I am sharing them here so that it can hopefully help you out too!
Understanding the role of a trustee
Model Boardroom Series course and podcast
Become a trustee page
Support applying to roles
How to showcase your skills if you’ve not been a trustee before blog
How to overcome imposter syndrome blog
How to become a charity trustee: a practical guide
Trustee opportunities/vacancies
Benefits of becoming a trustee
5 Things I’ve learnt from being a trustee blog
Just do it blog
Importantly, you can get help from more than just online resources. You might have a friend, a family member, or someone in your work/education network who is already a trustee. It is worth asking them if they could support you in any way - whether that be by reading your application or just by sharing their experience of being a trustee. Their help is a great way to learn more about how boards operate and how you can build on your skills and strengths in your application.
Join me in this journey
In the next couple weeks I will be sending out applications. Next month I will be back to share with you how the application process went - and if I have any leads by then!
So stay tuned - and follow us on social media to stay in loop about how my trustee journey is going!