The Social Mobility Commission's new State of the Nation 2018/19 report could act as a report card for the UK trust and foundation movement. Social mobility has stagnated over the past 4 years "at virtually all stages from birth to work": "Being born privileged in Britain means that you are likely to remain privileged. Being... Continue Reading →

Foundation leaders may not have much time for self-reflection and self-development during normal working hours.  And, as far as I know, there is currently no professional development programme specifically for foundation directors/CEOs or chairs.  So it's likely to be up to us to organise our own development.  And a good place to start is with... Continue Reading →

This is an update of a post from March 2018 - to which I have added further evidence of how the voluntary and community sector in general - and the trust and foundation sector in particular - continues to have a problem with diversity and, in particular, race. Outlined below is a non-thorough but fairly... Continue Reading →

One of the things that prevents meaningful action on Diversity, Equity and Inclusion (DEI) is to treat it as just a theoretical concept.  For as long as it remains just a principle, something to be discussed and debated, or something to be avoided as difficult, or something which can only be done by experts, little... Continue Reading →

Membership organisations and trade bodies in the voluntary sector have a problem when it comes to Diversity, Equity and Inclusion (DEI) – some more than others.   The Institute of Fundraising (@IoFTweets) seems to be leading the field currently (interestingly, an organisation which is 50% core funded by individual rather than organisational subscriptions) http://www.institute-of-fundraising.org.uk/championing-fundraising/equality-diversity-and-inclusion/ Other bodies... Continue Reading →

Along with Melanie Griffiths (Director of Cloudesley) and Fozia Irfan (CEO of Bedfordshire and Luton Community Foundation) I co-facilitated a session on Trust and Foundation Values at the 2018 annual conference of the Association of Charitable Foundations. We wrote the following article to capture and share some of the issues that the session raised -... Continue Reading →

As a member of the Association of Charitable Foundation's working group on Diversity, Equity and Inclusion (part of ACF's Stronger Foundations programme[1]) I was invited by ACF to write a "provocation" on the topic.  I am no longer a member of the working group. This is what I wrote: As recent reports show[2], most trusts... Continue Reading →

Diversity isn’t just about who you employ or who sits round your board table. It’s also about how you invest your endowment, who does and doesn’t get your grants, where you choose to locate your office, which suppliers you use.  Amongst many reports and toolkits on promoting Diversity, Equity and Inclusion, perhaps two are key... Continue Reading →

To increase diversity in the governance and management of trusts and foundations there are many actions that we as individuals, organisations and networks can take.  Some of them require significant investment of time and/or money – but most of them just require the will of individuals to invest their own time – and share or... Continue Reading →

In my view there are 4 primary reasons for - and benefits from - making Diversity, Equity and Inclusion real in the governance, operations, investment and grantmaking of trusts and foundations: It creates an improved understanding of needs within, and the capabilities of, target communities – particularly if people with lived experience are included (KNOWLEDGE);... Continue Reading →

I wrote the following article for the July 2018 edition of the Association of Charitable Foundations' magazine - Trust and Foundation News.  It's a follow-up article to the piece on Diversity that I wrote for the July 2016 edition which can be found here https://newreciprocity.com/2018/04/08/postcard-from-the-comfort-zone/ This new article reflects on what has - and has... Continue Reading →

There is now talk of voluntary sector leaders, membership associations and infrastructure bodies coming together to tackle the diversity deficit in the voluntary sector.  That's a good start.  Here are some questions for them: (1)  What is your collective definition of Diversity, Equity and Inclusion? (2)  What’s your collective “theory of change” that takes account... Continue Reading →