A bumper number of moves and news for the Board Report this month…
 

Before Boris Johnson left 10 Downing Street, he announced a mega set of appointments across the Museums and Heritage sector. Amongst them was one of the new trustees of the Victoria and Albert Museum (V&A), the director of pressure group Restore Trust, Zewditu Gebreyohanes. This appointment has sparked allegations of ‘cronyism’, as Gebreyohanes declared having canvassed for the Conservative party in the last five years and she’s also been quite publicly vocal about her opinions on the National Trust. She may very well be qualified and have an applicable skill set for the role; however, her appointment raises the question of whether Boards should be utilising their own networks for appointments.

If individuals in your network are part of a wider recruitment drive and are put through the same process as everyone else to ensure equity, with no promise given that they’ll have the appointment offered at the end of it, we’re very happy to encourage that. However, we don’t support the ‘referral method’ of guaranteeing a Board appointment to your friend to fill their time without thinking about how their skill set will actually help the board in question. This of course, would mean little chance of diversity of thoughts, diversity of socio-economic background, diversity of age, probably of ethnicity and of gender too.

A fair and equitable process is the only way forward and we will advocate for that every time. 

 
Now for the flurry of appointments
 

The Wallace Collection
https://www.wallacecollection.org/
Jessica Pulay has been announced as chair after having served as a trustee since 2013.
Previously Co-Head of Policy and Markets at the UK Debt Management Office (DMO) she is now an executive member of its Advisory Board and has previously held senior positions at Goldman Sachs, Morgan Stanley and Deutsche Bank.
She also currently serves on the ENO Board of Trustees and has been a board member of the Arts Foundation.
 
Royal Museums Greenwich
 https://www.rmg.co.uk/
Dr Fiona Butcher and Dr Helen Czerski have been reappointed as trustees.
- Dr Butcher is General Counsel and Company Secretary of Trinity College London and chair of the Scottish Legal Aid Board.
- Dr Czerski is physicist and oceanographer, and a regular science presenter on BBC science programmes.
 
Science Museum Group
https://www.sciencemuseumgroup.org.uk/
Iain McIntosh, Sarah Staniforth CBE and Steven Underwood have been reappointed as trustees of the Science Museum Group.
- Mcintosh has sat on the board since 2016 and previously held senior finance roles across the ICT sector.
- Underwood is the Chief Executive of Peel Group an infrastructure and property investment business and has chaired the Science Museum Group’s Audit and Risk Committee since 2016.
- Staniforth CBE is a Trustee of  a number of national heritage trusts including English Heritage and the Blenheim Palace Heritage Foundation.
 
The National Gallery
https://www.nationalgallery.org.uk/
Sir John Kingman, Tonya Nelson and Professor Molly Stevens reappointed as Trustees to the National Gallery.
- Nelson, currently London Area Director at Arts Council England, was formerly Chair of the International Council of Museums (UK)
- Professor Stevens, highly respected within the field of Biomedical Engineering and one of Vogues 2011 ‘Wonder Women’.
- Kingman was the first Chief Executive of UK Financial Investments Ltd (UKFI); and from 2010-12, was Global Co-Head of the Financial Institutions Group at Rothschild.

National Heritage Memorial Fund, National Lottery Heritage Fund

https://www.nhmf.org.uk/
Ray Macfarlane, chair of Museums Galleries Scotland, has been reappointed as the Scotland Trustee of the National Heritage Memorial Fund and The National Lottery Heritage Fund,
 
Museum of the Home
https://www.museumofthehome.org.uk/
Lady Caroline Dalmeny as Chair of the Museum of the Home. She is a former British defence policy analyst, who previously worked for the defence and security think tank Royal United Services Institute.
 
The British Library
https://www.bl.uk/
Announced House of Lords Conservative Life Peer Baroness Stephanie Fraser as the Scotland Member of the British Library for a term of four years, commencing 19 September 2022.
 
The Horniman Museum & Gardens
https://www.horniman.ac.uk/
Appoints new Chair Michael Salter-Church MBE
 
Arts Council England
https://www.artscouncil.org.uk/
Announce Helen Birchenough as South West Area Chair

Nominations for The Board Awards are now open!

Diverse Boards are vital for effective decision-making, innovation and success. We want to shine a light on the individuals and Boards who are paving the way in creating more inclusive practices whilst delivering on their mission.

Please take the time to nominate an individual or Board who deserves to be celebrated. Consider nominating individuals or Boards whose achievements have yet to be publicly recognised.